Lunch With The Seasons

Eat with your EYES!

I am all about eating with delicious flavors but most importantly for kids it’s all about eating with your eyes. I thought this fun spaghetti and meatballs was a very cool way for the kids to enjoy dinner.

Ingredient List:

1 each 24 count mini muffin pan

1 Pound of angel hair pasta (cooked a little on the hard side)

2 cups of your favorite Alfredo sauce

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1 pound of ground beef (I like to use grass fed)

2 eggs (cage free)

1 teaspoon salt and pepper

2 tablespoon of chickpea bread crumbs (I get them from thrive market and they add a nice amount of protein)

20 ounces of your favorite marinara (I like the Tuscan pepper one from thrive market)

2 tablespoon of olive oil

24 fresh basil leaves for garnish

Recipe for pasta: To make the pasta muffins mix the cooked angle hair with the Alfredo, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and then with a fork twirl it into a non stick mini muffin pan and bake @ 375″f till golden about 15-20 minutes. (It can over flow a little it will bake down)

Recipe for the meatballs: In a bowl mix the ground beef with the egg, chickpea bread crumb, salt and pepper. Shape the meat into 1 inch size balls and set aside.

In a nonstick sauce pan of your choice (should be slightly deep so u can add marinara and let it simmer) add the olive oil over medium and then add the meatballs. Cook the meatballs for about 45 seconds on each side; until all sides are seared (holding in all the juices). Now add your marinara sauce. Bring to a simmer and cover for 25-30 minutes on low heat.

Now build your Spaghetti and meatball bites. Place the spaghetti muffin on a plate with a fresh piece of basil then a meatball on top and a cute skewer down the middle and ENJOY!

Happy 😃 Cooking

We are enjoying our summer but it’s super hot so I thought we should make some yummy gazpacho soup.Recipe:

2 whole tomatoes roughly chopped

1 whole tomato small diced

1 large cucumber 1/2 roughly chopped and 1/2 small diced

1 red pepper 1/2 roughly chopped and 1/2 small diced

1 red onion 1/2 roughly chopped and 1/2 finely diced

24 ounces of tomato juice

1/2 Serrano pepper (take seeds out if you don’t like to much spice)

3 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

Cojito cheese for garnish

Shredded fresh basil for garnish

Fresh dill for garnish

Extra virgin olive

In a bowl put the roughly chopped tomato, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, 1/2 Serrano pepper, 3 cloves of garlic and tomato juice. With a hand blender or regular blender blend till smooth.

Now add in the the small diced tomato, cucumber, red pepper and finely diced onion with salt and pepper to taste.

Place in bowls garnish with shredded basil, cojito cheese crumbles, fresh dill leaves and a drizzle of your favorite extra virgin olive oil.

*** a nice addition is a blackened grilled shrimp or too for a little added protein.

Happy cooking

😍 Hi Chef Cassie

Today I had the most amazing experience I got to harvest my own lunch at this all organic 6 acre farm. Makes you really appreciate all the work involved in organic farming from the soil to the harvest it’s such a precise process.

See this amazing variety of greens and flowers I pick for my families lunch.

Eat local whenever possible.

HAPPY HARVESTING!

❤️ Hi Chef Cassie

Avocado 🥑 toast is such a great breakfast or lunch. Filled with good fats and it’s so versatile. You can have it with a fried egg, plain or top it with capers, cherry tomatoes, red jalopeno, cucumbers and cojito cheese (like the 😋 yummy breakfast below). Then pack it in a paper box and off you go.

The best part is you don’t need a recipe!

Happy cooking!

This month is plastic free July! I’m trying to use reusable bags for shopping and produce. As well as stainless steel containers to pack lunches and glass containers to store fresh produce after it’s cleaned.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO GO PLASTIC FREE?

Look at these beautiful fresh veggies!

Happy 😃 Shopping

Morning all. Yes it’s that time again. 8 mile hike is on its way. Today we have the following yummy snack in our fabulous lunch bot container!

Recipe:

** organic cucumbers peeled, rinsed and cut into 1/4 inch discs.

** organic carrot peeled, rinsed and cut into match sticks

** organic blueberries (soaked in baking soda and water, rinsed and dried)

** organic strawberries (soaked in baking soda and water, rinsed and dried)

** your favorite chips; my family seems to go for the spicy chips and we like the organic jalapeño kettle chips.

** lastly these yummy tortilla rolls which is just a whole wheat organic tortilla with peanut butter and jelly. (You could also do peanut butter, banana and honey).

Happy cooking 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳 and hiking everyone 🥾

– special note of the day always check organic food and health product labels that they don’t have carrageenan in them because it can cause lots of digestive issues and who wants that.

Also follow us on Instagram @lunchwiththeseasons

🍽 I don’t know about you all but we can’t live with out Caprese Salad. So why not take it up a notch and add a few more fun ingredients.

All you need is:

3 heirloom tomatoes (sliced 1/4 inch thick)

1 log or 2-3 large balls of your favorite in water fresh mozzarella

2 avocados (cut in half and sliced)

12 fresh basil leaves

12 nitrate free slices of salami

** Your favorite salad dressing or make your own. This one is (1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 3 cloves of garlic puréed till smooth)

Now layer your ingredients and drizzle with your dressing and ENJOY!

Happy Cooking ALL! ☀️

This blog was inspired because of my mother, father, sister and brother; even thousands of miles apart food still brings us together. There is not a week that passes that I don’t get a “food 911” call/text/email/fb message from one of my family members. Whether it is from the grocery store because my sister can’t find fresh ginger and rice noodles or a more simple question as to, “what should I serve with tofu tonight?” Or my father that is one of my inspirations into becoming a chef texts me to find out how to properly thicken his Marsala sauce. Or my brother who calls me in the middle of making pizza dough to make sure he is mixing the yeast in properly. Among other things my mother who also inspired me to be a chef Facebook’s me to rush over to her house and help her design a cheese platter and menu for her dinner party she has to prepare in the morning. The big picture is these are “Real Life” scenarios that have inspired me to be your Hi Chef Cassie food advice Column. So message me or follow my blog. I am here to offer my savvy modernistic twist on food recipes in this kooky animated world we live in today. Oh and Ps. Chef Cassie is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York with the highest degree of a Bachelors or Professional Studies