Archive for food/recipes

A (healthy) burger recipe that your kids will love

By Genny · Comments (3)
Wednesday, March 13th, 2013

Well BBQ weather is officially upon us (early) in California! If you can believe it, it’s going to be 81 degrees today!

So in honor of the amazing weather, I thought I’d post one of my favorite (and easy) BBQ recipes:

Actually, it’s Sam’s recipe, but he shared it with me. He and his wife Michelle are our neighbors, friends, and they’re great cooks too. (He makes that awesome Greek soup I told you about a while ago).

So without further delay: everyone, this is Sam and his BBQ…

And here’s his great recipe:

Sam’s (Healthy) Burgers That Your Kids Will Love

Let’s just start off and say: I love how his burgers include zucchini!

(Mike and I made these burgers for the kids a few times and they didn’t know there were vegetables in them until after we told them. It was great!…)

Ingredients:
-2 lbs lean ground meat (either sirloin or white turkey)
-2 whole fresh zucchini (that you will grate with your cheese grater)
-1 yellow onion, diced
-2 to 3 garlic cloves, diced
-1 pkg dried Lipton onion soup mix
-1 to 1.5 cups grated cheese Mix ingredients well and make patties.

Sam makes large patties for the adults and kid-sized ones for the kids. Place a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil on BBQ and spray with cooking spray. Cook on high for about 5 min then flip for another 5. With this foil technique you will avoid the burgers breaking apart as well as flare-ups on the grill. Yet, you still end up with all that BBQ flavor.

The last important step: place burgers on a platter and cover with foil. This ensures they are, “extra juicy and flavorful.”

According to Sam, your kids will love these burgers and your neighbors (that would be me) will smell the BBQ goodness all the way from the end of the court! Both true. :)

Have fun if you are enjoying this amazing weather too, and get those BBQs out! 

Comments (3)
Categories : food/recipes, fun, kids, tips

Summer apricots… and memories

By Genny · Comments (11)
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

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We’ve been watering our neighbor’s yard while they were out of town and they were nice enough to offer us as much fruit as we want while they were away.

We are literally in apricot heaven!

Standing there under the tree and picking fruit reminded me so much of when I was little. I grew up on a few acres and, in the middle of our horse pasture, was a huge apricot tree. I have so many memories of climbing that tree and eating apricots. I just had to snap these photos the other day; the sun was so beautiful coming through the leaves as the kids and I were picking. :)

(By the way, if you have any good apricot recipes, send them my way! I could use a few ideas!)

For those of you in the US, have a happy 4th of July! Do you have any fun plans? We are doing our annual neighborhood party and really looking forward to it!

For more “Wordful” / Wordless Wednesday photos, stop by Angie’s SevenClownCircus, Parenting by Dummies, 5MinutesforMom, A Beautiful Mess, Dagmar’s Momsense, Liveandloveoutloud, and Andthenshesnapped.

Comments (11)
Categories : food/recipes, fun, Wordless/Wordful Wednesdays

Muntean’s: you HAVE to go there

By Genny · Comments (0)
Friday, March 9th, 2012

For those of you who live in the Sacramento area (and even for those who don’t, but might visit someday), I have to share something. (I’m not getting anything in exchange for this post; I just had to tell you about this…)

I was at a convention a couple weeks ago in downtown Sacramento and, during lunch one day, a friend and I walked a few blocks away from the hotel to grab a bite to eat. We were heading down J Street, planning on stopping at a Subway, when we happened upon this place:

It might not look like much from the outside, but, trust me, it is!

It’s Muntean’s, a family-owned soup, salad, and sandwich shop that serves Romanian, Hungarian and Greek food.

My friend and I took a quick glance at the menu that was propped up on the sidewalk and couldn’t resist going inside.

And we were so glad we did. We were immediately greeted by the owner, George, who showered us with taste after taste of his homemade soups. They were AMAZING.

When I saw a sign on the counter for a Veggie Falafa with tzaziki sauce and asked what the sauce was like, I was quickly offered a taste (it’s a Greek yogurt, garlic, dill sauce). I was blown away.

That’s what I ended up ordering and, can I just say, this lunch–made up of my first-ever Falafa wrapped in a warm pita with a bowl of homemade mushroom soup on the side–might’ve been the best lunch I ever had?!

You should’ve heard my friend and me eating; she ordered the exact same thing…. (“Oh my gosh, this is SO good,” over and over again.) I wish I would have thought to take a picture of our lunch, but I was too busy enjoying it!

