I’ll soon have a “Lena’s Amazing Recipes” category. If you loved the Chebureki and the Creamy cauliflower soup; your mouth is probably watering for these. Russian Tefteli are basically amazing meatballs in a cream sauce which can be served for lunch, dinner or as an appetizer with toothpicks. Lena recommends doubling the sauce recipe so it’s real gravy-like. I’ll be trying that next time. I’m a gravy kind of gal. Thank you Lena for sharing this scrumptious tefteli recipe with me. Amazing. Fabulous. Nothing short of YUMM!

Servings: Makes 60-75 tefteli

Ingredients for Tefteli:
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground chicken
2 cups cooked white rice (1 cup raw = 2 cups cooked rice)
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 onion, grated or finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 slices of soft white bread (mine was wheat-ish, but that’s besides the point)
3/4 cup milk
2 cups Progresso Italian Style Breadcrumbs

Ingredients for the Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 large carrot, grated
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sour cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup water
1 tbsp better than bouillon chicken paste or 1 bouillon cube
1/2 to 1 tsp paprika (more if you like a little spice in your life)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Canola oil or grapeseed oil

How to Make Russian Tifteli:
1. Cook your rice and cool to room temp or so it’s just warm, not hot.
2. Break up your bread and soak it in as separate bowl with milk.
3. Add your ground pork and chicken to a large bowl. I ground my own meat; using chicken tenders and pork loin.
4. Add the following to the meat bowl: 2 cups cooked white rice, 2 large garlic cloves pressed, 1/2 onion finely chopped or grated, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
5. Drain the excess milk from the bread (it should still be very juicy). Add the bread to the meat mix. Mix everything well. This is where the KitchenAid stand mixer (paddle attachment) comes in handy. Your hands won’t freeze from the meat mix.
6. Pour your Progresso bread crumbs into a medium bowl.
7. Shape your meat into 1″ balls and roll them in the bread crumbs. You might have to wash your hands a few times if the meatballs start sticking to your hands. These meatballs tend to be a bit moist.
8. It’s best to have all your meatballs breaded before starting to saute them.
9. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup oil and let it heat up. Saute about 3-4 minutes on each side until browned. I used two skillets to make the process go faster.
Once the meatballs are done, start making your gravy (unless you are a super-multi-tasker).

How to Make Tefteli Gravy:
1. Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 chopped onion and 1 large carrot grated. Saute until carrots and onion are soft.
3. Sprinkle in 2 tbsp flour and whisk quickly to blend.
4. Add 1 tbsp sour cream and stir.
5. Add 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup water and1/2 to 1 tsp paprika and bring to a simmer.
6. Add 1 tbsp bouillon paste or 1 bouillon cube.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring everything to a light boil and pour it over the meatballs. Stir and enjoy. 

I hope you all had a wonderful mother’s day. My hubby and son treated me with a box of See’s chocolates (he knows me well) And did we really eat half the box in 1 day? They also built a raised garden bed for all my herbs. I loved reading every one of your comments for the Mother’s Day giveaway. Your words touched me as a Mom and I’m so blessed to have the most kind-hearted readers (I brag about you all the time!). Motherhood is not well appreciated in our society, but I am convinced that it is the most challenging, important and rewarding role. Thank you to those of you who honored your Mama’s through your comments. And those of you who shared about your Mama’s who are now with the Lord; May God bless you and give you the strength and courage to continue in the love and faith passed down to you from your Moms.

The winner of the OXO salad spinner is:

This salad was a huge hit with my family. They cleaned out the bowl. We’ve been so into salad lately which has helped me shed the few extra pounds that I gained from nursing school. The ingredient that put this salad into over the top  yumm was the homemade caesar dressing. As an added mother’s day bonus, I’m giving away one of my favorite OXO kitchen tools! 

Ingredients for (Beyond) Caesar Salad:
2 large heads of romaine lettuce
1-2 avocados
3 medium tomatoes
1 yellow or red bell pepper
1 small red onion
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cup Caesar dressing (We used half of this Caesar dressing recipe)

How to Make the Best Caesar Salad:
1. Chop the romaine lettuce. Rince and dry the lettuce using this OXO salad spinner. Place in a large serving bowl.

