Sesame Shrimp Soba Noodles

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the Asian Supermarket near our house to look for bento lunch supplies. I didn't find anything I wanted, but I have trouble walking out of a store with nothing. I always feel like the owners are staring me down, calling me names in their heads. 

So we walked around for a while, checking out all of the bright packages we couldn't read and looking at bulk bins of things like tiny dried fish. I finally settled on a pack of wonton skins, 2 different sizes of wooden skewers, some cute plates and bowls, and a package of soba noodles. Shortly thereafter, we went to Trader Joe's, where I picked up a bottle of toasted sesame oil. There was a sale on shrimp at the regular grocery store, and suddenly I knew what we were having for dinner on Seafood Friday.

Eggplant Parmesan

The first thing my mom taught me how to make was pancakes. The second thing she taught me was breaded chicken. I remember many, many nights standing at the counter and double-dipping chicken breasts into egg and bread crumbs. This turned out to be one of my all-time favorite dinners. As I got older, I learned that the egg and bread crumb combo could be applied to pretty much anything, like pork chops or zucchini, cube steak or eggplant. Now, I'll be honest. I love eggplant but the boys aren't really into it. But if you have boys that are anything like mine, if it's fried, they'll eat it. The first batch usually doesn't even make it to the sauce-and-cheese phase of the meal prep.

Peanutty Udon Noodles with Veggies

Andrew loves pasta. K is obsessed with peanut butter. I am all about the veggies. This recipe marries all three. The best part? You can customize it any way you want. Switch the veggies up, use regular pasta, try a specialty flavor of peanut butter. Make it your way - don't forget to come back and tell me all about it!

Garlic Bread Spaghetti Calzones

I am very into the new My Plate eating guidelines. You know, the ones that tell you half your plate should be fruits and veggies. It doesn't bother me any because this is how I ate long before it became the cool thing to do. The boys are a little less receptive, but they are catching on quickly.

Almost every meal we eat is planned according to this outline. But every now and then, I am in the mood for an all-out carb-fest. That's how recipes like this one are created. The boys love it because spaghetti is one of their favorite foods. I love it because the garlic bread is the only thing that makes the spaghetti worth eating in the first place. I just ignore the whining the next day when I am serving up double doses of veggies to make up for it.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

I have to be honest here - I don't like red sauce on my spaghetti. Give me a nice creamy alfredo, a light garlic and butter sauce, or a rich marsala gravy; anything but red sauce. But I do use it when I make lasagna, eggplant casserole, pizza, and the like. This sauce is so easy to make, and perfect if you hate relying on those jars from the grocery store.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta with Broccoli

It's seafood night here at the Foodie Mama house and K has been craving garlic shrimp, so I decided to make it a meal. He's content to just eat a dozen or so shrimp and be done with it, but the mom in me insists that there be some veggies and whole grains involved. This is so easy and comes together so fast; perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.

DIY Rice-a-Roni




The San Francisco treat has always been one of my favorite go-to side dishes for quick weeknight meals. Then it hit me - I was paying a lot of money for a box of rice and pasta (two of the cheapest foods on the planet) with some seasonings. Since I have been looking for ways to make more things from scratch (chicken broth, pumpkin seeds, granola cereal), I figured I would give this a try.

Meatball Noodle Soup and Italian Bread




One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to make soup and bread on Sundays. While I realize it is not technically the New Year yet, yesterday was Sunday and I was itching to do this one right away. I raided my cabinets, pantry, and freezer and this is what I came up with. It's cheap, filling, and it makes a ton - just the way I like it!

Eggplant Lasagna

There are 4 people in my house, yet I cook as though there were 12. This is good and bad. Good because extra food means leftovers, which means there is a chance I may not have to cook some other night. Bad because I hate leftovers. Nothing annoys me more than eating the same exact thing twice in a row.

Pasta Fagioli




There are foods that I want to like, but I just don't. Maybe that makes me weird, but things like avocados and sweet potatoes are on this list. After years of persistence, my taste buds have finally given in and I love them both now! Pasta fagioli has always been one of them as well, until I decided to make it on my own. This is a very simple and easy soup with lots of yummy broth - perfect for crusty bread-dipping.

6 Veggie Spaghetti

I grew up eating pasta - a lot of pasta. And I like it in a lot of ways, but a bowl of white spaghetti with some plain tomato sauce thrown on top is just depressing to me. So I came up with this easy alternative, which cleverly disguises tons of veggies for even the pickiest of eaters, husbands and children included!