It was one of those places that I just had to tell someone about because it was that good. So I asked George and his family if I could take their picture and post about their restaurant on my blog. He happily obliged (arent’ they a cute family? And they were so sweet too):

If you are ever in the Sacramento area, be SURE to stop by Muntean’s. You will love, love, love  it! (See the Veggie Falafa sign in the photo? That’s what I ordered. Soooo good!)

 

 

Comments (0)
Categories : food/recipes, fun, tips, Uncategorized

You can make your pie (and eat it too)

By Genny · Comments (3)
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

My mom came up with a great apple pie recipe that I wanted to share.

We made it when she was here to celebrate her birthday and it was delicious.

The recipe has a few twists in it that make it healthy: spelt or kamut flour instead of white, maple syrup instead of sugar, and butter instead of shortening. You can even make a gluten-free version if you want by using rice flour.

And one of the best things about the pie is that it’s super easy to make…

Pie Filling Ingredients:
8-10 Fuji or Gala apples
4 – 5 generous shakes of cinnamon
1/4 cup organic maple syrup

Pie Crust Ingredients:
2 cups kamut or spelt flour (or for a gluten-free version, rice flour)
About 1/4 cup water 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter

Directions:
In a food processor or mixing bowl, mix flour and butter together. Add water. Mix until dough forms into a ball. Divide dough into two sections.

Roll out separately. (This will be the top and bottom crust.)

After you’ve finished the crust, wash and core the apples. (You can leave the skin on.) Add half the apples into the food processor until they are cut into small pieces. (Or, you can hand-cut them.) Add half of the cinnamon and maple syrup. Mix.

Put the mixture into a bowl to make room in the food processor for more, and repeat with the other apples. Add the rest of the cinnamon and syrup. Mix. Place all the filling into the bottom crust, then add the top crust. Pinch edges to seal and cut a few slits in the top for ventilation.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 40-50 minutes. (Note: when the pie is done, the crust will be darker and less flaky than your traditional pie crust, due to the flour used, but it still tastes great.)

Serve and enjoy!

*recipe previously published, but this pie is good any time!
Comments (3)
Categories : food/recipes, health, tips, Uncategorized

This recipe is so easy, it doesn’t even need words

By Genny · Comments (10)
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

One of the families on my son’s soccer team has a beautiful apple orchard on their property.

A couple weekends ago, after one of our tournaments, we all went up there to hang out for a while. It was a great time and we ended up going home with a huge bag of gorgeous apples.

One of the other moms on the team had just shared her crock pot applesauce recipe with me, so it was perfect timing.

The recipe is so easy, it doesn’t even need words!…

Crock Pot Applesauce:

How easy is that?! And after leaving the apples and cinnamon in the crock pot all day, the whole house smelled like apple pie. This really is the perfect fall/winter recipe. The applesauce was hot and delicious and it could even be served as a dessert on top of vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy!
For more “Wordful” / Wordless Wednesday photos, stop by Angie’s SevenClownCircus, Parenting by Dummies, 5MinutesforMom, and A Beautiful Mess.

Comments (10)
Categories : food/recipes, Wordless/Wordful Wednesdays

Blogging, Courage, Tomatoes and Inspiration

By Genny · Comments (4)
Friday, September 30th, 2011

Happy Friday, everyone! I’m joining Jennifer in 7 Quick Takes today. After being “away” last week working on writing deadlines, I feel like there’s a lot to share…

1. Just an fyi about some upcoming changes around here. I’ve been looking into migrating my blog from Blogger to WordPress for a while now (I’m still having issues with comments on Blogger) and I finally decided that I’m going to make the move. I’m also going to have my writing/speaking website (GennyHeikka.com) combined with my blog here so I’ll have one home on the web, instead of two. Even though you’ll see a few changes in November, most of it will be behind the scenes. After everything is said and done, if you type in www.mycup2yours.com, it will simply forward to GennyHeikka.com, and you’ll still get updates if you’re a subscriber or a follower. I’m super excited about the upcoming changes!

2. Also on a blogging note, I thought this post over at Facebook was good: The Five Worst Ways to Title a Blog Post. Worth the read! (I changed the title of this post because of it… not sure if my title is better now or not, lol!)

3. So much has been happening at Courage to Be You, the non-profit I volunteer for.

The Courage Concert a few weeks ago was amazing and the Awards Gala last Sunday night was incredible. Truly. I’ll be sharing more about C2BU in future posts, but in the meantime, take a minute to stop by our website and browse around. So many things are happening to help rescue and restore children out of trafficking and I’m honored to be part of this amazing organization. Lives are being changed, including the lives of volunteers. (I know mine has changed!) I can’t wait to tell you more about how I originally got involved and what’s happened since then… future posts to come!

