Friday Pasta

Don't ask me what I've put in this pasta. I did a homemade white sauce. Some ingredients weren't available so I improvised putting this and that. I used a store bought roasted chicken, spinach, pine nuts and corn. I layered it with Fusilli, chicken mix, grated fresh parmesan and then the white sauce and more parmesan. It was very delicious!

  I love the baked top of the pasta...with burned cheese

  So yummy! full of flavor and not too saucy

Friday Lunch - Pizzetta

As you may have noticed, I've been posting about places that are less crowded during the weekend, not that Pizzetta was empty. But you don't find the noisy crowd there, except for my boys! We took the boys and our nephew who is back for the summer from the States, for the best pizza in K-Town. It was a first for Fahad too. We ordered Mozzarella sticks, Bruschetta with baked goat cheese (eaten before I could take a pic). Baked Tortellini, Chicken Lasagna, Cheeseburger Pizza, and can't remember the name of the last pizza. The food as usual, mind blowing! The quality and flavors incredible!!! 

Mozzarella Sticks



Cheeseburger Pizza

Ahmed Loving his Cheeseburger Pizza

Baked Tortellini, I loved it!



Chicken Lasagn. It was Fahad's order.

It was good.

I can't remember the name of this Pizza

but it was really delicious.

Abdulaziz loved the food, he wants to

have a party here!

All in all we had a wonderful meal.



Fondue Lunch

I've learned, no matter which schools you put your kids in and how much you pay, they'll always get the minimum to what is going to matter to them later in life.

As a parent, I make sure my kids get a diverse education, even when I have to pay extra for it, which they're not getting at school. We do a lot of reading, we experiment on a lot of projects, and (as Foodies) we like them to try different kind of cuisines and learn what kind of foods they're eating and from where it originated.
"So where are we eating mama?" Abdulaziz asks me.
"Fondue."
He looks confused.
"Like the chocolate Fondue you make, this one is made from cheese and they have other yummy dishes." I explain, "So you know where Fondue comes from?"


And I read him the info I got from Wikipedia ;p He rolls his eyes.


"Fondue is a Swiss and French dish of melted cheese served in a communal pot (caquelon) over a small burner (rechaud), and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese. It was promoted as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union in the 1930s and became popular in North America in the 1960s.


Since the 1950s, the name "fondue" has been generalized to a variety of other dishes where a food is dipped into a hot liquid, including chocolate fondue, where pieces of fruit are dipped into a melted chocolate mixture, and fondue bourguignonne, where pieces of meat are cooked in hot oil."

We arrived there, the place wasn't very crowded, which made us relax more. As I said on previous food posts, any place where the staff could tolerate my kids, it is good enough for us.

 Abdulaziz and Ahmed sitting in the foundue pot seating :)

They were in a good mood.

We ordered, Chicken mushroom cream fries, Bolognese fries, mini Brushetta burgers, Penne with Pink sauce, Swiss village Fondue with beef tenderloins, chicken escalope and bread. I had a cranberry cocktail. For dessert Abdulaziz ordered Oreo chocolate pudding, which he loved.

 Bolognese Fries

Chicken Mushroom cream Fries

 Ahmed loved his Bolognese Fries

"Mama hatha wayed hilwa!"

(mama this is very delcious)

 I love the decor.

 My orange cranberry cocktail, was good.

 The Mini Burshetta burgers. Weren't that bad,

I wasn't crazy about that sweet chili sauce, if only they'd

replace it for something different. Maybe like a red

pepper mayo sauce, or just topped with caramelized onions.

Of course being Friday, the boys want their pasta.

Penne with Pink Sauce.

 Swiss Village Fondue, with beef tenderloins, chicken escalope

and bread. It was very Yummy.

Oreo Chocolate pudding. Abdulaziz loved it!

"If the waitress asks you 'how was your food?' what would you say?" I ask Abdulaziz.

"It was delicious." He replies.


"Ok…who prepared the food?"


"The Chef."


"What would you ask the waitress to tell the Chef."


He give me his cocky smile.


"My compliments to the Chef!"


So the waitress did ask about the food and he tells her (shyly) it was all good and my compliments to the Chef!

As for us, we stopped at Gelato Italiano for some Passion fruit, Pineapple, chocolate and bubble gum gelato ;)

The Mac&Cheese Bug!

Yes... Yes... Yes... I've been bitten by the Mac&Cheese bug

On the night Ansam tweeted she has the Mac & Cheese craving

Thank God I've already had my dinner.

