Sandwiches are the easiest dinner and was a hit for all of us! The kids were into it and I never expect everyone to like everything all the time. These were a good example of putting elements together the kids already know into a new combo. I thought they might dismantle and eat separately but they ate it as is- just less arugula!
Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Peach Topping Ingredients: (for 4) 1 peach or nectarine 1 slice onion 1/2 tomato 1 green onion 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon olive oil ~6 breaded chicken fingers 4 sub rolls 1 cup arugula 4 tablespoons honey mustard dressing
Directions: Chop the peach, onion, tomato, green onion, vinegar, and oil. Stir well and refrigerate until serving.
Bake or air fry the chicken pieces until cooked through. Assemble the sandwiches by lightly toasting the rolls, spreading honey mustard on, then adding the arugula, chicken and lastly the peach topping. Enjoy!
I loved this! It was so fun and a great use for rolls we had from a sausage & peppers night and there’s always chicken kicking around here.
Add some avocado to the topping (mine weren’t ripe!) cheese would be good too!
This is the epitome of fun pizza toppings as an out-of-the-(pizza)-box. It seems special but includes flavors we love with ingredients we had – crab, cream cheese, crispy wontons and duck sauce! I try to do this for the kids to see flavors in other formats but in all honesty, us grown ups were the most excited.
Crab Rangoon Pizza Ingredients: pizza dough 2 tablespoons softened cream cheese 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1 green onion (or chives) 3/4 cup crab meat/ imitation crab meat, finely chopped 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella ~1 cup crispy wontons (sold near croutons!) 1/4 cup duck sauce
Directions: Let the dough come to room temperature, ~2+ hours from refrigeration or ~4 hours from frozen. Preheat a pizza oven or oven (or grill – though maybe parbake the dough flipping once before topping it.) Whisk together the softened cream cheese, heavy cream, green onion into a sauce. Spread the dough out and top with the sauce, then mozzarella, then crab.
Bake the pizza (ours went into the outdoor pizza oven for 60-90 seconds or in the oven it would take ~30 minutes at 400 degrees). Cook until the crust cooks through and the cheese melts. Once it is cooked, top with the wontons and a drizzle of duck sauce. Enjoy!
We loved this one! This time it was using the filling of some crab rangoons we hadn’t baked yet. Each kid ate a slice though I don’t think they went back for seconds of this one. We usually make 2-3 pizzas from a ball of pizza dough (~12 inch pies) and our others were a veggie one and a sausage & ricotta one.
I’m sure we’ll make it again and I would use leftover crab for crab cakes. Using leftover crab rangoons from a restaurant might be more cream cheesy than crab flavored but go for it! Leftover crispy wontons are great on an Asian-Inspired Burger or Pineapple Coconut Rice Bowls or on soft tacos or onto salad/slaw.
These took a few tries to get real lemonade flavor but were so fun! They are lemony and sweeter than a regular pancake. Top with some strawberries for arguably one of the best combos out there!
Lemonade Pancakes with Strawberries Ingredients (for ~5 pancakes) 1 cup pancake mix 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 3/4 cup lemonade 1 teaspoon lemon juice 2 drops yellow food coloring (optional) ~6 large strawberries 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Directions: Mix together the pancake mix, lemon zest, and lemon juice until really well mixed.
Add in the lemonade and yellow food coloring (if using). Preheat a griddle or large skillet. Spray with non-stick spray or butter and scoop the batter onto the pan. Cook for ~3 minutes, once they bubble, flip and cook another few minutes. While the pancakes cook, cut the strawberries into slices. Sprinkle in a little sugar and a tablespoon of water. Stir well. Top the pancakes with the strawberries. Enjoy!
I loved these! The yellow was just to further encourage the lemon-ness. We made them first with just lemonade and there was zero lemon flavor.
Alternatively, spread some lemon curd (often sold near jelly) on a pancake and top with some strawberries for a similar vibe!
Summer is buzzing by. It feels like quite a mix of rainy days and super hot days. Work-life was turned upside down with the break up of my department, colleagues leaving, and now I’m trying to figure out what’s ahead.
July in the kitchen included some extra take-outs nights and extra “anything goes” nights after pool afternoons or when it was just too hot.
I made a great BBQ Chicken Rice Bowl with grilled zucchini, tomato salad, and a honey bbq drizzle.
Chicken Piccata became a pizza! It was so good, quite flavorful, and we will definitely repeat – majorly lemon flavor with juicy chicken and fresh parsley. I skipped the capers but go for it if you love them!