4. Switching topics… Holy tomatoes! My sister-in-law gave us a huge box of tomatoes  on a recent visit and I couldn’t be happier. I made the biggest batch of pasta sauce I’ve ever made (I have four containers of it in the freezer) and it’s so good. There’s nothing like fresh, ripe, garden tomatoes!

Aren’t they gorgeous? And this is only a third of them!

5. Such a fun thing to share: remember when my daughter and I went to the pound to “look” at cats and ended up coming home with Charlie? Well, we went to the pound again a few weeks ago, but this time the cat was for my sister-in-law.  Meet Moe:


Isn’t he cute? (My daughter had so much fun helping to pick him out!)

6. Have you seen this video In God’s Heart I Am? It’s inspired by Holley Gerth’s beautiful book God’s Heart for You. Take a few minutes to watch the video (get out the Kleenex… it s powerful!), then head over to InGodsHeart.com and share your own word, or read more about Holley’s book at In(Courage). (Click here if the video isn’t showing below.) Inspiring!


[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnQvp8_41Uo]

  7. Last, a totally random tip: I found a free online file conversion site I wanted to share with you. It’s called Zamzar and it’s really cool. I needed to convert a PDF file and wasn’t able to do it on my computer, so I sent it to this free site and got it back, converted, in my email within a couple of hours. It was great! (I’m not getting any perks to tell you about this; I just thought this tool was great and wanted to tell you about it.)

Have a fun weekend, everyone! Don’t forget to stop by for Mom-Monday. I’ll be sharing a powerful mom-story from one of my friends, Shannon. It will tug at your heart and have you nodding your head in agreement at how hard it is to be a mom sometimes, but it will also inspire you and remind you that even though doing the right thing isn’t always easy, it’s still the right thing. See you soon!

Comments (4)
Categories : 7 Quick Takes Friday, C2BU, food/recipes, pets, writing

Hamburgers (but not really!)

By Genny · Comments (12)
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

This Labor Day was so much fun, with family over and a neighborhood party. It’s always great to have a reason to get everyone together.

Like she did last year, my daughter made the desserts (although this time, we didn’t have a not-so-mini-disaster).

In addition to cupcakes (her favorite thing to make):

she made “hamburgers”

(which were really made of white cake, brownies, and colored frosting).

It was really cute, and everyone loved them.

I think making these hamburgers is going to become my daughter’s new neighborhood party tradition. :)

For more “Wordful” / Wordless Wednesday photos, stop by Angie’s SevenClownCircus, Parenting by Dummies, 5MinutesforMom, and A Beautiful Mess.

Comments (12)
Categories : food/recipes, fun, Wordless/Wordful Wednesdays

The best little coffee shop in town…

By Genny · Comments (2)
Friday, August 19th, 2011
You all know how much I love coffee shops. I love their smell, their feel, their sense of community… their coffee.
I’ve mentioned before one of my favorite coffee spots to meet with friends or get some writing done. (It’s the place I met up with fellow blogger Lisa and the place I saw those three men who touched my heart.)
I love this place–for its warmth, its great coffee, and its friendly atmosphere. I’ve had a lot of fun times here… meeting with MOPS friends, sitting and talking with my mother-in-law, enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee with Mike…

My daughter loves their lemon bars, although they have plenty of other treats to choose from…

And my son loves their hot chocolate (with whip cream on top).

But what I love the most about It’s a Grind (other than the coffee!) is the people. Tim, the owner, recently helped my son’s soccer team by donating coffee for a tournament and his shop is the one that brewed the coffee for the local writing conference I spoke at in the spring. Here’s Tim and part of his team:

So if you are reading this and you live in the Roseville/Rocklin/Sacramento area, stop by one of Tim’s shops (he has two locations) and share a cup! (By the way, I’m not getting compensated to post this. I just wanted to thank Tim for helping my son’s team out and for being so involved in the community!)

Thank you Tim and staff at It’s a Grind!

