This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen: Cheesesteak Stuffed Zucchini.

Sometimes you’re looking at the produce and the size of the zucchini is so large and impressive, it immediately makes you think about stuffing it. When it comes to stuffing zucchini, the bigger the better. That’s all I have to say about that. This was the first time I made stuffed zucchini with cheesesteak but I had seen recipes online so I figured I’d wing it. In the past, I’ve stuffed vegetables with ground meats but this time I wanted to use minute steaks. I really love the way it turned out. The cream cheese made it especially creamy and cheesy with the shredded cheddar and I highly recommend trying this out.

I do everything high but that’s not the point. Cooking shouldn’t be stressful unless you’re in a restaurant in the weeds which is insanely stressful. Like me, if you’re a home cook, cooking for your family and friends, you should have fun and always cook with love. I never cook angry. It’s a Miche rule. I believe that one’s emotions are energetic and I don’t want anyone to eat anger or sadness, so I temper my emotions when creating meals. I should just stay in the kitchen and cook all the time.

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen: Smoked Ribs and Chicken with Memphis Mojo Rub™!

Yes, this week in My Magic Kitchen, we won’t be in the kitchen much at all. It’s officially summer and summer means we smoke! We will let Jeffro do the main course, cuz he is smokin’ ribs and chicken! I smoke the cannabis and he smokes the meat. And today, the meat is some smack yo’ mama fall-off-the-bone, slow-cooked Memphis Mojo Rubbed ribs and chicken. Low and slow. That’s the secret of perfect smoked meat. That and his special Memphis Mojo Rub™.

Entirely his creation that we went through many versions to arrive at. If you know my hubster, you know the Virgo in him makes him profoundly focused and he experimented and kept records of every single detailed alteration of his recipe. It really went from great to mouthgasm. To top it off, he created a delectable BBQ sauce. If you like it saucy, you’ll love this! Now, here’s the shocker about our new blend & sauce. No added sugar!

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen: Butter Chicken

To look at me, you would not know that I was born in Southeast Asia because my parents are not Asian, they’re of Eastern European and German descent. You also might not think I look Eastern European or German unless you know that I’m Jewish. Most people thought I was Italian growing up and I would often respond when they would ask, “Are you Italian?” I would reply, “ No, I’m not Italian I just play one on TV.” And we would laugh.

Growing up, my mom cooked so many different types of ethnic foods, but she never forayed into Indian food. I only ever ate Indian food in restaurants, but I grew up in NYC and if you know, you know, authentic Indian food, you needed to look no further than 6th St., NYC. The New York City area is home to the largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the country. In Manhattan, the neighborhoods of Rose Hill and Murray Hill between 25th and 30th Street have become known as Curry HIll, due to the growing Indian food scene. And closer to where I grew up and where I went to high school, Jackson Heights, has a large population from India as well as many great Indian restaurants.

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen: Kitchen Sink Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing!

The creamy avocado dressing is the star of any salad it tops. I love making it fresh and it’s perfect when you’re doing a fridge purge and need to use the avocados. We started keeping our avocados in water in the fridge and it’s the best hack to keep avocados fresh in the fridge for a month! I was constantly throwing out avocados and let’s face it, food is way too expensive to throw out. We all have some waste but we do our best to use what we buy and not waste food or money.

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen: Taco Salad.
This is the next in our summer salad series, but this is a hit any time of the year.

If you have picky eaters, it can be such a pain in the ass to feed them and I almost became a short-order cook. I realized, right quick, that I was not up to cooking that many meals for a family of four. I wasn’t running a restaurant so I established the same rules I grew up with. My Momster would tell me to try it if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it. That worked for me. I was an adventurous eater and developed a desire to try new things.

Do you think it worked on my tiddly peeps? Hell no! They wouldn’t even take a “no, thank you bite”, and I was discouraged. So, I always had 2 things I knew they would eat (carrot sticks, watermelon, rice, or pasta) and I knew they wouldn’t starve. Eventually, I wore them down. Now, they try new things. Our son turns 15 soon and like most boys his age, eats his weight in food. He is proud of the fact that he has helped his picky friends try new foods at our home. Now, one of his friends eats more than chicken nuggets, fries, and pizza. Tacos were one of the foods he tried at our home and liked. That and my butter chicken won him over. I’ll share that recipe soon! It’s a winner, too.

We’re doing a series on summer salads starting with this tasty bit of summer sunshine! The perennial pasta salad. This particular pasta salad has a Mediterranean profile and can be adjusted in many ways. Prefer feta? Use feta? Like olives? Add olives! The most essential ingredients are the Twice Stolen Spice™ and love. Make your kitchen magic this summer!

