Celebrated my in-laws 56th Wedding Anniversary recently! I wanted to make a SPECIAL meal for them, spent two days cooking even though I was under the weather. My in-laws expected just a simple dinner and felt very special seeing this table!
I always prepare a lot of food even though we have a small family since I pack food for Alla (mother-in-law) to take home.
She doesn’t cook much for herself since she takes care of her husband that has been through so much and can’t eat most of the things. So it’s a big treat for her to have Yummy leftovers!
I’m very close to my inlaws! I met them and my hubby when I was just 16 years old, a bit older than our son now. They welcomed me into their family and loved and cared for me like I’m their own daughter all these 35+ years.
Unfortunately, home life was not a happy one, I’m glad that God sent me Good inlaws!!
It’s interesting that many think that I’m an organized person, but that’s one of my biggest flaws.
I’m very spontaneous and every holiday I start with the same routine: Panic, “what to cook?”, a huge list reduced and changed mid-way. But, interestingly enough it always works out in the end.
Being RESOURCEFUL is my biggest talent! And I rely on store-bought items!
I will write down my tips for making and cooking a Successful meal in the next post. I think this will be useful to most!
Some of the items, I have cooked before and just click on the link for the recipe. Some, I just come up with and will give approximate recipes.
ANNIVERSARY MEAL
Bʀᴜsᴄʜᴇᴛᴛᴀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄʜᴇᴇsᴇ ᴛᴏᴀsᴛ
Super easy to prepare for any occasion and you should have a bottle of this Delicious Classico® Basil and Tomato Bruschetta sauce on hand. Other flavors by this brand just as good.
Bʀᴜsᴄʜᴇᴛᴛᴀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄʜᴇᴇsᴇ ᴛᴏᴀsᴛ recipe
I recommend using a French or Italian baguette for this Bruschetta recipe. I always slice mine on a slight bias, but it’s up to you. Top each baguette slice with a spoonful of tomato bruschetta and sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated at the 400F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, until cheese melted and edges are lightly browned.
Mᴇᴅɪᴛᴇʀʀᴀɴᴇᴀɴ Aʀᴜɢᴜʟᴀ Sᴀʟᴀᴅ
Mediterranean Arugula Salad
Ingredients: arugula, salad cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onion, radishes, salad peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese.
Served with dressing on the side:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Mᴀʀɪɴᴀᴛᴇᴅ Pᴇᴘᴘᴇʀs
Baked bell peppers, olive oil, white vinegar, red onion, garlic, dill, salt/pepper
Mᴀʀɪɴᴀᴛᴇᴅ Mᴜsʜʀᴏᴏᴍs ᴀɴᴅ Oʟɪᴠᴇs
Marinated Mushrooms from Costco, store-bought kalamata olives, red onion, olive oil
Eɢɢᴘʟᴀɴᴛ Gʀᴀᴛɪɴ
This is the dish I have dreamed up the kinda last-minute deal. therefore I didn’t measure any of the ingredients, but I can give you an approximate recipe since it was very delicious. Next time, I will give an exact recipe for this.
The reason for the “Eggplant Gratin” name is in Wikipedia.
Gratin is a French term for the dish that is usually prepared in a shallow dish and topped with breadcrumbs or cheese. I’ve used cheese!
I know that most recipes for eggplant insist you salt it before cooking to remove bitterness. I did this time, but to be honest, it’s a totally unnecessary step in my opinion.
Maybe twice in my life, I bought eggplants that were a bit bitter, and even then, it didn’t bother us at all. It is up to you if you prefer to salt, wait and remove the salt before cooking.
Eggplant Gratin
- In a large bowl, combine olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, sliced salad peppers, fresh basil, Italian spices, and salt/pepper to taste.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the bottom of your baking pan. Sprinkle salt/pepper. Layer sliced eggplant.
- Spoon olive oil mix on top and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. The bottom layers are invisible, so it doesn’t have to be beautiful, will share this secret! LOL
- Next layer tomato slices, spoon olive oil mix, and mozzarella cheese.
- The top layer you want to look Beautiful by arranging eggplant slices in an attractive pattern, fanning them across the surface of the dish.
- Spoon the rest of the olive oil mix and add mozzarella cheese on top.
- Bake in the preheated at 350F oven for about 45 minutes, until the desired doneness. Time depends on your own and your baking dish.
Bʀᴇᴀᴅᴇᴅ Sʜʀɪᴍᴘ ᴀɴᴅ Eᴅᴀᴍᴀᴍᴇ
To save on SANITY and TIME, I always have what I call my “Emergency” meals in the freezer. I will make a more detailed post on what to have in your freezer next time.
The Panko Shrimp is from Costco and they are AMAZING! Honestly better tasting than what you would order at the restaurant. You can actually taste the shrimp! Buy it!!!
Edamame is my Love! I love it boiled, fried, baked, just a great snack!
This package is from Publix. I just Microwaved one pack and had it in my refrigerator, so I just added it to the Panko Shrimp during baking. They taste and look great together!
Pᴏᴛᴀᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴇʀᴏɢɪᴇs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴜsʜʀᴏᴏᴍs ᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴɪᴏɴs
I have used Mrs.Ts Potato and Cheese Pierogi and added sauteed portabella mushroom and onions. This is one of those dishes that taste and look good on any table. Again, a must-have item in the freezer – Party Saver!
