Kid-friendly Mojito

Last week, the Farmers Market had lots of fresh mint leaves sold for a just a dollar a bunch.  I thought they'd be perfect with grilled salmon and mojito. Since my son is still too young to drink alcoholic beverages, I decided to make the mojito kid-friendly.  He was out playing basketball all afternoon when I called him in for dinner.  As he was digging into the salmon, I brought out the kid-friendly mojito made with 7-Up mixed with lots of mint, lemon and lime crushed in my trusted Japanese suribachi to extract the flavors (if you don't have one, you can use a regular mortar and pestle), a drop of Stevia as sweetener and lots of ice.  He thought it was amazing....he even begged me for the recipe!

-----------------------------
Lemonade sweetened with honey is my all time fav drink in summer. What's yours?

Momgateway Light Recipes Contest Winner

Here's the round-up:

 

Roasted Wax Beans with Mint 

I loved the simple elegance of this light and healthy side dish 

Cantaloupe Roasted Cornish Game Hen came as a packet filled with aromatics, veggies and crispy game hen

 

La Ratatouille  was gorgeous... a unique take on a classic favorite!

There were only three entries but they were beautiful creations so I recruited a couple of my girlfriends -----Kim and Cindy, who are fabulous cooks in their own right, to help me judge the winner. Our choice was unanimous...we all liked the Cantaloupe Roasted Cornish Game Hen.  Kim says "It is a complete 'light' meal that would appeal to most men as well as women ...and the use of cantaloupe is so creative. Cindy says she would actually make the dish as the "sweet cantaloupe with the hen sounds wonderful and could be presented in a very appealing way".  I actually like how cantaloupe complements the veggies and curried hen plus I enjoy food roasted in small packets and the thrill of discovering the delicious flavors inside."

Congratulations, HLT.  Thanks to CSN  and for everyone who participated or commented!

Beef Kebabs

Friendly reminder: If you have not yet done so, do join us for the Momgateway Light Recipes Contest.  The deadline is July 25th and the prize is a $60 gift card to the more than 200 online CSN stores.

                                                --------------------------------------

The workshop at Ohio State University was quite an experience...lots of new technologies and great talks...but so little time.  Our schedule was so full, we barely had time to eat.  I'm really glad to be back and get cooking again! After being away for so long, I missed my family... but the same day I arrived, we had to head off to Fort Worth to bring my son to a week-long church camp. Yesterday, we picked him up from camp and the first thing he said was, "Finally, after more than three weeks, I'm going to eat Mama's cooking!"  That got me so inspired... I made him kebabs for lunch.  It is super easy, hope you give it a try.

4-5 lb beef sirloin
For the Marinade
1/4 c dark soy sauce (light has more salt)
2 T canola oil
2-4 T muscovado sugar (my son likes it sweet so I used 4 T)
2 T freshly minced garlic
1/2 small onion, finely minced
1 1/2 t black pepper
1 t Kosher salt
juice of 1/4-1/2 of a lemon

Cut beef into bite-size pieces (about 1" chunks). Mix marinade ingredients together and taste it before adding the beef.  Different brands of soy sauce vary in saltiness. Reduce the amount of soy sauce according to your taste. Allow beef to marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.  Soak kebab sticks overnight to prevent them from burning while on the grill. Skewer meat and vegetables and grill.  Enjoy!