An Easter wrap-up...

Morning, everyone!  Hope you had a BEAUTIFUL weekend.  I have to say ours was pretty awesome from start to finish, starting with a totally impromptu first trip to the beach this season...

I couldn't even handle the bright blue skies without a trip to see that beautiful blue water for one more day.  There was still a cold chill in the air, but who even cares?  Not these kids, that's for sure...

Sandwiched in the middle of the weekend was some Easter fun at Nona's house, where 1st Easter treats were eaten...

...and traditional Pastia was made.  98% made by Katie, which was pretty awesome to say the least.

...and of course rounding out the weekend was hunting for eggs (at, ahem, before 7am👀  That even beat Christmas morning!)...

...treat sampling...

...church going...

...and spending most of the rest of the day wrangling the kids in the yard since it was a warrrrrrrmmmm, high 80's Easter in NJ this year...

...and eating.  Oh gosh and EATING.  So much so that I barely want to talk about food this morning...buttttt we must press on.

Weekly recap:

Monday:   Sheet pan Sausage & Peppers with Parmesan Garlic Cauliflower Rice 

  

More 'real life' vs awesome Internet photographer pictures comin at ya😉  And don't let my sub par photo stop you!  This dish was absolutely PHENOMENAL.  Not to mention, SUPER HEALTHY, EASY AND PHENOMENAL.  What a great combo.  

Tuesday:  Kale Chopped salad with Maple-Almond Vinegarette

  

Hahahahaha...I can't EVEN with that 'comparison photo', or LACK there of in the comparison department😉  But again, don't let that stop you from making this recipe.  We've made it a zillion times and it never fails to impress.

Wednesday:  BBQ mini meatloaves + lightly glazed roasted carrots

I didn't even get a photo of this meal given that, after wrangling 2 kids to see the Easter bunny and some playtime at the mall, we got home and made dinner and ate like starving zombies😉

Thursday:  Dinner at Chickie & Pete's

Another photo I completely forgot about, as I got swept up chatting with my fabulous cousin.  We, of course, split some of their famous fries and I spied a new menu item that I loveeeed:  Caesar salad with meatballs!  I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee meatballs (and pizza crust!) with salad...so this was RIGHT up my alley, and quite delicious!  We also split an order of ricotta donuts, because FUN.

Friday:  Nachos + Salad + 1/2 bacon cheeseburger at Frankie's Bar & Grill 

So not only was the blue water calling me to head East on Friday, but also the prospect of visiting one of our VERYFAVORITERESTAURANTS down Point Pleasant.  We found this place a few years ago when a beach picnic plan was foiled by a rainstorm and we got drawn to this place from the INSANE aroma of charcoal grill being shared throughout the town😉  I have a sweet affinity for 'set plans' that change to be even more memorable and this night will always be one of my favorite "beach memories."

And on top of that, the food and the atmosphere of this place is always just kinda shore perfect.  Sorta loud, sorta cozy and ALL sorts of delicious.  We didn't want to go TOO crazy, so we went about splitting their nachos and their salad (even this SIMPLE SALAD is just SOOOOGOOD!)

 

...and we also split a bacon cheeseburger.

Not NORMAL "Good Friday/Lent" fair...but I kinda resided this year to the fact that there are a lot worse things I can do in life than eat meat on a Friday during Lent.  But who knows?  Maybe next year I'll want to observe, but this year I felt like it was OK to realize it's not THEMOSTIMPORTANT thing I could do for the world during Lent.  

I don't know.  Maybe I'm just explaining my Catholic-guilt away😉

ANYWAY...

We also had to make our inaugural trip to Hoffman's of the season...

...where Katie got into the fact that she & I could get 2 different flavors of ice cream and we could swap and share😉  

Sharing to get to try more??  That's my girl!

Saturday:  MORE Sausage & peppers with cauliflower rice

YEP.  THAT'S how much we loveeeeeeeed this dish!  So nice, we had it TWICE.

Sunday:  EASTER

Which was not just ONE course of homemade ravioli, meatballs, salad & fresh bread...

