back in session

School is back in session, which means two things: 1. The longest summer of my life is officially over, and I am finally back at a job that I don't dread going to each morning. And, 2. Most nights, I am too busy/tired to cook.

This meant lots of repeats, large batches that made leftovers, and (gasp!) a dinner cooked (mostly) by my sister.

I finally made a trip to one of my favorite breakfast spots, the Cool Moose Cafe for some eggs benedict and the most delicious coffee (Green Mountain Hazelnut, my fave). 

new morning routine

I did find time to cook a thank you dinner for my friends, for welcoming me in Greece this summer. I doctored up the stuffed peppers from last year by adding ground turkey and making a homemade sauce by mixing canned enchilada with fire roasted tomatoes and some spices. Big hit!

Sunday morning scramble

I repeated my meatballs from a few weeks ago, this time using ground beef. I made a red sauce and spaghetti as well as an IKEA inspired sauce that I found online. It turned out to be pretty good. The only addition I made to that recipe was adding some fresh parsley at the end. Also, I used the same pan that I used to make the meatballs. So in the first step, when it says to swirl the beef stock, I also scraped up the bits in the pan, which made the sauce a little richer and more flavorful.

And finally, last night I came home to none other than Little Sister in the kitchen, marinating a couple of pork tenderloins and mixing up a from-scratch batch of cornbread. Score!

I helped a little, tossing some potatoes in dijon mustard, s+p and olive oil to bake, and sautéing some fresh green beans in white truffle oil and fresh ground pepper.

The tenderloin was definitely the star of the show.

That's a brief recap of the past few weeks, sans funny kid stories. And I have plenty.

Also, if you are finding this site lacking in the baked goods department, a friend of mine is now happy to oblige. Head over to DC Sugar for red velvet brownies, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, cream cheese frosting, and much more to come!

Now that I'm settling in to a routine, I would like to make more time for cooking. I'm hoping to make a trip to the Mediterranean and Indian markets soon. I still have some real Greek olives to use...


What have you been cooking? What would you like to see more of on this site?
Hope you are having a great week!

m