All of these recipes came from the Weight Watchers PointsPlus Cookbook which I bought at my meeting a few weeks ago. (It appears you can get it used on Amazon but not new. Although I like it SO MUCH I am going to recommend you find a WW storefront and go pick one up.)I apologize for not linking all the recipes the way I usually do, but they’re not online (although I suspect a Google search would turn up close-enough approximations)(not that I would suggest you use plagiarized recipes)(but since technically you can’t copyright a recipe it’s probably not illegal)(good God why am I still typing this paragraph?)

I’ve fallen off the diet wagon a few times over the past few weeks and the hardest part of getting back on is cooking at home – it’s so easy to make a “healthy” dinner that gets totally out of control with the portion sizes. But these recipes made with actual real ingredients (as opposed to some extremely popular diet cookbooks that use a lot of scary substitutes – soft yellow butter flavored oil-based spread vs. BUTTER) and were eaten happily by everyone.

Except for the soup, since E hates soup. I KNOW. YOU tell him how ridiculous that is.

1. Smoky Shrimp and Corn Soup
2. Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Lemon
3. Rosemary Chicken with Balmasic-Glazed Onions
4. Wasabi Steak and Snap Pea Stir-Fry

1. Asian Turkey and Noodle Salad
2. Texas Chicken Soup
3. Falafel Sandwiches with Lemon Yogurt
4. Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Spring Vegetables

What did you have for dinner this week?

I just spent 45 minutes trying to decide if I should start this post with a disclosure about how it is NOT SPONSORED or if I should just write the damn thing and because there is no disclosure people will know I’m not being compensated. I’ve seen a few posts/Twitter conversations recently where readers are torn on the subject – they HATE that bloggers do a non-disclosure disclosure for every single post where they mention a brand or a product (“This post is NOT SPONSORED by unicorns! Unicorns have no idea I exist!!”) but they ALSO hate when they get to the end of a really nice, heartfelt post and they get a surprise disclosure (“This post about how awesome toe nail fungus is was sponsored by the United Coalition of Toe Nail Fungus Enthusiasts – but I REALLY DO love toe nail fugus! It’s so great!!”) Obviously I decided to go with a disclosure – in a sort of rambling, round about way – because it is about a diet program and in the blogging world there’s a lot of diet sponsorship.

So. Let me explain. No, there is to much. Let me sum up: I am a paying member of Weight Watchers, a program I’ve been using for a few months and love. I bought this cookbook and all the groceries with my own money. Weight Watchers has no idea who I am – beyond someone who pays them and has lost 15 lbs so far.

Man, is there anything less fun than coming back to your normal, mid-sized, dog hair covered house after a luxury vacation? I have GOT to win the lottery. Or at least start making enough money so I can afford someone to come in and clean up this dog hair once a week. Sheesh.

Sunday:

Tiny bebehs, giant bathtub

Still not enough cheese.

No one can resist Caroline's cuddles

Monday:

Screw you beach house. Screw you and your perfect sunrise.

Dog-hair free. And so so shiny.

At least it was a nice day for driving.

Tuesday:

Crazy ass giant mouse thing at the Natural History Museum

I took approximately 500 pictures of butterflies, so if they all disappear off the face of the earth tomorrow I'M GOOD.

The only thing left on the Missoni accessory rack. I didn't buy it.

Wednesday:

Luggage in my kitchen. Guess how much has been put away as of this morning. (Hint: NONE)

Kisses.

A photo of me editing photos. Aren't you EXCITED?

Thursday:

Blue cheese, bacon, tomato, carmelized onions on sourdough from the fancy grilled cheese restaurant in Mystic.

Toddler table. The cute is out of CONTROL.

Adorable thrifted vintage baby clothes (and handmade headbands) from an AMAZING internet friend. Thank you @heathermbyrd!!

Friday:

First shoes!

Meal planning. It took me three days and I still haven't actually MADE any of them.

New (amazing) lens. I can now take pictures of each of Caroline's eyelashes.

Saturday:

8 am, where else would I be?

Swoopy hair, sleepy face

More wine, less whine.

I plan to spend Sunday napping as much as possible – I feel like I’ve been beaten (thanks to Stroller Strides) and sleep deprived (thanks to a teething baby) and starved (thanks to eating like a fat kid on vacay followed by a return to my diet) – while I thoroughly neglect my children. Luckily they’re pretty self sufficient if you throw a few cheese sticks at them and turn on Nick Jr. I am the best mother EVER.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

One of the most bountiful but most unused items in my CSA bag each week has been the hot peppers. I made the mistake of thinking one was a mild pepper a few weeks ago and ended up crying into the sink as I scrubbed under my nails and sprayed water into my burning eyes. Today’s free tip: ALWAYS ASSUME PEPPERS ARE HOT.