Then Denderma tweeted a pic.

After her Swera...and everyone is tweeting about it.

To save my diet... I signed off twitter for the evening ;p

Still the next morning I can't stop thinking

about Mac&Cheese, and the next day

and the day after...until last Friday, my free day ;p

But staying true to my diet, I bought low fat ingredients, and

for lunch, Friday Pasta, I made Lowfat Mac&Cheese.

I followed Ansams recipe and it was easy and devine, even

the kids loved it!

Ansam's Post 

 

Friday Pasta: Tomatoes

Every week I get a package from my sister in law with

seasonal fruits and vegetables from their farm.

This morning I woke up finding a box with red ripe tomatoes.

I pop a small tomatoe in my mouth and it is the freshest, juiciest and sweetest tomatoe.

I decided to make lunch with it.

Tomato, mozzarella seasonal pasta.

This is very easy and quick to make.

2 cups of seeded and chopped tomatoes

1/2 onion chopped 4 garlic cloves chopped

1/4 blanched almonds

1/2 cup olive oil

30g butter

2 tsp tomato pesto or paste

Salt & pepper to taste

1 cup of Mozzarella shredded or chopped

2 Tbs basil chopped

2 Tbs chopped black olives

Grated parmesan

- Heat water and add pasta, cook until tender.

- Heat oil and butter. Add the onions and garlic and fry until soft,

then add almonds and cook for 3 min.

Add tomato pesto then tomatoes cook for 5-10 min.

Add half the basil. Then add salt and pepper to taste.

- Drain the pasta then add it to the tomato sauce and the mozzarella.

Toss and mix very well then serve right away.

- Garnish with remaining basil, olives and grated parmesan.

Bon appetite

Very Yummy!

Weekend Lunch - Prime & Toast

It was another lazy Friday. Fahad went early to the office, I spent the morning with the boys studying. After Friday prayers we went to Prime and Toast for lunch. I expected it would be a bit crowded luckily and surprisingly there were only few people there. The weather was amazing, cool and cloudy. So we get seated, the boys a bit more excited than usually. I tried to calm them down and interest them in the menu. As usually they were only interested in ordering pasta. We went through the menu. Love Prime and Toast, always so much to order from. I loved their mini Tapas menu, I wanted to order, but Fahad wasn't interested, and I couldn't order all the yummy food for myself. So we ordered: Fillet and mash potatos and mushroom sauce for Fahad, mushroom cream sauce with spaghetti for the boys, P&T Slider for me , and Chicken Fritters with Ranch and mango chutney. So as soon as they brought the chicken fritters the boys were all on it. Hmmm…when I told them lets order some Tapas none of them were interested and now they're attacking my chicken! All in all the food was great!!! The sliders, the best I had in a long time! I had one and saved the other for later that evening. The only hitch was Fahad's order it took a while until it arrived. They brought the mash 15min before the fillet arrived and then it arrived without the mushroom sauce. However, the manager apologized and made up for it by making the chocolate chip cookie ice cream dessert we ordered for the boys on the house. After we left, Abdulaziz asked to come back again, which he never did when we ate out. :) The rest of the day was spent preparing for Abdulaziz's upcoming birthday.

Chicken fritters with ranch and mago chutney sauce.

The boys attacked it as soon as it was put on the table

If I had known, I'd ordered more Tapas.

My sliders. The best I had in while.

The portion was too much, I had the rest to go for

later in the day.

Mashed Potato

The boys ordered mushroom creame sauce spahgetti...

So did Ahmed like it??

Oh! Yes! This smile and sauce smeared face says it all!!

So did Abdulaziz, who asked

me to come back again next week after we left!!

Fahad's fillet. He really enjoyed it.

Chocolate chip cookies with ice cream. I asked them

to cut it in half so the boys would share it.

Friday Pasta: Lorenzo

Salhiya

It was one of those lazy days, when even the boys weren't in the mood to go out, and the help had the day off. "So, are you going to cook something or are we eating out?" Fahad asked me. I wanted to cook, it has been a while I didn't cook anything, but I felt lazy. "I guess we're eating out." I replied. Abdulaziz protested. He was busy playing a game on his computer with his friends. "Nah! Your eyes need a break from the computer." I tell him and pull him from where he was sitting and send him away to change, threatening if he didn't do so and very quick, I'll confiscate the computer for the rest of the break. Ahmed had no problem. He was excited to get out of the house and was expressing it by jumping from one sofa to the other and from one arm chair to the other until he scared the life out of me when he toppled from the arm chair. Now we're ready, we get in the car, I'm driving, and Fahad curiously looks at me. "Have you decided where we're going?" I nodded, smiling. "Lorenzo. It has been awhile we haven't been there, and I'm craving Roberto's pasta." "Roberto isn't here."

