Sending good vibes to all the moms out there. 💕
Mother's Day weekend in Ohio was full of heavy rain, cool temperatures, and comfort food cravings. Instead of going out, I decided to make my mom a day's worth of food from Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookbook. I own both of her Cravings cookbooks and I'm highly anticipating the third because I have not made a recipe from either book that wasn't flavorful and hit the spot. Don't ask me which recipe is my favorite because that is an impossible question; although I will say in a life or death situation, it's probably in the Thai inspired section. You can order her cookbooks (and her mom's) off of her Cravings website, or at most bookstores.
In honor of Mother's Day, this is where I say a tidbit about my mom. She is the hardest working person I know. She's worked long shifts for as long as I can remember while also keeping the house clean, taking my brother to his hockey tournaments out-of-state, and spending hours in the kitchen making meals for the entire week. She does all this under extreme stress at times, and she is always in a cheerful mood. Not one time in my life do I remember her being cranky. Since she spends so much time being the Alpha of our lives, she doesn't do anything for herself. It's one of the reasons I started this blog. I wanted the opportunity to attempt to pay her back for everything she has done for us, even though I will never reach her level of selflessness. Whenever you read these blog entries, know that she is present for most of these adventures.
Now let's talk food. My plan for brunch was to make the Cheesy Cheeseless Scrambled Eggs with Cherry Burst Tomatoes, Garlic-Roasted Bacon, and French Toast Casserole. My mom loves these eggs and requests them whenever she visits me. I won't lie, they feel like forever to make because you cook them on low for about 20-30 minutes. Even Chrissy quotes in her book, "You will want to turn the temperature up. DON'T DO IT." They come out so creamy and flavorful that it took three times to convince my mom there is no cheese in them. They would've been more pretty on the plate had I used basic red cherry tomatoes, but I have a thing for golden cherry tomatoes. The garlic-roasted bacon doesn't even need a review. It's smells fantastic while it's roasting. It tastes even better. It makes you forget why people decide to cut meat out of their lives. As far as the casserole, I failed and forgot to prep it the night before, so she got a Brunch Round 2 the next day. (Don't worry, it's at the bottom of this post.)
After a 4-mile walk to prep for dinner's delights, I went with an Italian theme because my mom is not a fan of spicy food; therefore I couldn't go crazy with my love of Sriracha in those Thai recipes. I made Lemony Arugula Spaghetti Cacio E Pepe (Don't ask me to pronounce this. I need Giada De Laurentiis.) and Armadillo Cheesy Garlic Bread. These are two recipes in her first book that are fan favorites and I had yet to make them. I was excited. The pasta was surprisingly simple to make. My arugula to pasta ratio was almost 50/50. I went overboard with the arugula because it's my favorite leafy green, so someone else's version most likely won't be as green as mine. It was delicious with the slight tang from the lemon, salty from the pancetta, and had a hint of creaminess, but it was not the star of this meal. That garlic bread. Oh. My. Lanta. Just LOOK AT IT. I tried to keep it a surprise that I was making it, but it ended up being a two-person job to stuff that bread and get that mixture of goodness in all the nooks and crannies. The pieces pulled apart like a dream. The flavor was out of bounds. Cheesy, garlicky, soft, crunchy, carby delightfulness. I dare you to not eat an entire loaf by yourself. My mom requested that next time, we just make a salad and go to town on that bread with no restraint.
After ending last night's carb coma, why not start day two with another? I remembered this time to prep the bread pan and cover it with the custard mixture the night before, so we were good to go with the French Toast Casserole. Chrissy describes it as inner fat kid madness, and she is not wrong. (Did I mention I love reading her commentary sections while I'm waiting for the food to cook?) The danger here is that Frosted Flakes are my favorite sugary cereal so after eating about half of what I was using as a topping, I was able to pop it in the oven. We paired it with sugar-free coffee because you know, balance. My mom thought it was good and enjoyed the crunchy Frosted Flakes topping. I wanted the bread on the bottom to be more gooey, so I vowed to myself that next time I am baking it about 10 minutes less.
Our Mother's Day weekend was cozy and enjoyable to just hang out and eat comfort food while getting lost in the YouTube rabbit hole. We have cut way back on eating out even before the pandemic started, so I need food that makes me excited to cook and is delicious enough that it distracts me from Cheesy Gordita Crunches at Taco Bell. Chrissy's cookbooks are one of my top favorites that I use quite often and I easily will cook out of it for a solid month. If you have any suggestions on other recipes of hers that you want me to try (she also has some on her website) or if you'd like me to make some stuff out of the second book, just let me know!
That food looks amazing!!! 😋
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