Lastly, I put together a bunch of dinner ideas for vacation: think minimal ingredients, not lots of leftovers, and easy to execute in a vacation rental kitchen! There are adaptations for each as well as ideas for sides. If you’re prepping for vacay, divvying meals for a family trip or planning a friends trip, these should help add some variety to your menu! – Crispy Fish (or shredded chicken) tacos with lemonade slaw – Pineapple Coconut Rice Bowls with Kielbasa/Chicken/Pulled Pork or as kebabs – easy Mediterranean night with naan flatbreads & Greek salad or Greek Pasta Salad – top your own pasta bar – Sesame noodles & dumplings & edemame
August brings our beach vacation, Claire back to daycare a few days a week, and Claire turns 3! To make the most of the summer it feels like we need more beach time, more ice cream cones, and maybe some more days off. I have a breakfast blog post coming and some ideas for summer produce.
The Little Girl: She loooves cruising around the neighborhood on her balance bike. She is more into the big pool now. For awhile she mostly splashed on the stairs and got in and out. Now she likes to “swim” to the swimout seat and then across to climb the ladder. It is so fun to see her with books she’s memorized. She started watching TV a bit more and is into Daniel Tiger. She always says when she’s big she’ll go to camp. She goes back to daycare in a few weeks!
The Big Guy: He has been SO brave going to his day camps and each week being “new”. We hadn’t ever done camps before so we pieces together a few once we were ready to plan – I think we have favorites. They are so so so good for him to go do stuff away from home. I’m proud since new things feels hard for him but he’s been the picture of adaptability! Packing nut-free lunches is a re-learning curve for us- snacky lunch is the most successful. Swim lessons have been wonderful and he’s such a fish. I’ll never get over what he comes up with to make out of legos.
Goals: Year of the fun mail! Sadly another coworker is leaving so I sent a card. More breakfasts: One needed more work so it is bumped to August. Lunches coordinated or prepped in advance: a lot of breakfasts for lunch or all the random leftovers (like Soft Cornbread). I’d like to get the house a bit neater: ehh. Bullet journal – still keeping a meals list. What I’m reading: I read Circe for bookclub though it was mostly in June – it was the most scholastic book I’ve read in a while. Beach Read was quite cute and a nice brain-vacay. Of Women and Salt was just ok, but I don’t overwhelmingly recommend. We Run the Tides was one of the most accurate depictions I’ve seen of a teenage mind’s rebellion/naivety/independence/questions. I heard an interview with Elin Hildebrand and she said Blue Bistro was her fav of her books – I could see why! High-end Restaurant life is a world of its own and Nantucket is so idyllic. Carnegie’s Maid is captivating for historical fiction about the Carnegie family and early philanthropy from a fictitious perspective of a fictitious immigrant lady’s maid- so well written. What I’m Watching: All Olympics, all the time.
We love anything on a pizza so some leftover chicken breasts had me thinking of chicken piccata and what better way than on a pizza! It was a low-pressure way to cook it and to see who will like it and the chicken and lemon sauce and parsley flavors seemed summery to be on a pizza!
It would also be wonderful as a sandwich – or into a panini. Go for it!
Chicken Piccata Pizza Ingredients: (serves 4 for 1 large pizza or 3 small pizzas) 1 ball of pizza dough (or on 3 pieces of naan) 1 chicken breast, cut into 2-3 pieces 4 tablespoons flour + 1 tablespoon flour 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper 2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons butter + 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup lemon juice 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Directions: Allow pizza dough to come to room temp – over a few hours. Preheat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of the butter & olive oil for pan frying over medium heat. Pound the chicken out flat and stir together the flour, garlic powder, and salt & pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces one at a time into the flour shaking off the excess then pan frying for ~3-4 minutes per side, flipping once. Check the internal temp with a meat thermometer – it should reach 165 degrees.
Remove the chicken (without draining the pan) and set the chicken aside. To the hot pan, add in the broth and lemon juice. Cook at a low boil for 5 minutes to reduce. Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter + 1 tablespoon flour whisking continually over low heat for ~3 minutes then remove from the heat and let cool for 5+ minutes. Chop the chicken. Roll out the dough. Assemble the pizza by spreading sauce onto the pizza dough (I used ~1/2 of the sauce). Then add the shredded cheese and then the chicken. Bake (our pizza oven outside cooks pizza in ~90-seconds per pie, in the oven it might take ~20 minutes if the dough is par-baked, or 30 minutes from raw dough on a hot pizza stone). Top with parsley & enjoy!
We liked it! It was very, very lemony but bright and as pizza, it felt summery not being a heavy meal. The sauce was strong and while it wouldn’t be authentic (but I won’t tell anyone) if it was too much for you, you could also stir in a touch of cream or cream cheese or alfredo sauce (do that off the direct heat so the sauce doesn’t break).
The chicken was super juicy. That’s what a meat thermometer will do – no guessing to know if it is done! I know the 90-seconds in the pizza oven isn’t going to keep cooking, though 30 minutes in a high temp oven will!
We have enough sauce for another time. Or it would be good has a hot melty sub.