The Naptime Chef

New moms deserve their own special category when it comes to Mother’s Day. I am not saying that since I am in the thick of it with our second baby. I am talking about the first time mothers celebrating their first Mother’s Day ever. That first year with the baby is so exhilarating and overwhelming and every woman going through it needs a little special something. Of course, if you can’t wait for Mother’s Day to come around, all the gifts below would be awesome for any new mother at any time of the year. Here are a few of my picks for new mom gifts this year:

A cool pair of PJ’s…because a new mom immediately throws out all the icky pajamas she wore when she was pregnant. (Sleepy Jones)

This cute Sarahchloe initial necklace is a fun piece of everyday jewelry to celebrate baby. (Sarahchloe)

When my daughter was 3 weeks old my wise Aunt Pam told me, “reading will keep you sane.” A bookstore gift certificate helps a new mom to stock up on 3am reading essentials like escape novels, new cookbooks, and inspiring volumes for the coffee table.

A jar of the best moisturizer ever (!!!) can do wonders for the mind and body. (Kiehl’s)

Pretty notecards for all the baby gift thank you notes (include on the card that you don’t need a thank you note!) (E. Frances Paper)

A snack tote of yummy organic nibbles for midnight grazing. Dean & Deluca)

A cool new lipgloss to throw on will help mom feel like a million bucks when visitors stop by. (Nars)

A gentle moisturizing soap to make those precious few moments alone in the shower as nourishing as possible. (L’Occitane)

A beautiful scarf to freshen up her postpartum wardrobe and help her feel normal again. (JMcLaughlin)

A bag with some comfy flip flops and a massage gift certificate tucked in so she can treat herself when she is ready to venture out without baby. (J.Crew)

I am sure my Mexican cousins are reading this menu and dying of laughter. They still remember the year I was ten and flew down to visit them and refused to eat any Mexican food. I kept asking for grilled cheese and quesadillas everywhere we went. How lame is that?! Now I wish I could travel the whole country of Mexico and try everything under the sun. I LOVE Mexican food. Too bad they all live in the US now, I really missed out. The good news, however, is that my Aunt has shared some of her authentic recipes with me and I plan to include them in the book. You will love them, I promise! But, until then, here are some of my favorite Mexican recipes from the blog.

Drinks:

Watermelon Margaritas

Red Wine Sangria

Sides:

Guacamole (spicy!)

Green Rice

Gazpacho

Main Course:

Roasted Vegetable & Chicken Enchiladas

Homemade Ranchero Sauce

Guacamole Burgers

Tortilla Soup (vegetarian)

Fish Tacos

Dessert:
Tres Leches Cake

or… just drink more Sangria!

In keeping with the fiesta theme this week, today we are talking tacos. I have never made it a secret that tacos are one of my favorite foods. And I am not talking about the ground beef mixing with a package of seasonings – though, those are perfectly delicious – I am talking about the homemade kind with great toppings. Over the weekend while I whipped up some chorizo tacos while we were enjoying our sangria.

When dreaming up the recipe I tried not to over think anything. Instead, I kept it simple with cooked chorizo as the main ingredient. Then, I added it to warm corn tortillas along with lettuce, sour cream, avocado slices, queso fresco, and a dab of peach salsa. There was nothing all that complicated about the preparation which is exactly the point. Tacos are supposed to be simple! In fact, if we choose to have a Cinco de Mayo get together I think I would just serve up the cooked chorizo and all the fixin’s buffet-style and let people assemble their own meals.

I can’t help myself, Cinco de Mayo is just days away and I’ve got sangria on the brain. Of all of the drinks I missed last summer, sangria was the one I missed most. To me, enjoying a big glass alongside a bowl of chips and guacamole on the back porch is the epitome of summer. I love the way a good sangria is just a tiny bit sweet and filled with the flavors of fresh fruit. In fact, in the summer I will take it over a glass of wine any day of the week. In celebration of the upcoming holiday I thought I would share one of my favorite sangria recipes. There will be more great Mexican dishes coming up this week. Also, if you need some recipes you don’t see I highly recommend these taco salad and nacho recipes from Kraft. We’ll likely have a whole fiesta planned by Friday!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Kraft. The opinions and recipes are wholly my own.

It is always nice to show your Mom a little appreciation on Mother’s Day. I am not saying that because I like to be showered with gifts on every Hallmark holiday that could possibly apply to me. I am just saying I don’t mind the idea of a little “thank you” now and then and I am sure your Mom doesn’t either. Here are a few nifty gifty ideas for the Mom on your list!

A pretty market list for making notes. (Vine.com)

Essential oils from for freshening up the kitchen or adding to her bath. (Whole Foods)

The coolest watermelon knife ever to get her ready for carving up fresh fruit all summer long. (Amazon.com)

A beautiful assortment of herb plants from you local nursery.

A raspberry bush to enjoy on the porch all summer long. (White Flower Farm)

Funny wine labels to give her the private label she deserves. (Pinhole Press)

This small carafe from Mud to hold a small bouquet flowers or milk for her morning coffee. (Goop)

A little jar of natural sea salt to add to her favorite dishes while she cooks! (Amagansett Sea Salt Co.)

I am having so much fun exploring the mushroom food trend for 2013 on behalf of Sargento this year. I love mushrooms and am finding the that more I learn about them the more curious I become. This week I decided it was time to explore the idea of using mushrooms to make a quick meal. I find that it is easy to fall into the trap of making large, involved meals featuring mushrooms. But, what about something easy and fast? My quickest meals usually come about during the day which is why I came up with this lunch pizza.

Part of the ease of this pizza is that I had a lot of the ingredients already prepared. I’d saved some cooked leeks from dinner the night before and I already had a ball of pizza dough in the fridge. All that was left was stewing some mushrooms, adding some cheese, and popping the whole thing in the oven!

The nice things about this quick lunch is that it was hearty and filling, for me at least, and beautifully featured the shitake mushrooms I used. I also had some dried porcini on hand, but I’ve decided to wait to use those for another recipe next month. The shitake were actually perfect for the pizza. The chewy texture stood up nicely to the crispy crust, and the leeks and cheese added a subtle savory touch. While mushrooms have long been a traditional pizza topping these really stood out! Now that I have such a hit on my hands I think I’ll make a larger version of these for family pizza night soon.

(Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sargento. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make The Naptime Chef possible.)

I am all about spring vegetables these days. But, I am not going to lie here, this post is really about the ranch dressing. We all know that this is the time of year to start enjoying the fresh vegetables of the season. There is no question that asparagus should be gracing your table just about every night of the week while the fresh, local stuff is available. However, what you might not realize is that all of your veggies deserve to be paired, at least once or twice, with this simple shake-together salad dressing.

I had to smile when I saw Aimee’s and Heidi’s recipes just the other week because I am on the same wavelength. Fresh salads deserve fresh dressings. Being that I am on the baby weight loss train (and probably will be until September), last week I wanted to re-make my favorite ranch dressing into a healthier refrigerator staple. To make it so I swapped out mayo for low-fat Greek yogurt, used low-fat sour cream, and drew the line on too much buttermilk. I also used it sparingly on our salad. After all, the purpose is to add flavor to the veggies, not coat the veggies so they can’t be tasted at all!

This simple dressing came out just as tangy and flavorful as I always enjoy, but with a nice lightness to it as well. In fact, we all enjoyed it so much I whipped up a second batch and have been keeping it in the fridge all week. So far, we have used it for everything from a salad dressing, to a dip for blanched asparagus, to a spread for homemade panini sandwiches. The possibilities seems to be endless when it comes to using it up. I can already see that we might be enjoying this well into the summer months too.