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Pasta

Food helps soothe the soul

January 22, 2018 by Christina Shoup Leave a Comment

Beautiful Santa Barbara coastline with charred hills just above Montecito

For my close friends and family, you know the past few weeks have brought lots of sadness and anxiety with the disaster that has unfolded in Montecito.  For those that don’t know me personally but read my blog know that my last post focused on the fabulous trip we just took to Montecito and the Santa Barbara area and all the tasty food we enjoyed on that visit.  For many people not in CA, Montecito is familiar because it’s where Oprah and Ellen live- for me it’s where three of my favorite people on the planet live and love.  The devastation that has occurred there is mind boggling.  Families have been forever changed.  The tight-knit community who was still so raw from the fires in December have had to endure hours, days and now weeks of trauma and uncertainty.  As I write this, the main freeway that runs through this darling little town has only just opened in the past 24 hours but residents still remain shut off from their homes and neighborhood and will continue to be for more than a week.  All I can say is that the feeling of helplessness is a terrible feeling and all I have wanted to do the past two weeks is scoop up these three, transport them to my town and nurture and comfort them with every warm and tasty dish I know how to make. If praying is your kind of thing, please continue to include the town of Montecito in your prayers.  There is still much uncertainty and a massive clean up effort to continue. 

Foggy little bridge in Montecito

For now, we focus on feeding the souls of our friends and family whenever possible.  Below are some recipes that I have made in the past week or are on my meal calendar for the week ahead.  I hope you find something to try and enjoy. 

As always, thanks for reading and happy meal planning!

~Christina

Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

I’m not sure what to say about these other than they are absolutely delicious and dangerous to have in my kitchen- I made them a few days ago and they disappeared in no time.  They are buttery, chocolatey and have the best crunch from the turbinado sugar.  I am planning on making a few batches of these this week for my husband to bring to work.  Just a mid-week treat of cookies to get them through the week!

Classic Italian-American Stuffed Shells

I made this dish this past week and split it between two foil pans- one for my kids and grandma to have while Eric and I were out for the night and one for the freezer to take to a friend who just had a new baby.  It’s flavorful, comfort food at its best! This recipe is your standard spinach ricotta filling but with an extra step or two to soak up the moisture of the spinach and ricotta.  If you have a few extra minutes, it’s worth the additional steps.  I used a jar of Rao’s Homemade Sauce- it’s a great weeknight solution and a quality brand that is almost always on sale at Safeway.  Or try Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce.  It’s the best sauce I think I’ve ever had and super easy- 3 ingredients and 45 minutes of simmer time.  

Ham and Split Pea Soup

This is the easiest soup to make and full of flavor.  My entire family loves it. I make it as written, but always double the recipe and we either eat it for a few meals or put it in smaller containers and freeze it.  The only thing you need to do if eating it for leftovers is to thin it a bit with water or stock before heating it up.  I used leftover ham (Cook’s Illustrated Holiday Ham with Cherry Port Sauce) I had in the freezer from the holidays.  We have this with a side of kale salad.  Yum!

Chickpea, Barley and Kale Soup

Everyone needs to have an easy super healthy soup like this one in their repertoire.  And, everyone needs to have a friend like my friend Patricia! She brought me this soup about a year ago when I wasn’t feeling awesome and I loved it so much that I promptly requested the recipe. I’ve made it many times since and it’s a hit with my family. The only changes I usually make are to use vegetable or chicken stock instead of the water and bullion cubes and I also double the amount of kale, carrots and celery- can never have enough veggies! My kids love to sprinkle Tajin seasoning salt on the top so I am sure to keep the salt to taste at a minimum.  A garlic toast to dip is the perfect side.  

Slow Roasted Salmon with Pesto

Recently, we were visiting my mom and she offered us the yummiest baked salmon for lunch.  It is so simple using prepared pesto and it cooks beginning in a COLD oven so you don’t even need to take time to preheat! We ate it cold, as my mom usually does, and it was delicious.  I cannot think of a healthier option to have in your fridge during the week for a quick lunch.  Bonus- cold salmon means you can take it to work and not stink up the company kitchen!  I cannot think of anyone who might have done this while teaching about 10 years ago- but, you only do that once before learning your lesson.  

My mom’s “recipe” in a text message.  We are fancy like that.