Bᴀʙʏ Bᴀᴄᴋ Rɪʙs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄᴏʀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴏᴄᴄᴏʟɪ
This is one of those dishes that I make ALL THE TIME! We never order ribs out because they can’t compare to the moist and delicious ones you can make at home. These are SUPER EASY to prepare and your guests will rave how Great these taste!
— CLICK HERE FOR THE Fall-of-the-bone BBQ Baby Back ribs RECIPE —
Sʜʀɪᴍᴘ sᴄᴀᴍᴘɪ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʟɪɴɢᴜɪɴᴇ
This is my Mother-in-law’s FAVORITE dish and that’s what she orders when we eat out! I always prepare it when she comes over!
I have two recipes that I use, one is baked and one is stove top. Both Delicious! I’ve baked this one.
— CLICK HERE FOR THE Easy Baked Shrimp Scampi Recipe —
— CLICK HERE FOR THE Shrimp Scampi with fresh Angel Hair pasta VIDEO Recipe —
Iɴsᴛᴀɴᴛ Pᴏᴛ Lᴀᴍʙ
Once we have discovered this Australian Lamb Leg Roast while shopping at Costco it’s been a game changer for my family! Costco’s price on Lamb is hard to beat. We buy it every time we shop there.
The Lamb gets more tender and flavorful in the next few days. I keep sliced lamb in the leftover gravy and it absorbs all the moisture and seasoning. So Good!
— CLICK HERE FOR THE Instant Pot Leg of Lamb recipe —
Fʀɪᴇᴅ ʀɪᴄᴇ from Costco
One of the items in my freezer all the time, fried rice or we get Yakisoba; Japanese-style stir-fried noodles with crispy vegetables from Costco.
Both better than you would get at the Chinese places! So Fresh and Tasty!
A great side dish to have and serve when you have company over.
Dᴇssᴇʀᴛ
Bᴇʀʀʏ Rɪᴄᴏᴛᴛᴀ Cʀᴇᴘᴇ Cᴀᴋᴇ
Bᴇʀʀʏ Rɪᴄᴏᴛᴛᴀ Cʀᴇᴘᴇ Cᴀᴋᴇ Recipe
So the story behind this cake is that I have recently bought EGG WHITE THINS by CREPINI at Costco. I don’t remember seeing this item before. Must be new. I loved their crepes – “Naked Crepini”, but unfortunately, our Costco doesn’t carry them anymore.
Since I have tried this company before, I knew these crepes will be good!
These looked great and I love the fact that they are LOW CALORIE – ONLY 35 Calories each and LOW CARB – ONLY 3 Net Carbs!!! They taste great as well!
My original idea was to make Cheese Blintzes, but these crepes are a smaller size than usual and it was not easy to roll if you want to put a good amount of filling inside. So I gave up on that idea and thought: “Why not make a Crepe Cake instead?”
I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I’ve used 2 packages of Egg White Thins which are 12 crepes to create this very light, summery cake that my family enjoyed!
The filling:
1 1⁄2 cup ricotta cheese
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. of homemade berry fruit jam
Spread one thin layer of ricotta filling. Top with a second crepe and repeat until all of the crepes have been used. Drizzle with melted chocolate on top and sprinkle sliced almonds. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Cᴀʀᴠᴇʟ Iᴄᴇᴄʀᴇᴀᴍ ᴄᴀᴋᴇ
My Mother-in-law wanted to bring something and we All – LOVE – Carvel Ice Cream Cakes! The BEST!
Fʀᴜɪᴛ ᴘʟᴀᴛᴇ
Nᴜᴛs ᴀɴᴅ Dʀɪᴇᴅ ғʀᴜɪᴛ
My in-laws are extremely happy to be near us and my Mother-in-law is my Biggest Fan! Anything I do or post she instantly likes and comments. They have always treated me like their daughter. I’m glad that we can make their life better!
I try to create a holiday spirit almost on a daily basis for my family; beautifully served with love meals that we always eat together!
My Loving Crew!
I hope you will find this post useful! I tried to be as detailed with every recipe as possible which takes a lot of time and effort. If you use and like any of the recipes, please let me know!
ENJOY!!!
You are simply amazing with your dishes. Will definitely try out your recipes. Thanks for sharing..
Thank you so much, Leila, for your kind words! Enjoy these recipes!
I love your recipes. I’m So happy I found you and followed you.
I’m so Happy that you found me and like these recipes, Sylvia! Appreciate it!
Hi Anna, you have some nice looking recipes. But when I tried to save them to my Pinterest account, I couldn’t. You may want to link each of your recipes to save to Pinterest. I know that’s how many people save them these days.
Hi Lana! Glad you like my recipes. Thank you! I have fixed and now you can easily Pin any image! Happy Pinning!!!
Hi Anna
I was reading your dinner menu everything looks so delicious. The crepes that you bought in Costco are made by my best friends Eric and Paula Shkolnik; their factory is in Brooklyn: I am going to Show them your blog: their products are delicious and low carbs.
Thank you very much, Faye! So glad you like these recipes! Please tell your friends that I LOVE their brand and miss the “Naked Crepini” we used to buy at Costco. I plan on making more recipes using their new product!
Please let them know that I have another recipe on my blog with their previous product “Naked Crepini” – https://www.craftycookingbyanna.com/creamy-chicken-crepini/