Summer Smoothie Peach Style

I have rocked out smoothies in the past featuring blueberries and strawberries, but this one features the one and only peach.

Light and refreshing, this is a perfect start to a hot day.

To make this, you need to peel your peaches. It's not that hard! I swear.

Here's the process to do that:

1. Bring a pot of water to a roiling boil.

2. With a slotted spoon, drop in your peaches gently.

3. Cook in the rapidly boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Remove with slotted spoon and drop into a bowl of ice water.

5. When cool enough to handle, peel the skin off with your finger tips.

6. Pit the peach by splitting it open if you can and continue with your recipe.

Now onto the smoothies:

Peach Smoothies
(Makes 4 servings)

2-3 peeled peaches
5 oz. plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups ice

Add all ingredients into a blender. Puree until smooth. Serve in cups garnished with a fresh peach slice.

It's that easy!

It's All Greek to Me

So if you're a Greek food purist/snob you may want to click elsewhere. For all others: Welcome to my riveting post re: Gyros Gone Jersey Girl Wild.

Straight away, I will warn you: My tzatziki sauce is missing cucumbers. This is no fault of my own but rather a deliberate decision in making sure that The Husband eats the tzatziki sauce. You may remember from previous posts (since I know all 10 of you have been following my blogging career for YEARS), The Husband has a thing "with," or I should say "against" cucumbers. And mayo. And shopping. And mushrooms. Don't even get me started with the mushrooms.

So I lovingly placed the cucumbers on the side so that me and the kiddo would would get some of that fresh crunchiness action up on our gyro creations while making The Husband happy.

See that. I'm all about the compromise.

In addition, I'm 99 percent sure that in real life I mispronounce all of, well the two Greek words that we are using today: gyro and tzatziki (which, if we're being honest here, tzatziki is also a bitch to spell. And it just made me break my swear word policy on my blog. Sorry, Jesus.)

Aaaaand finally, my son, bless his 3-year-old hungry hungry belly, lovingly referred to our perfectly warm pitas filled with delicious lemony marinated shaved pork, cool tzatziki sauce, salty feta and fresh veggies, veggies and more veggies as "tacos." Ie, "Mommy, can I please have more tacos?" and "These tacos taste yummy" and "I love tacos."

Naturally, I went with his whole narrative.

"Sure, Baby Doll. Tacos IT IS!"

This was really easy breezy to make. And it does get a ton of veggies down the gullets of your family. And, honestly. Who doesn't love a taco, I mean gyro?

Below is the recipe for my sauce. And then, I'm listing the recipe for the Old Neighborhood Shaved Pork Gyro recipe that I found on Pinterest.  It is on the Old Neighborhood Web site as well. In an uncanny stroke of luck, my ghetto Shop Rite actually carries the Old Neighborood Shaved Meat products. Yay!

Feel free to serve these bad boys with all sorts of veggies and toppings. We did red peppers, cucumbers, plum tomatoes, romaine and feta. You could totally do hummus, olives, peppers of varying colors, scallions, fresh herbs, etc. Woo-hoo!

I didn't serve these in a traditional gyro roll-up style. I kinda just cut the pitas in half and stuffed them. Top Chef plating, it is not.

Gyro toppings: Tzatziki sauce, cucumbers, red bell peppers, red onions.

And more toppings: plum tomatoes, feta cheese, romaine.

Beneath that rainbow of veggie amazingness is some tasty shaved pork. Honest.

Here's my little man loving a ride on the Boardwalk in Ocean City. 
That smile is gold!

Tzatziki Sorta Sauce
10 ounces Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Parsley, chopped
2 scallion greens, minced
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and gently stir together with a spoon until well blended. Refrigerate if made well ahead.