My mom enjoyed cooking and entertaining guests, so clearly the apple didn’t fall far. We had a friend who owned Uncle King’s, a Chinese restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue and he would come to our apt. on days off and teach us how to cook authentic Chinese food. I don’t remember specifics other than whatever we made was delicious. This fried rice is also delicious. I encourage you to make it your own with your veggie choices, if you add meat or keep it plant based. It’s a great refrigerator cleaner outer.

Who knew that adulting meant figuring out what to eat every single day?!? If you’re a parent or caregiver responsible for meal planning and cooking for a family as well as working full-time, you know it’s not always easy to put a healthy meal on the table. Or is it?

Well, sheet! Yes, sheeeeet. Sheet pans covered in foil for easy clean up and your choice of a protein and veggies to roast is the easy answer. So many different options and they’re all delicious and easy and healthy! All you need to add is olive or avocado oil and seasoning! You already know, our Twice Stolen Spice™ is what we use. You can serve it up as is or with a sauce, a side… even noodle salad.

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen: Chicken with Spinach Artichoke Cream Sauce.

I’m gonna share something about my hubster today. He has always claimed that he is not a great writer, but my hubs can write. You should hear the wedding vows he wrote. He’s also a great editor, too. Helps me immeasurably with my own writing.

And he’s funny, and witty, and can turn a phrase. One of my favorites is what he says after I create a new recipe. “Hey hon, did you pull this one outta your ass?” Always fun to hear anything about food and asses in the same sentence. AM I RIGHT??? Anyhoo, this delicious and easy recipe for a quick weeknight meal or a dinner party, is one that came out of my ass. My hubster and kids all love it. It is a great chicken dish and full of flavor.

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen - Sausage and Peppers

Food glorious food! I really love eating. Who doesn’t love good food? I learned my kitchen skills from many teachers. My Momster of blessed memory, of course; cookbooks and the internet have been quite informative, too. An ex-boyfriend, I lived with briefly in Nashville, was a chef and I learned beaucoup from him - especially about presentation. As a singer/songwriter living in Nashville, I worked in bars, restaurants, and catering companies to pay the rent. And I mean 5-star establishments to dive bars and everything in between. There was something to learn in every environment.

Life is best lived like a sponge, soaking up knowledge. I’ve learned you occasionally have to wring that sponge out to get rid of the dirt and grime that come along with that quest. Every situation is a learning opportunity, especially the painful ones, am I right? I know I’m not the only one that looks back on their lives and says, “Oh! So that’s why I went through that mess to learn X, Y, or Z.”

Between the lifestyle choices I made in my youth, various traumas, and good ol’ genetics, I’m dealing with a myriad of health challenges in middle age. So I’ve made changes in every room in my life, including the kitchen. I have changed many recipes I grew up with in order to be able to still enjoy them without causing inflammation, pain, and gastrointestinal issues. I try to use whole foods and fresh herbs and spices that are healing.

Today, in Mama Miche’s Magic Kitchen, we are making breakfast burritos for Mother’s Day Brunch.

Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday and it is a bittersweet day for the motherless daughters with children of their own.

I remember one Mother’s Day after my parents divorced. Immediately after, my Momster and I lived in a one-bedroom apartment for a couple of years and it wasn’t a nice place. It wasn’t a clean building, so keeping critters out was hard.

My grandmother didn’t like us living in those conditions so she helped us move across the street to a new building. She had already moved into a place of her own in the building and offered to help my mom with the rent for our apartment so we could be safer. She wanted us to be in a clean apartment in a building with a doorman. And I had a bedroom all to myself again.

I cooked them Mother’s Day dinner for the first time in that apartment. I was around 10. My grandmother could be a nasty piece of work and she quickly tore apart the menu. She didn’t like this or didn’t like that about the meal. My Momster said she loved it, just like Moms do. My mom was often caught in the middle of disagreements between my grandma and me. I don’t think I ever cooked anything for my grandmother again.

This is Mama Miche and today in My Magic Kitchen, we are making a meal from one of the many food delivery services out there - Green Chef. Today’s meal kit is Southwest Turkey Stuffed Peppers. We’ve tried a couple of other similar services but this was by far our favorite. Green Chef offers recipes with GF or vegan or paleo, or whatever! It is the most versatile service to accommodate our lifestyle.

Green Chef has a diverse menu to keep mealtime interesting and new every time. The recipes are flavorful and delicious and even the kids love almost everything we prepare. They allow me to have a wonderful meal and not have to worry about feeling bad afterward. It’s a great addition to my repertoire of dishes to serve during the week.