Still Finding Time For Some Home Cooking.

I am finding it a challenge to work full time Monday-Friday and still find some time to cook quality meals. But with the help of the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten), it is not too difficult. Her meals are great and easy to make. I haven't made one thing from any of her cookbooks that I haven't liked or that turned out uneatable. I enjoy watching her show on the Food Network...I used to watch it more often before my Monday through Friday work schedule.

This past week after cooking three of her recipes for dinner, I have found three things in my kitchen that I can't live without...my Cuisinart juicer, my garlic press and my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I own 4 out of 5 of her cookbooks; if I had to recommend one over the others, it would be her most recent one "Barefoot Contessa at Home". This book happens to have the chocolate cake recipe I used for Ryan's birthday.

I am sure you are dying to know what I fixed for dinner this week. Well to start, I fixed Chicken Piccata which is one of my favorites. I fix it about once a week. As a side dish, I fixed rosemary, garlic roasted potatoes and green beans. It turned out very good. I topped it off with a great glass of white wine...since one of the ingredients for the chicken is white wine, I usually enjoy a glass of white wine with dinner to finish off the bottle.

The next night I fixed linguine with shrimp scampi. Another one of my favorites since it is so easy to fix. It takes about 20-30 minutes to prepare.

Finally, tonight I made a lemon cake for dessert. I first made this recipe for Ryan's birthday last year, but the first time I made the recipe I made the lemon yogurt cake which is essentially the same cake only made with yogurt instead of buttermilk so it is less calories...but honestly it tastes exactly the same.

I am looking forward to tomorrow night to fix another one of my favorite recipes...Mexican Soup and jalapeño cheddar cornbread.

I have embedded the link to these recipes if your interested in trying any of them! Bon Appetit!