Shaved Pork Gyros from Old Neighborhood Shaved Pork
By Susan Chan

1 1-lb. package of Old Neighborhood Shaved Pork
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. cumin
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste
tzatziki sauce (see ingredients & recipe below)
pita bread
olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
1 tomato, cut into strips
Lettuce leaves
Crumbled feta

Marinate the Shaved Pork with 1 tbsp. oregano, 1 tbsp. cumin, 3 tbsp. lemon juice, minced garlic clove, salt, and pepper for at least 30 minutes. I left the amount of salt and pepper to your discretion, but if you need a point of reference, I used 1 tsp. salt with 2 tsp. black pepper.

If you are making the tzatziki sauce yourself, mix all of the tzatziki ingredients together, and set it aside in the fridge.

Heat a pan over medium heat. Add 2 tsp. of olive oil. Add the shaved pork.

Cook the pork for about 4-5 minutes, or until the meat is thoroughly cooked.

In a separate pan, heat ½ tsp. of olive oil. Lightly toast one pita bread.

Remove the pita from the pan, and place it on a dish.

Remove the tzatziki sauce from the fridge.

Place one lettuce leaf in the center of the pita.

Add tomato strips, onion slices, and cooked shaved pork.  The amount added is dependent on how full you would like each gyro.

Top with feta cheese and some tzatziki sauce. For the tzatziki sauce that appeared with this recipe on the Old Neighborhood Foods Web site, click here.)

Fold the sides of the pita towards the center.

(optional) Wrap with foil or parchment paper to hold the gyro in place.

Repeat steps for each gyro.

Serve and enjoy!

Pining Over Pins

Pinterest boggles my brain.

As if a small business owner/devoted wifey/domestic goddess/mom of toddler needs even MORE distraction in her life. I mean, prioritizing is of utmost importance when dealing with my diversions: Mad Men and Real Housewives take the top spots, natch. (All class, The Jersey Girl is. ALL CLASS.)

At first, I didn't quite get it, this Pinterest craze. Honestly, I still really don't. The bazillions of images are pretty and fabulous and boy, a girl sure can dream. Each pin leads you to more pins, delusions and hopeless unrealities. From remodeling to organizing to styling an outfit to buying more and more and more. It never ends.

But, ask yourself, fellow Pinners out there: Are you REALLY going to rock that dress like Jessica Alba in the 10 stalkerish images you posted on your Celebrity Style board? Are 50 different ways to DIY glitter nails really going to make or break you? And will your kitchen cupboards ever be THAT organized or that big or that awesome?

I think we all know the answer here, and yet, I probably pinned 20 different pins in the past 20 minutes just because. Admit it. Pinterest is insanely addictive and more often than not a massive waste of time. And that is that. I love it.

Recipe hoarders really fascinate me. Because honestly, when I'm piddling away my few and far between spare moments on Pinterest I wonder how in the world do people have the hours in their week to cook all of these recipes and make all of these crafts. Where have I gone wrong in time management?

 The Jersey Girl is crafty in manners of slyness, but not in terms of actually making objects out of twine and yarn and such. Drinking a bottle of wine is WAY more relaxing.

But I digress, dear readers. I'm about to give myself MAJOR props, because I did it! I made a Pinterest recipe with my own two hands. Yay!! I wasn't just wasting away my 2-year-old's nap time on the Internets by pinning meaningless pins, ie - inspirational quotes said by famous dead people in pretty fonts and 30 variations of opera-length pearl necklaces. No, no. I DID so much more.

Funnily, the recipe I made isn't the most food-pornish in terms of looks, but in tastiness, it is making the magic happen: Cilantro Lime Dressing from simplefoodhealthylife.com. This dressing was fabulous in so many ways. The brightness of the cilantro, the tang of the yogurt and garlic, the punchiness of lime juice and vinegar combine for a close-to-perfect dressing for any Mexican-inspired meal.

That night, we gave fish tacos a whirl. Evan ate three bites! Yay. We did jazz up the tacos, which featured grilled tilapia, with the dressing, but I thought the salad I made really shined. I combined quartered medium-sized tomatoes, red onion and queso fresco - a whole milk Mexican cheese, and then topped it all with a couple tablespoons of the cilantro lime dressing. The recipe below makes a huge portion. It will last you for a few recipes. In addition to fish tacos and salads, I think the dressing would taste fabulous over chicken and shrimp.