(here's Katie & Lils making the ravioli since I didn't get a picture of them at the table!)

...but a SECOND course of ALL this deliciousness...

A fun combo of efforts of my Mom & Mother-in-Law's traditional Easter dishes.  VERYYYYYYYY delicious!

I also held off allllll day from eating any treats to save room for dessert, but had a few bites too many (of rice pudding, pound cake with strawberries & chocolate cream pie...yum) and felt STUFFED by the end of the night.  Not surprising since everything was just plain DELICIOUS.  But definitely ready to jump back into a SUPER healthy day today!  Weeeeeeeeeeeee.  Thankfully I had gotten my 'healthy lunch food prep' done on Saturday, so we're all set for a strong week ahead.

Andddddd the exercise to wrap it all up:

Monday:   Jillian Michael's Yoga Slimdown-Level 2

Tuesday:  Taught Vinyasa yoga + 2 mile Walk  with mixed weights

Wednesday:  Taught gentle (my hip hurt this day, so I took a rest)

Thursday:  Taught Hatha + 5K Walk

I did the walk when I came home from dinner.  I was tired when we were leavin the restaurant and as I was walking in the door, realized that I had enough energy to bang something out and this particular workout was calling my name.  Felt sooooooooo good that I got that done, even when I thought I was too tired!

Friday:  Dance + weights + planks

Saturday:  Taught Hatha + an insannnnnnne amount of running around😉

Sunday:  Body slimming yoga

Had to laugh that on a rare Sunday that I had off from yoga, I STILL found myself doing it😉  This was just the one that was callin out to me.

LOTS of WORDS.  TOO many words from me, I'm sure.  So have a great week!!

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Quick Spring pea ravioli with brown butter garlic sauce...

So this weekend marked the opening of the Collingswood Farmer's Market...which I've written about a time or two or twenty on my blog over the years (see more at the bottom of this post)J

Going through the old posts on the market is like a time capsule!  Really didn't anticipate in that first 2010 post that in 2016 we'd be bringing our TWO CHILDREN to the market with us.  I mean...what just happened??  

ANYWAY...so back to the exciting news that I & a few other awesome JERSEY bloggers are joining forces with the Collingswood Farmers Market to highlight fresh produce and develop recipes based on the seasonal produce de jour of the moment.  And there's nothing I heart more than eating in SEASON....weeeeeeeeeeee!  So for my debut post, I thought I'd whip up a little recipe based on your favorite little green veggie:  SPRING PEAS.

Make that:  Quick spring pea ravioli in brown butter garlic sauce...

Sounds FANCY, right??  Ya wanna know the kicker??  These couldn't be easier...courtesy of one little 'cheat' ingredient.  But shhhhh...don't tell anyone, so they can think you made these from scratch.  And you know I have a heart for 'from scratch' ravioli...but sometimes ya just gotta move it along in life and get that dinner on the table in under 30 minutes, ya know what I mean?  Even better:  you can make the ravioli ahead and freeze them so you can have dinner on the table in under 15 minutes...weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

We'll start out with those beautiful green peas, which need to be steamed over boiling water for 3-4 minutes....

...and here's the TRULY hardest part of this recipe:  ya gotta let em cool for a little bit once they're cooked.  Seriously, that's the hardest part and the only reason this isn't an under 30 minute meal from the jump.

Once the peas are cool, ya toss em in a food processor or blender with these other luscious ingredients...

...and puree until it looks like THIS: 

I kinda liked the idea of skipping the usual ricotta filling here.  Gives more chance for the PEAS to shine through, ya know?

And then it's time to break out the magic ingredient for QUICK & easy ravioli...

I know, I know and Grandmom forgive me, but they WORK for raviolis in under an hour.  Sometimes ya just gotta take the shortcut, give yourself a break and make life EASY.

Then it's time to line up the usual suspects:  A cookie sheet, peas, wonton wrappers + a small bowl of water... 

...and get to work. 

Add a rounded teaspoon of pea puree to each wrapper.

Add a little water around the edges... 