Since that incident, I’ve been stockpiling my peppers in hopes of coming up with a better plan than Horrible Pain A La Face. So when I found myself adding my beloved sriracha to an omelet for the third time in a week, a red hot little light bulb went off over my head.

In case you are unfamiliar, this is what sriracha looks like:

I would show you a picture of what it tastes like, but that might be to racy for this website. Let’s just say it’s like sassy little angels dancing on my tongue and making my diet food tastes a lot less like diet food.

So what better to do with my abundance of hot peppers than make my own hot sauce?

Simmering

My homemade sauce is surprisingly similar to the bottle sriracha in taste, although it has the pepper seeds in it (like the chili sauce version I also have in my fridge). You could seed the peppers before cooking and run it back through the food processor post-cooking to get a smoother texture, but it would be less spicy.

Homemade Sriracha
Based on the recipe found here

Ingredients:

Approximately 16 hot red peppers*
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 T vegetable oil
15 oz can tomato sauce (I used Hunts)
1 small can tomato paste
1 T fish sauce
2 T soy sauce (I used low sodium)
3 T rice vinegar
3 T sugar

Cut the stems off the hot peppers. Be sure to wear gloves when you’re using them, or at least scrub your hands REALLY REALLY WELL afterward. Mince them well (I used my mini food processor, but don’t put your face right over it when you take the lid off because the fumes are STRONG) and set them aside.

Add the oil, minced garlic and minced shallots to a saucepan over medium heat and saute for about 3 minutes until fragrant. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste and peppers and stir it all up well. Increase the heat a little bit and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for approximated 8-10 minutes until sauce is saucy and well combined. The bits of pepper will start to fall apart a little.

Remove from heat and let hot sauce cool completely.

*I don’t know exactly what KIND of peppers these are, but you could use whatever you want. Just remember you’re making sriracha, not the kind of terrifying sauce they put on wings for Man vs. Food. Don’t kill anyone.

Enjoy on eggs, potatoes, pizza, french fries, fish, chicken, steak, tacos, or any food served on a Navy submarine (says my husband). It’s pleasantly hot in small quantities, mouth burning spicy by the tablespoon, and I love it so much I plan to take my jar with me on vacation. I’m not even joking.

Galette: n, a general term used in the French cuisine to designate various types of flat, round or free form crusty cakes. But it’s not really a cake. It’s like an unemployed pie that’s stopped brushing its hair in the morning. A tart that’s had four tequila shots and is getting sloppy. A pastry getting a liberal arts degree in underwater basket-weaving and whose mother keeps asking what it really wants to DO with its life.

It’s easy-going, is what I’m saying. And easy to make – no lattice tops or fancy crimped edges here.

Up until about a month ago I had no idea what a galette even was. And then damn Martha Stewart went and mentioned them on TV and ever since I’ve been stalking recipes like it was my job. But it’s been a zillion plus degrees and baking is hard with two babies trying to crawl into the oven so this weekend was my first chance to attempt one.

But because I’m an overachiever, we had a galettefest on Sunday and I made (and invented recipes for!) both a savory galette and a sweet galette. One from scratch, one the easy way. One was husband approved (I’ll let you guess which one) but both were delicious.

Farmer’s Market Galette

Ingredients:

1 ready-made pizza crust
2 ½ cups ricotta
1 medium squash
1 small eggplant
½ onion (red or white)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon tarragon, chopped
2 Tablespoon dill, chopped
2 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
3 Tablespoon milk
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza stone with cooking spray & roll out pizza crust. Spread 2 cups of the ricotta over the crust (like pizza sauce) leaving about 2 inches around all the edges. Thinly slice the squash, eggplant and onion (a mandolin makes this extra easy, but a knife works too) and put it in a medium sized bowl. Toss in the garlic and herbs and stir to combine.

Spread the veggie mixture out evenly over the ricotta and fold the 2 inch edge up over the filling. Beat the milk, egg and last 1/2 cup of ricotta in a small bowl and drizzle it over the veggies, starting near the edge (too much liquid in the middle will make your crust soggy)(trust me on this). Top the galette with the Parmesan and pop it in the oven for 25-35 minutes until the crust is browned and the middle is firm. Let it cool a little before shoving it into your face parts.