Cilantro Lime Dressing worked great over 

quartered tomatoes, red onion and queso fresco.

Cilantro Lime Dressing
From simplefoodhealthylife.com

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Chobani 0% plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tsp. sea salt

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Continue to add olive oil 1 Tbsp. at a time as necessary to create a smooth finish.

The Chicken Finger Conundrum

Chicken Fingers.

Who you foolin? You know your kid loves them.

There’s no need to get all judgy-mom/Jamie Oliver on me. I saw him do the vile gooey pink-chicken-parts-in-a-blender demo on his saving America from our obese disgusting selves program on ABC. I watched it from beginning to end. The entire series. It was fascinating. I think I was prego at the time. Probably stuffing my face with Fruit Loops and cheesesteaks while lying on the couch. Irony, yes?

 And I agree with that crazy British dude in all his lecturing glory.

But, the reality is: My Baby Evan grooves on his chickie.

What do you want from me?

Fortunately, the Jersey Girl has ways in which to rock out breaded chicken in a manner that is not disgusting. Or wrapped up in a pre-cooked Perdue package. Or found in the prepared frozen food section of the grocery. The HORROR!!

Sidenote: I’m not judging you if you feed these things to your kid. Or go the Mickey D’s takeout route. But I do hope you will consider the way shown below. Even me and The Husband eat these chicken fingers. The key to their fabulosity: garlic-infused Greek yogurt. Marinating in this wonder-sauce keeps the tenders so…. Tender.  

And you can make a whole bundle of them and sock them away in the fridge for your day-to-day operation. Or for those moments when you’re all like, “God. I’m exhausted. Calgon, take me away. Where’s my wine? Can I just watch Jersey Housewives? Jesus, kid. You need to eat. AGAIN!”

Shut up. You know you think these unmotherly thoughts.

Since we’re keeping it real, The Jersey Girl tends to order chicken fingers for the Babes quite often when we’re dining out. I’m not proud of this decision, but sometimes you gots to do what you gots to do – and by that I mean prevent screaming from an impatient toddler. The Husband staged an intervention this summer on the matter, so on a lunch outing the Jersey Girl ordered Evan a scrambled egg with cheese, which pretty much went untouched by a restless and annoyed toddler. I know his inner monologue was something like, “WTF? Where’s my chicken, Dad?!!! Chickie. CHICKIE. CHICKIE!!!!!!!”

Evan loves to play peek-a-boo. But, really. Who doesn't?

Rest assured, Evan makes his foodie Mama proud. While his old-standby of chicken fingers and fries (along with blueberries and strawberries brought by moi) often grace his plate in restaurants, he loves to try what me and his Daddy-O are eating, too, because the truth is my offspring eats enough for four people on a daily basis. So, he has the comfort of his familiar chicken while exploring the wonders of new tastes in what we eat. And well, I love that about my very hungry 21-month-old, who lately has been all about teetering and tottering with me in the kitchen with my pots and pans and wooden spoons. He tells me he’s making sauce. Should be delish.

Mmmmm. Chicken fingers. Yes, the salad will probably 

get thrown in your face by a 2-year-old who prefers a side of chips or pretzels.

Homemade Chicken Fingers

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 fat clove of garlic, chopped

1 ½ pounds chicken tenders

¾ cup Italian style bread crumbs

¼ cup grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Line a sturdy baking sheet with foil. Lightly brush with olive oil.

In a medium bowl, combine yogurt and chopped garlic. Place chicken tenders in the yogurt mixture. Marinate for 15-20 minutes. (Don’t marinate for long because the chicken will become tough and stringy. Yuck.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

In another bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheese and salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. When the chicken is finished marinating, coat each chicken tender in the bread crumb mixture.

Place each tender evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Once all the tenders are breaded and lined up, drizzle each with some olive oil.

Bake in the super hot oven for about 12 minutes.

Enjoy with your hungry little monsters!!