You guessed it; I’m giving one of these away for mother’s day (see instructions at the bottom of this post). OXO contacted me and asked me if I was interested in giving away this luxe salad spinner. I didn’t hesitate for a second! I already owned an older model of this and have been using it for 6 years or so. It’s still in mint condition. I love that I can rinse the lettuce in the bowl and just lift out the basket to drain off the water, then push the plunger to create a whirlwind that rings out the lettuce so perfectly. Oh and my son loved to push the giant “button.” It’s easy enough for a toddler to work this thing; not like the cheap brands with the pull cord; I’ve owned a  wal-mart version and it’s less than ideal. I hear this OXO salad spinner is also great for spinning berries; I’ll be trying that this summer! I love the sleek new design; mine is kinda boring; white.
P.S. If you want to have salad ready to go, just put it in a giant zip loc bag after you spin it dry and store it in the fridge.

Ok, back to the salad:  I like to add a little bit of dressing to the leaves at this point if I’m serving it right away to make sure the lettuce gets a nice coating of it.2. Slice the tomatoes, red bell pepper and avocados. Add them to the bowl.

3. Finely chop red onion and sprinkle it over the salad along with the feta cheese.
5. Just before serving, drizzle with Caesar dressing and mix. Oh snap; I forgot croutons. Toss them in too.

THE GIVEAWAY:

Enter to win a sleek new OXO salad spinner. This giveaway is sponsored by OXO. I was not paid to do this review. They simply asked me to give my honest opinion about it and that’s what I did. I was sold on it before they ever contacted me, so there you have it. They sent me 2 (one to test and one to give away). Thank you OXO!! Here it is again. Ain’t it perdy?

Up to 3 entries per person. Please leave a separate comment for every entry.

1. In honor of Mother’s Day, leave a comment below telling me why you love being a mom, share a memory of your mom, brag about why your Mama is amazing, share your plans for Mothers day, or just give a shout out to your mom to tell her you love her! It’s wide open.
2. Pin a recipe from Natashaskitchen on Pinterest and leave the link to your pin in a separate comment below (Pinterest rocks!)
3. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter and drop a separate link to your tweet in a comment below.
4. Share or like this post on Facebook with the links below and tell me that you did so in a separate comment below.
This drawing will close at midnight Sunday, may 13th (Mother’s Day!!).

Happy Mother’s day to all the Mom’s who read this blog and all those who will be Mom’s one day; and all of those who were birthed by moms. I’m pretty sure that covers everyone!!

Thank you to all who entered the allure tea giveaway. Maybe I should have said that the tea cup (including the liquid in it), cookies, teapot, vase and flowers aren’t included. Sorry I can’t part with those! I loved reading all about you and was so tempted to reply to every comment, but that would have messed up the entries, so I resisted the urge. All of your comments made me smile (some made me chuckle). Even though I can’t see you in person; I consider you my friends and look forward to getting to know you better! You all are my motivation to keep posting. And remember motivation is like showering; it’s recommended daily! That’s why I love to hear from you! Ok, I’ll get to the point. And the winner is….. Zina who wrote:

“Congratulations on accomplishing a very difficult program. . .posted this on my FB page….I’ve gone through the nursing program myself and made a career of it…I know first-hand how grueling, tearful, and stressful the classes were…I should have bought stock in tissues! You are “wonder woman” in all you have accomplished and maintained your wonderful blog at the same time. Kudos to you! You should be very happy with ALL of your accomplishments. Your dedication to family, sharing, and studies will all translate into becoming a fabulous RN! Note: Don’t laugh, but I used “osmosis” to pass all my exams…NCLEX too….sleep with your study book under your pillow the night before your exam…works every time! LOL!!!”

Congratulations Zina! and I couldn’t help but laugh. Thanks for the advice! I will be contacting you by email.

Winner was selected using random.org; a random number generator.

No store bought dressing can touch this. If only the screen was a scratch and sniff and you could take a whiff of this dressing. You’d be convinced. It’s so perfect!  By far the most delicious Caesar dressing I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried many many different brands). It’s fantastic paired with this caesar salad. This recipe produces 1 pint (about 2 cups of dressing) I bet it would make an awesome marinade too. You will need a Food Processor with a steel blade to make this. I’ve heard that a blender does not work well and it does not thicken. Ok, now get to it; make some Ceasar dressing!

Cost to Make: $4-$5

Ingredients:
2 tbsp mayo
2 tsp Dijon mustard (I used “Grey Poupon” brand)
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1  1/2 cups mild olive oil
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

How to Make Caesar Salad Dressing
1. Place 2 tbsp mayo, 2 tsp dijon, 2 pressed garlic cloves, 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper in the bowl of an electric food processor. (Press garlic and squeeze juice right into the food processor; think dish factor),p.s. this self-cleaning, larger capacity OXO Garlic Pressrocks; worth every penny! 

