Fast & French

Have you been cooking more during the quarantine?

Have no fear. The boy is always very supervised.

I often find myself gravitating to recipes that Theo can help with. He loves to help in the kitchen and gets so excited when the opportunity presents itself. A lot of the time he’ll even drag his “cooking stool” over when he sees me making dinner because he wants to help. I always oblige. Especially when he goes and finds his cooking apron and hat and hands them to me. He’s ready. I like to have some easy recipes up my sleeve so that I’m ready too.

I love so many things French and cooking is no exception. In fact, I have a french cookbook that just came in and I’m so excited to dig into it. Anyway, The French get a bad rap for a couple things. Like being mean and I can assure you they are a lovely gracious people. Another one is that French cooking is hard and it can be, but not always.

Today, Theo and I are making what The French would call “Gougeres” but simply put they are light and airy french cheese puffs! I love to learn new things and one thing I took away from this recipe was that it starts with a Pate a Choux.

Pâte à Choux

(sounds like “pat a shoe”)

Simply put is a paste made of flour, water, butter, and eggs. It’s thicker than a batter but it’s not as thick as dough.

what you need:

what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 425, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a sauce pan bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil. Then add in flour and stir until a dough forms. Cook a couple of minutes to dry out the dough.

3. Put this in a bowl and let it cool a little bit. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined.

4. Add cheese and parsley and mix really well. Use two tablespoons and drop on to your prepared baking sheet. Set them two inches apart. Then, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

5. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 and another 20-25 minutes at 380 or until golden brown.

   Best served warm.

   If there is one thing that you take away from this QUARANTINE, I hope you find yourself in the kitchen more...and love it.

   Thanks for stopping by today!

“Cooking is one of the great gifts you can give to those you love.”

— Ina Garten

Easy Faux Pasta

I'll admit years ago, when I first tried Spaghetti Squash I was intimidated but it ended up being so easy and it's a staple of mine now and is quite perfect for a pasta fix with out an overload on carbs. The best part is that it's SO versitile! Use red, white, or pesto sauce whatever you want!

It's this simple:

Cut the squash in half. But be SOO careful! These buggers are very hard and I would hate for someone to chop off a finger because I didn't warn you.  

Scrape out the seeds and middle. 

Place the squash cut side down and bake in the oven for an hour on 400 degrees.  

Let it cool for like 15 minutes and get a fork and pull the noodle-like strands from the cooked squash.  

You can also cook it in the microwave if you’re short on time. Cut the same put face down with a little bit of water in the pan and microwave for 10-15 minutes depending on how big your squash is.

Often times during Lent I kick meat to the curb and only eat fish. But however you would like to dress up your dish have fun with it.

Here’s what I used: 

Broccoli

Arrichokes  

A dab of cream cheese

Parm cheese

Garlic and other spices

(I threw in shrimp at the last minute) 

Mix everything together and put back into the squash shell. Top with a little bit of parm cheese and broil for about 5 minutes. 

Then enjoy the goodness!

This is absolutely one of my favorite recipes for when I want pasta but not the calories. 

Hey, if you look real hard you can see Friday in the distance…

Simple Salmon

These days the "fast" in Fast Fashionista has a whole new meaning. When I have a 15-20 minute window I have to be ten times as fast as I used to be. So dinner through the week has to be really fast...and healthy. This is one of my favorite salmon recipes because it's both. Perfect when you're looking for something with health benefits but so don't feel like making your kitchen a mess or really dealing with dinner in general. It's this simple:

2 salmon fillets

1/2 pound asparagus  

1 1/2 olive oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

salt for taste

lemon slices

parsley for a little flavor on top

Cut your salmon in half if not done already and cut the ends off of your asparagus. On a piece of foil add your asparagus and put a piece of salmon on top. Then, in a small bowl mix together oil and garlic. Sprinkle salt for flavor and add two lemon slices, add your parsley and wrap your foil. Pop it in the oven on 400 degrees for 25 minutes and pour yourself a drink. 

Enjoy your Wednesday! 

xoxo