(Notes: This would be even MORE DELICIOUS with goat cheese, but E is anti-goat cheese so I made it with ricotta. He still didn’t eat it, so next time it’s goat cheese all the way. If you’ve never had fresh tarragon before, smell it/taste it before tossing it into your galette. I love it but it’s got a very distinctive flavor. Feel free to use whatever herbs you have sitting around. Same with the veggies: anything you love and can slice would be great.)

 Berry Almond Galette

Crust

3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup water

Filling

1 pint blueberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp almond extract

Topping

½ cup almonds
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

For the crust, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and use a fork to press it into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs (or use a food processor, but you won’t get the awesome arm workout). Add the almond extract then the water a little at a time until you can press the dough together to make a ball. Try to touch it as little as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a few minutes.

Toss all the filling ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Let it sit while you make the topping.

Combine almonds, brown sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until almonds are finely ground and topping looks all crumbly.

Get your chilled dough from the fridge. On a well-floured surface using a well flowered rolling pin, roll out the dough into a big circle. Roll it up around your rolling pin, transfer it to a cookie sheet and spread it out again. Pour the filling into the middle of the circle and fold up at least 2-3 inches of the edge all the way around and press the pieces together so none of the filling leaks out (or you’ll have to scrub it off the bottom of your oven after it’s burnt on)(trust me on this).

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle almond-sugar mixture over the berries. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes or you’ll burn yourself. Top with whipped cream or ice cream for extra bonus yum.

(Notes: I had too much dough when I folded up the edges so I tore some of it off to make sure I had enough berries showing to top with the almonds. Pretty much ANY fruit combination would be delicious in this recipe. ANYTHING.)

I’m adding the recipes to the Tasty Kitchen site tonight, so you can save them to your recipe box over there (if you’re a member) and find other amazing galette recipes for your summer produce.

Lots of food and baby face photos this week. Both are delicious.

Sunday:

It must have been E's morning to get up with the kids because there's no way *I* dressed the kid in stripes and plaid.

Wii Basketball counts as both exercise and toddler entertainment

She looks vaguely distressed at being naked. HOLD ON TO THAT FEELING, at least until you're 30.

Monday:

Bossing everyone around after Stroller Strides

Caroline really looks up to her friend Maddie. BA-DUM-CHING.

FaceTime with Daddy, who was out of town for work.

Pasta with herbed butter, goat cheese and heirloom tomatoes. My FAVORITE summer meal (especially since I had actual fanct heirloom tomatoes!) but E hates it.

Tuesday:

I wasted a dollar on the merry-go-round in exchange for my kid putting his shoes back on.

HEY MOM WHATCHA DOIN???

Fun fact: E and I had one of our first dates at Sticky Fingers in Charleston, so I always buy the sauce when they have it at Stop & Shop.

Wednesday @Mystic Seaport:

The Amistad. Like from the movie. I think. One of my friends was the only woman to help build it. I think. Wow, I am FULL of facts. Maybe.

Playing pirates with Maddie in the children's building

This game is called Skittles. It's really dumb. E was OBSESSED.

Thursday:

Stroller Strides. NO PICTURE PLEASE.

Feeding the ducks at Oldeeee Mystickeee Villageeee. The extra "e"s make it AUTHENTIC.

I guess she got over her issues with nudity.

Friday:

Look kids, this is what we used in the old days, before Pinterest. YES PLEASE FALL.

What are you waiting for, a written invitation? It's nap time Mama!

Squash at the CSA. For eating, not just decoratively arranging as a centerpiece. Which is what I do.

Baby Faux Hawk

Saturday:

Sponge Bob Coma. Blame the husband.

Vanilla french toast for breakfast

Finishing up my living room redecorating

The recipe for Monday’s pasta is ripped out of a Rachel Ray magazine, but here it is online. E was gone Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, which might have made this the longest week of my life. By Friday I had given up on leaving the house and succumbed to endless Nick Jr for the toddler and nursing for the baby. The rest of this weekend will be spent on the cleaning and laundry I neglected in favor of naps and hiding in the bathroom taking deep breaths. I’m hoping to have my colorful new living room photos up on Monday, a new recipe later in the week and video of Caroline being adorable somewhere in between. Cross you fingers for a tantrum-free Saturday so I can get my sanity back!

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!