...and fold the wrapper around the peas...

...and pinch to seal. 

And then do that a bunch more times... 

I also like to give the center a little smooooosh to kinda spread out the peas.  More peas per bite, ya feel me? 

The 4-year old crowd can also totally get involved here...

  

  

You may end up with a few mish-mosh shaped ones, but who cares?J

You could pop the sealed ravioli on the cookie sheet into the freezer and freeze until solid before transferring to a freezer bag for later use OR you can just move on to the next step...

Next step: Time to cook the raviolis!  You COULD boil them but why worry about any of them breaking open?  This pan sear process is not only fool-proof, BUT you also get a little crispy texture to each rav' and how can you not love that bonus?  Add the ravioli (fresh or frozen) in a single layer directly to a pan that has been drizzled with a little oil & heated over medium heat...

Let them cook up for a few minutes (fresh took about 3-4 minutes, but the frozen ones take about 5-6 minutes) until the bottoms get a nice sear and a pretty crisp...

Once the ravs are crisp, it's time to add about 1/4-1/3 cup of water to the pan...

SIZZLE!

...and then pop a lid on the pan to help finish cooking up the ravioli.

After 3-4 minutes, pop the lid off and let the water finish evaporating.  And then:  THAT'S IT!  How easy is that??

And speaking of easy, while the ravioli are working, you can get to work on the QUICK brown butter garlic sauce. 

Heat the butter in the pan over medium-low heat...  

And allow the butter to melt until it begins to turn slightly golden brown...swoooooooon.  Give the pan the occasional swirl to check the color as you go.

Next, toss in the diced garlic cloves and allow to cook for another minute or two, until fragrant.  DO NOT let the garlic burn...or you'll have to make that 4 minute pan sauce all over againJ 

And then drizzzzzzllleeee that beautiful sauce over those browned & crisped ravioli.... 

AMIRIGHT?? 

How GORGEOUS is that green??  It doesn't even look real.  A true sign that those peas are picked at the peak of freshness.  Viva la spring peas. 

Spring Pea Ravioli in a Quick Brown Butter Garlic Sauce

Serves 4

• 1 cup fresh peas
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 package wonton wrappers
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2-4 diced garlic cloves, to taste
• lemon zest & Parmesan cheese, to taste

1. Steam fresh peas over boiling water for 3-4 minutes.  Let cool.
2. Puree peas, cheese, basil, olive oil, lemon zest and salt & pepper until blended.
3. Lay out wonton wrappers on a cookie sheet.  Fill each wrapper with a rounded teaspoon of pea puree.  Edge each wrapper with a little water and seal wrapper around the puree.  Press fingers around edges to seal completely.  You can also freeze ravioli on cookie sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag once frozen solid.  They'll stay for several months.
4. Heat a large skillet with a drizzle of oil over medium heat.  Add ravioli in a single layer to pan and allow the bottoms to crisp, 3-4 minutes.  (frozen will take about 5-6 minutes).
5. Add 1/4-1/3 cup of water to the pan and cover.  Steam ravioli for about 3-4 minutes before removing the lid and allowing the water to finish evaporating.
6. Top with garlic browned butter sauce (recipe below), and a sprinkle of Parmesan and lemon zest.
1. Add butter to a small pan and let melt over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until golden. Give the pan a swirl ever so often to check the color.
2. Once lightly golden, add in the garlic and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.

Hope you like these are much as we do!  ENJOY!


Time capsule alert!  If you would like to see more posts on the Collingswood Market over the years, please check out the posts below!

First post:  May 1, 2010

2010: May 9th, May 24th, June 14th, June 26th, August 2nd, August 23rd, August 31st, September 18th, November 8th, November 16th, November 17th, November 22nd, November 24th

2011:  May 16th, June 5th, June 18th, June 19th, July 5th,  November 12,  November 21st, 

2012:  August 27th

2013:  May 5th, May 14th, May 20th, June 18th, July 1st, August 12th, September 16th, September 23rd, October 7th, 

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As always...thanks for reading!