“Hi Sweetie! Cannot find the exact recipe but here’s what I do: olive oil in the bottom of a shallow casserole, put Costco prepared Pesto on top of salmon after I season with a little salt and pepper. Spread about 2 Tbsp. depending on size of filet. Set oven to 400°. Place casserole on middle rack in cold oven and after temp reaches 400° I turn off the oven and let it sit in the oven for another 5 or 10 minutes. It all depends on the size of the fillet. You can check for desired firmness and also for the milky white liquid to disappear.”

If you need an exact recipe: Pioneer Woman puts salmon filet in a cold oven, then turns on the heat to 400 degrees and cooks for 25 minutes.  Both preparations couldn’t be more simple! I hope you enjoy.
Crispy Dijon Chicken Sandwiches

When I was growing up we loved going to Burger King and instead of getting a burger we often got their “healthier” (ha!) chicken sandwiches on a roll.  They were so simple but so delicious. And, because they were several dollars a sandwich and my parents had 4 teenagers at once with big appetites, it added up.  My mom recreated it at home for much cheaper and included it in our family collection of recipes.  Using organic chicken- which I would- would definitely not make this more affordable, but certainly worth making for my family to satisfy my fond childhood memory.  

The only tip I would give is to put your pan in the oven to get really hot and when your chicken is ready to go in the oven, pull your pan out, grease it with olive oil (my mom would use more butter) and quickly place your prepared chicken on the hot pan and put it back in the oven.  I tried this with breaded eggplant recently and it produced the most crispy coating- I am certain it would work great with this recipe.

PS- the recipe below would be for boneless, skinless chicken.  Using “thin cut” chicken breasts would be a good idea as well.  I recently saw this organic option at the store.

Shrimp Tacos with Pickled Red Onion

This is hardly a recipe either, but one of the easiest dinners that I can quickly make and always have the ingredients on hand is shrimp tacos.  I keep a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer (Trader Joe’s), tortillas in the refrigerator, and a packet of taco seasoning (Trader Joe’s brand is a great one) in the pantry.  I toss 1 lb of defrosted shrimp in half a packet of taco seasoning, put a little oil in a hot pan and saute the shrimp for about 3 minutes  and then turn over and saute for another minute or two.  A few pieces of cooked shrimp, a little shredded lettuce topped with a mixture of Greek yogurt and sriracha sauce wrapped with a corn or flour tortilla is pretty delicious.

If we are feeling fancy on a particular Taco Tuesday evening, I’ll do a quick batch of pickled red onions to sit while I’m sauteing the shrimp and heating up some frozen corn and a can of black beans as a side. My kids eat these pickled onions right out of the jar.  I follow the recipe exactly with the exception of the vinegar- I prefer using red wine vinegar but almost any vinegar besides the big jug of white distilled vinegar would work great.  Apparently it has too strong of a flavor for the best pickled red onion.  It’s a super quick- dinner on the table- in 20 minutes.  

PS: Thaw frozen shrimp quickly in a colander placed in the sink with cold water running over it for a few minutes.  Be sure to take a shorter shower that day to make up for the wasted water- sorry.  It’s the only way and I have no good use for shrimp water so it goes down the drain.   

Filed Under: Chicken, Cookies, Desserts, Main Dish, Pasta, Pork, Seafood, Soup, Vegetarian Tagged With: Barley and Kale Soup, Chickpea, Classic Italian-American Stuffed Shells, Crispy Dijon Chicken Sandwiches, Ham and Split Pea Soup, Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, Shrimp Tacos with Pickled Red Onion, Slow Roasted Salmon with Pesto

Back from vacation and back on the wagon

August 7, 2016 by Christina Shoup 4 Comments

First, thank you for all the kind words and feedback on the first WORDY post! I promise to never write such a long post.  It was no surprise that from your comments, many of us get stuck in the same dinner rotation from week to week and everyone, including me, needs some fresh recipes every now and then.

We are just back from beautiful Lake Tahoe where we did a mix of cooking in (yes, I had a meal plan on a scrap of paper on vacation!) and eating out. As true with all vacations, we indulged on plenty of yummy snacks, meals and treats, not to mention an impressive amount of vodka/mint creations and wine. It’s always nice to be home and back on track with healthy meals and cutting back on those tasty beverages (until Friday, at least).

Below are the recipes for what I have on my meal calendar this week. You’ll notice that there are five recipes. One of the days this week is going to be leftovers and the other day is a date night that I’m quite looking forward to. Thanks Nano for watching the kids! Thankfully, I don’t have a very busy week ahead and happen to have extra time to cook, but on a normal busy school week, you’ll find a few nights utilizing recipes and others that simply say taco bar, egg scramble or “frozen Trader Joe’s something.” Not every week looks like this, but as I said above, I’m home from vacation and happy to be back in the kitchen! Let me know if any of you try any of these recipes. They are all printed out, have been in my binder of favorite recipes for quite awhile (a separate post in the near future) and are all a hit with Eric and kiddos. Thanks for reading and happy planning this week!