Comments (2)
Categories : food/recipes, travel

183-calorie burgers, good storytelling, and getting yourself out of the fast lane

By Genny · Comments (1)
Friday, July 15th, 2011

Happy Friday, everyone! I’m joining Jennifer in 7 Quick Takes again today…

1. Thanks to those of you who have been sending me your mom-stories! Keep them coming! I’ve loved reading them, and I’m keeping submissions open through August 8th. (I’ll email you if your story fits the book and if I’m interested in including it.)
2. I saw this in a newsletter I got in email this week: “Enjoy a 183-calorie burger at your next barbecue”… and I had to check it out. I don’t count calories, but I love barbecuing (not that I know how to grill; Mike does that part), and I love burgers, especially healthier ones. The burger recipe in the article has spinach, lemon, and garlic in it, and it actually sounds really good. I think I’m going to try making it, although I’ll probably use ciabatta bread for buns, instead of the whole wheat ones they recommend. :) 

3.Another thing that grabbed my attention (when I was reading the 183-calorie burger thing) was this farmer’s market recipe site. (No, I’m not getting anything for plugging these sites, I just love farmer’s markets and after browsing through the website, I wanted to share it with you.) There’s a recipe for a Greek salad that sounds really good! A perfect use for juicy, ripe tomatoes.

4. On a totally different note, I ran across a great article over at ProBlogger this week: What Drama Musicals can Teach Us About Great Blog Writing. It makes some really good points, not only for blogging, but for storytelling in general.

5. Also along the lines of writing, my friend Gina Conroy recently launched her own writing critique service! I’m so excited for her, and her summer special looks great! She offers one page critiques, contest and conference critiques, and her rates are extremely affordable. Make sure to stop by her site and check it out!

6. If you’re like me and you always have a million things on your plate at any given time, I highly recommend reading this great reminder over at 5MinutesforFaith (written by my friend Barbie):  Life in the Fast Lane. I’m sure it was no accident that I happened to read the post at the end of a  particularly life-in-the-fast-lane-ish day. I sooo needed the reminder that everything does not have to be done now. :)

7. More inspiring reads–from the beautiful women at (in)courage–for your weekend:

I am a nobody and I’m proud of it

What finding yourself truly means

16 Ways to find personal rest

Have a great weekend, everyone! Do you have any fun plans? We have another swim meet. :)

I’ll see you back here for Mom-Monday!

Comments (1)
Categories : 7 Quick Takes Friday, blogging, food/recipes, Mom-Mondays, tips, writing

(Healthy) Burgers That Your Kids Will Love

By Genny · Comments (8)
Monday, April 4th, 2011

A side note first: I’m so excited! My friend Jen surprised me and is flying out from New Jersey in a few days for my birthday! J I’ll try to post some photos this week from the writing conference I spoke at, but if I don’t’ get a chance, I’ll do it next week for sure. (For those of you who were there, it was great to see you!)

Bear with me… I’m putting up some archives again this week since Jen will be here, but I’ve got a couple of posts coming in the near future that I’m really looking forward to sharing:

-The girl in the mirror (thoughts on eating disorders and some great resources)

-Involving your kids when disaster strikes (your kids can help when disasters occur; teaching them to help others helps them too)

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Have a great day.

Hugs,
Genny
———

(Healthy) Burgers That Your Kids Will Love

*originally posted Feb. 2010

Today, for Mom-Monday, I’m sharing a recipe from our neighbor Sam that your kids will love.
Sam and his wife Michelle live a few houses down from us and they’re great cooks (she made a delicious chicken salad when they had us over for dinner a while ago, and he made that awesome Greek soup I told you about).

I love how his (healthy) burger recipe includes zucchini!

Mike and I made these burgers for the kids a few times and they didn’t know there were vegetables in them until after we told them. It was great!…

Sam’s (Healthy) Burgers That Your Kids Will Love

Ingredients:

-2 lbs lean ground meat (either sirloin or white turkey)

-2 whole fresh zucchini (that you will grate with your cheese grater)

-1 yellow onion, diced

-2 to 3 garlic cloves, diced

-1 pkg dried Lipton onion soup mix

-1 to 1.5 cups grated cheese Mix ingredients well and make patties.

Sam makes large patties for the adults and kid-sized ones for the kids. Place a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil on BBQ and spray with cooking spray. Cook on high for about 5 min then flip for another 5. With this foil technique you will avoid the burgers breaking apart as well as flare-ups on the grill. Yet, you still end up with all that BBQ flavor. The last important step: place burgers on a platter and cover with foil. This ensures they are extra juicy and flavorful.

Sam says your kids will love these burgers and your neighbors (that would be me!) will smell the BBQ goodness and request the recipe.

Enjoy!

————————-

Thanks for stopping by for Mom-Monday – a day for mom-stories, tips, articles and inspiration. To join in, all you have to do is add your URL to the link list below and put my button anywhere on your site. It’s as simple as that; no post necessary. Just an easy way for moms to connect with other moms!

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Comments (8)
Categories : food/recipes, Mom-Mondays
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