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Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Super Bowl Food

February 1, 2014 by Mary 22 Comments

We are getting ready for the big game tomorrow organizing our Super Bowl Food. The excitement in this city is palpable! A section of Times Square has been converted to Super Bowl Boulevard. It’s crazy, you can even ride a toboggan there. It’s warmed up and the initial rain that was predicted has been taken off the menu. Woo hoo!
Super easy nachos with avocados

My husband and I are having a little party tomorrow and I’m serving up traditional football-watching food. My super easy nachos, spicy chicken chili with all the toppings, along with Jasmine rice, cornbread, a big tossed salad with a sherry vinaigrette and brownies with ice cream and strawberries for dessert. All the recipes are here if you’d like to follow my lead. My husband would totally love those little pigs in a blanket but I won’t let him have it. Way too unhealthy. And last I heard, my good friend Margaret, who is coming, is making homemade stuffed grape leaves. I am very excited for those! I’ve never had homemade grape leaves.Spicy Chicken chili in a Le Creuset pot..

Rich chocolate brownies with walnuts.Our January newsletter went out yesterday – in the neck of time. (Yep, last minute Mary here!) The newsletter features recipes not available on the blog and I’m suggesting a great Valentine’s Day menu – Veal Chops with Sage and a super easy Chocolate Souffle. If you’d like to receive it, at no charge, please sign up for it in the upper right hand corner and I’ll be sure to get it to you.LOVE - the secret ingredient apron for sale now.

And while I’m at it, a LOVE apron would make a nice little Valentine’s Day gift for your sweetie. Click on the ad in the right hand column and we’ll get one right out to you.

May your favorite team win tomorrow!!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: best brownies, best chili, best chili with chicken, brownies, easy delicious nachos, healthy chili, LOVE the secret ingredient apron, low fat chili, low fat nachos, nachos, spicy chicken chili, Super Bowl Food, Valentine's Day gift

Great Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl recipes

February 3, 2013 by Mary Frances 7 Comments

Our latest newsletter went out this past Thursday with two very special recipes, never before seen here and perfect for a Valentine’s Day dinner. If you haven’t signed up for it, you won’t receive it. But, you can sign up now, in the upper right hand column of this blog, and I will personally make sure you get one pronto.
LOVE_enewsletter_jan_2013-cropped

Also, don’t forget, our LOVE the secret ingredient aprons make a great gift for any time of the year, reminding you to always cook with LOVE. When you do, everything will always taste better! If you order by February 5th, you can still receive it in time for V-day!

And for the Super Bowl tonight, check out these recipes – Super Easy Nachos, Nacho Burgers, Artichoke dip, and my Bean Dip!

Enjoy!!Nachos-Full plate– Nachos made fresh and easy

Filed Under: Appetizers, Dinner Tagged With: artichoke dip, bean dip, great dips, LOVE aprons, Nacho burgers, nachos, newsletter, Super Bowl recipes, Valentine's Day gifts, Valentine's Day recipes

Super easy nachos

February 1, 2012 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

Easy nachos with avocado and jalapenos.This is so easy, it’s almost stupid. But it’s really, really good!! I have seen the most sophisticated people not want to stop eating these in my home. And they are perfect for Super Bowl Sunday. You see, I made these up when I was having a casual weeknight dinner party, and needed a quick, easy and delicious appetizer. My guests usually sit at the counter at my kitchen so I can talk to them while I cook on the other side.

It’s funny to me that the “counter” has come full circle in my life. When I was a kid, (I’m the youngest of 6 with 5 older brothers), if we misbehaved at the kitchen table at dinnertime, we were sent to eat at the counter behind us having our back to the table and eating next to a sink filled with vegetable peels and a can of dog food ready to feed the dog. My Dad was a Major in the army in WW II and he could be pretty tough. The “crime” could have been something like my brother, Mark, making me laugh so hard that milk would come spewing out of my nose. Most of the time I was sent to the counter, not Mark! And now I grow up and my counter is full of friends and family hanging out and allowing me to be a part of the party! I love my open kitchen here.

Back to the nachos – I love nachos! We all love the crunch and the salt, but they’re too much. How do you make them lighter and a bit healthier, I kept on asking myself. This is what I think about in the middle of the night. Crazy, I know.

So here’s what I do.

NACHOS MADE FRESH & EASY
Restaurant style Tostitos – a mound to fit on an 11” round serving plate
1 15.5 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 fresh plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise and chopped
3 – 4 oz. fresh grated sharp cheddar cheese, to taste
½ fresh avocado, cubed
Pickled jalapeno peppers, sliced
Your favorite salsa on the side

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mound a pile of chips on a rimless cookie sheet the size of the plate you’re using to serve this. It’s very important that your cookie sheet is rimless because you have to be able to slide the whole thing off onto your plate. Scatter your drained beans on top, then the fresh tomatoes and grated cheese. Bake on the top shelf in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes, until the cheese is nicely melted. Remove from the oven and slide onto your serving plate.

Top with the fresh avocado cubes and pickled jalapeno peppers. Serve with a cake server on small plates with some salsa on the side so that your guests can spoon it on to their pile of warm nachos. Enjoy! GO GIANTS!!!!!

Serving of nachos with avocado and salsa.

A serving with salsa

Filed Under: Appetizers Tagged With: avocado, cannellini beans, Cheddar cheese, jalapeños, nachos, plum tomatoes, salsa, Super Bowl Sunday snacks, super fresh nachos, Tostitos

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Mary Frances

Mary Frances

Spread love through cooking.

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