Curry Spiced Veggie Burgers

http://www.marthastewart.com/962982/curry-spiced-veggie-burgers

This is a tasty vegetarian recipe that my friend Lisa and I both saw on TV years ago and happen to both have all the ingredients on hand to make. I’m certain we both were sitting on the couch feeding a baby watching cooking shows, something we both used to do a lot of! It is simple to make and I recommend you watch the quick video that is available just above the recipe in the link. I serve it on top of or next to mixed greens dressed with vinaigrette. Nice and light dinner.

* I always double it and put half of the uncooked burgers in the freezer for another day.

Greek Chicken in Pita

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/14527/greek-chicken/

This is such a hit in our family that I put it on the meal calendar several times a month and nobody has yet to get sick of it. I use the marinade in the recipe above and use boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 or so) instead of the whole chicken. I marinate the day before or the morning of and it’s the easiest yummiest grilled chicken. After cooking, slice the chicken into bite sized pieces. We either put it in/on warm pita bread or on top of a plate of romaine lettuce dressed with Greek vinaigrette. In either case, we put tomato and sliced cucumber, a dollop of hummus, and a drizzle of Sriracha on top and dive in. SO yummy.

Edited Aug. 10th, 2016: I made this last night and my kids enjoyed it but didn’t go back for seconds.  Here’s why: I didn’t make the tzatzki sauce that I have made every single time except last night.  No idea why I forgot, but they really missed the yogurt cucumber sauce.  Easy to make: greek yogurt, grated or finely diced cucumber, little garlic, lemon zest and juice, dried dill, salt and pepper.  Last night I just mixed yogurt and Sriracha and it was yummy too, but the cucumber yogurt sauce is key.  ALSO, the marinade above doesn’t call for salt and pepper, but it’s necessary, as well as the zest from the lemon.  Makes a much more flavorful marinade.  Enjoy!

Grilled Salmon with Lime Butter

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/grilled-salmon-with-lime-butter-sauce-1222181

Dinner doesn’t get any easier! Grilled salmon is a staple in our house and four out of five people in my family love it and thankfully the other one tolerates it. I put the salmon on some foil (about a pound and a third for two adults and three kids), put a little olive oil, garlic salt and pepper on top and grill as directed. The lime butter is delicious and super simple, but sometimes I cannot handle one more step and skip it all together. I often serve with grilled asparagus and a salad, but this week I’m serving it with roasted sweet potatoes and couscous.

Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/aromatic-noodles-with-lime-peanut-sauce-recipe.html

Not much to say here because I make it as directed. It’s another hit in my family and we’ve been known to put it in a plastic bowl and eat on the way to an evening sport. Classy, right?! I’d just recommend adding the sauce as needed. Depending on the amount of veggies I have, the dish can be too saucy (and makes it harder to eat in the car!) J

Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/barbecued-chinese-chicken-lettuce-wraps-recipe.html

We love these lettuce wraps and one of my kids even requested it for their birthday dinner a few years ago. It’s a Rachael Ray recipe, and she’s known for quick and easy recipes, so give this one a try! I’m sure ground turkey or pork would be tasty as well. A few changes that I make… To make it less messy, I drain some of the chicken liquid after cooking but before I add seasonings, garlic and ginger. I also decrease the mushrooms or omit altogether (kids are not fans), increase the bell pepper, and add shredded carrot and diced zucchini. I add more hoisin sauce and reduced sodium soy sauce as well. I love to top the lettuce wrap with chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts or cashews and Sriracha. My mouth is watering…

IMG_6410

 

Filed Under: Chicken, Main Dish, Pasta, Seafood, Vegetarian Tagged With: Aromatic Noodles with Lime Peanut Sauce, Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Curry Spiced Veggie Burgers, Greek Chicken in Pita, Grilled Salmon with Lime Butter

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About Me

Hi there! I’m Christina- a wife, mom to three kids, former elementary school teacher, and proud graduate from San Francisco Cooking School’s professional culinary program.  I love meal planning and cooking for family and friends, especially gathering to celebrate life’s most special moments.  I hope this site brings you inspiration to gather your special people around the table!

Feel free to follow along on Instagram:

@cookingwithchristinashoup

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