Roberto is an Italian restaurant owner and chef, who fed us the best Pasta and Italian cuisine I've ever had in my life! "I know! That's why we're going to Lorenzo!" I reply a bit exasperated. Gee! Men! On the way, I explain to the boys we're going to Lorenzo which serves Italian Food. You know I'm one of those mother's who is a bit neurotic (well not a bit but I try to ease on them a little), and want my boys to be the perfect little gentlemen they are and know about everything. "Bas mama! You're boring me!" Abdulziz finally snaps. Ok. So I shut up for the rest of the drive. Salhiya Plaza was practically empty. Only few families here and there and the weather was a bit windy. I wanted to sit inside, but Fahad thought it was better if we stayed out, knowing the boys, they wouldn't sit still and would want to run around the fountain. Of course he was right.

As usual, the service was impeccable and the food exquisite, and the weather held until the end. Hence, we had a wonderful meal. Even the boys enjoyed their food and didn't move until they were full and done with their meal. As soon as the sun went down, it grew more windy and cold. We felt too full for desert, so we ordered chocolate cheese cake slice to go.

My order, Trio Pasta. All three pastas are very delicious.

It was a bit too much for me so I shared some with Fahad and

the boys.

Fahad's order, breaded chicken fillet and fries, I shared

with him some of my pasta.

Abdulaziz's order Lorenzo's Lasagna, the best ever!

Ahmed's Alfredo with mushrooms and chicken in Penne.

It was so yummy!

Firday Pasta (Risotto)

There isn't any pasta for today.

Today the big Boss wanted Risotto, and he got his Risotto!!

These pictures are from an older post.

But it is the same risotto,

same recipe, same deliciousness ;)

Chicken Leek Lasagna - Friday Pasta

I did this a couple of weekends ago. Fahad wanted chicken, and I remembered a pasta we used to have when I was a child. However were out since morning for work and by the time I got home I was exhausted. I did it but took few short cuts ;)

This pasta consists of Lasagna, filled with skinless chicken breast cut in cubes, leeks and corn. As sauce I used Ragu's Lasagna sauce and as a topping I used Maggie's Bachamel sauce and mozzarella cheese. It turned out soo good! Fahad loved it, the kids couldn't have enough of it and I liked it too, because it was light. It was quick and easy to make ;)

Creamy Herbed Chicken Pasta

When you diet, sometimes you crave restaurant style food, or food that is full of flavor and texture. Food which makes you fat! Yet you don't want to sabotage your diet by eating something high in fat. I own a lot of cook books, actually hundreds of them. In one of them there is this favorite recipe I always make. Sometimes I use regular ingredients, but now, because I'm dieting, I swapped them for low fat alternatives and the result is the same and even better "Guilt free" YUM!

Creamy Herbed Chicken with Spinach Tagliatelle

4 Chicken breast fillets, sliced

2 teaspoons of sweet paprika

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

250g packet of cream cheese (I used light philly)

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese ( I used the reduced fat which I found at Carfour)

1 cup of water

1 small cube of chicken stock (I used Maggie low salt chicken stock)

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh mint

40g butter (I used Lurpak light)

500g of spinach Tagliatelle (Or any other pasta. There is gluten free pasta available at Dean & Deluca which I also use sometimes for my pasta dishes)

- This is very easy to make. Mix the chicken, paprika and pepper in a bowl and set aside. (I usually let it marinate for half hour at least, sometimes more)

-Blend or process the cheeses, the water and the stock cube and herbs until well combined. Heat butter in pan and add chicken. cook stirring over high heat until well browned. add cheese mixture, simmer for 5 minutes.

-Add pasta to a large pan of boiling water, boil uncovered until just tender. Drain.

- Serve pasta with creamy chicken.

Friday Pasta

After a long day filled with activities in the cool weather, we came back home starving and wanting something warm and delicious to warm our tummies and soul :) So I made Pasta shells filled with Low fat Ricotta & Spinach placed on a bed of meat sauce topped with grated parmesan cheese then placed in the oven for 15min. YUM!