2. Process until smooth and well blended. While the food processor is still on, very slowly pour in the 1 1/2 cups olive oil. Process until thick and creamy.
3. Add parmesan cheese and pulse 5 or 6 times. 

and, it’s done! This recipe was inspired by the Caesar Salad dressing in Ina Garten’s book: Barefoot Contessa Parties.

I’m planning another giveaway for one of my favorite OXO tools in my next post so check back soon. Hint: the recipe incorporates this amazing dressing and it has to do with salad. Ok, here’s the link!!

So so so so thankful! And in awe. Amazed that I’m done. I’M DONE! I’M DONE! I’M DONE! Here goes the gooey sappy stuff that’s thicker than honey so if you’re only interested in the giveaway, just scroll down.

Since this accomplishment feels a little like the Oscars; I’d like to thank God for giving me such an awesome opportunity to become an RN and truly blessed me all through nursing school. Thank you to my husband and son whose love and strong support have kept me going strong. I’ll have you know, Vadim has been the pilot light for this blog all through nursing school. He’s also been a super Dad; all while attending bible school in the evening. Thank you honey. Thank you Mom and all of my family who have spent countless hours taking care of my son and for your willingness to help me. You’ve been such a tremendous blessing to me and I appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made!

It’s not all fun and games yet. I’m studying for my NCLEX exam. Surprisingly I don’t mind this kind of studying; of course there are other things I’d rather do; like write this post.

The giveaway:

I met Liana through this blog and she introduced me to some fantastic tea. As part of my graduation celebration, One of you will win an awesome set of gourmet teas from Allure Tea that Liana sent me (3-3oz bags of tea; about a $25 value). Thank you Liana! What a perfect way to unwind. If you aren’t a tea person; maybe your Mom is (think May 13th). Here are the three flavors: (The summer peach has been my favorite).

First of all Thank YOU, my readers, for your support and encouraging words along the way. You must know that I appreciate every one of you and all the friendships I’ve formed as a result of this blog. I love hearing from you and getting to know each of you; so drop me a line and tell me something interesting about yourself. It could be funny, it could be sweet, maybe an accomplishment you are proud of, or it could just be your favorite tea.

Up to 3 entries per person. Please leave a separate comment for every entry.
1. Answer the prompt above by telling me something about yourself.
2. Pin a recipe from Natashaskitchen on Pinterest and leave the link to your pin in a comment below (Pinterest rocks!)
3. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter and drop a link to your tweet in a comment below.
4. Share or like this post on Facebook and tell me that you did so below.
This drawing will close at midnight Sunday, may 6th.

At the risk of sounding really corny: I really look forward to getting to know you better!

And the winner is…..Zina who wrote:

“Congratulations on accomplishing a very difficult program. . .posted this on my FB page….I’ve gone through the nursing program myself and made a career of it…I know first-hand how grueling, tearful, and stressful the classes were…I should have bought stock in tissues! You are “wonder woman” in all you have accomplished and maintained your wonderful blog at the same time. Kudos to you! You should be very happy with ALL of your accomplishments. Your dedication to family, sharing, and studies will all translate into becoming a fabulous RN! Note: Don’t laugh, but I used “osmosis” to pass all my exams…NCLEX too….sleep with your study book under your pillow the night before your exam…works every time! LOL!!!”

Congratulations Zina! and I couldn’t help but laugh. Thanks for the advice! I will be contacting you by email.

Winner was selected using random.org; a random number generator.

This was Vadim’s experiment. It was excellent. This vegetable tian is healthy and has simple ingredients; zucchini, potatoes and tomato slices, seasoned to perfection and topped with lots of parmesan cheese. It’s been a very healthy month hasn’t it? Stuffed eggs, asparagus, trout, fruit salad, caprese skewers… Ok, I guess boccone dolce isn’t totally healthy, but it was topped with fruit! This is perfect as a side dish for a dinner party. Try to pick proportionately sized veggies i.e. your tomato should not be twice as wide as your potato. You’ll thank me later.

The inspiration for this came from Kristianne of Mysanfranciscokitchen.com.

Servings: 4
Cost to make: $6-$8

Ingredients for Vegetable Tian:
1 medium yellow onion
2 large cloves of garlic, pressed
2 medium  zucchini
3 roma tomatoes
2-3 russet potatoes (depending on their size)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp thyme
1  tbsp dill; fresh or frozen (or 1/2 tbsp dried dill)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Mild olive oil (2 tbsp for onion mix, 2 tbsp for the seasoning mix)

How to Make A Summer Vegetable Tian:
Preheat the Oven to 375 degrees F.
1. Prep your veggies: Slice zucchini and tomatoes about 1/4″ thick. Peel and Slice your potatoes. Chop your onion. Peal the garlic.

2. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add onion and saute 5 minutes until onions are lightly browned, soft and translucent.

3. Press the garlic into the pan and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer your mix into your baking dish.

4. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp thyme, 1 tbsp fresh or frozen dill (or 3/4 tbsp if using dry dill) and 2 tbsp olive oil.

5. Place potatoes and zucchini into a large bowl. Pour the seasoning mix over the veggies and mix to coat.

6. Arrange your veggies in your baking dish interchanging potatoes with tomatoes and zucchini. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes.

7. Remove foil, sprinkle with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Enjoy this perfect side dish

We were happy to find another use for our Paula Deen Pie Dish. I’m so looking forward to all my mom’s wonderful garden veggies. I’ll soon be able to re-create this with heirloom tomatoes, still warm from the sun zucchini and potatoes just plucked from the dirt! Which summer veggies are you looking forward to most?

If you like caprese salad, you’ll love this!! Caprese salad is Italian.If you want to be real fancy, you can call this Caprese Antipasto (Italian for appetizer). Caprese skewers are (1) healthy, (2) easy and (3) super tasty. And aren’t they cute? I served these at my sisters baby shower. They were quite a treat!

Ingredients for Caprese Salad Skewers:
8 oz Cherry or Grape tomatoes
Generous handful of Fresh basil
1 lb fresh mozzarella
Balsamic vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Toothpicks (I found these fancy 1-sided kind at Wal-Mart)

Assembling Caprese Skewers: 
1. Slice your tomatoes in half
2. Cut your mozzarella into bite-size slices. These are pretty decent with regular mozzarella too. 
3. Rinse and dry your fresh basil. You can tare the larger leaves in half.

4. Skewer onto a toothpick with the basil and cheese sandwiched between your tomato halves.
5. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.Well, there you have it. A super yummy appetizer. No cooking required. What’s your favorite party appetizer?

It’s fresh, healthy and perfect for Spring! This fruit salad is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The honey and citrus syrup is all-natural and really makes the fruit pop. As an added bonus, the citrusy syrup keeps the fruit from browning. It also makes a great appetizer (see pictures below) and this fruit salad is a perfect topping for plain greek yogurt, which made a nice snack this evening. Big thanks to all of you who shared your recipes and ideas for fruit salad with me here. This salad is made possible because of you! Definitely planning to make this for my sister’s baby  shower this summer.

Ingredients:
1 lb strawberries
1 lb grapes (any kind)
2 apples (any kind)
2 bananas (the yellow kind)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (your salad will be a little juicier with frozen)

For the Syrup:
2 rounded tbsp of honey
Juice of 1 lemon OR juice of 1 lime OR 1/2 of each.

How to make the best fruit salad
1. Mix the honey and lemon OR lime juice together. I tested both and the lime juice gives it more of a zing. Since I had 2 syrups already made, I just mixed them together and ended up with 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime juice. It was awesome! P.S. if your honey is chunky like mine was, just place it over a bowl of hot water and it will turn juicy again. Wanna see some behind the scenes secrets? Yet another great use for beans! Can you spot them? Ha ha!

2. Rinse and dry all of the fruit
3. Don’t slice the fruit until you’re ready to assemble the salad or it will brown. Add and slice the fruit in the following order:
4. Place the grapes in a large bowl
5. Slice strawberries and add them to the bowl
6. Slice bananas and add them to the bowl
7. Slice apples and add them to the bowl (ok, this is getting a little repetitive)
8. Add blueberries to the “round concave container”. Ha! That’s better!
9. Pour in the syrup  and mix well. This kept pretty well in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but it got a little juicy due to the frozen blueberries. Here’s what I did to turn the fruit salad into an appetizer. All of flavors explode in your mouth at the same time. Just like in the scene from Ratatouille when the mouse is tasting the cheese and trying to explain it to his brother. Remember the fireworks? Yes, something like that!

Russian and Ukrainian people LOVE their fish. I don’t believe the concept of “catch and release” exists in Ukraine. It’s so ingrained in me that I still mumble my objections when my hubby turns on a fishing show and they release their dinner back into the sea. There’s nothing fresher than catching your own fish and making it sizzle that same evening.

Nowadays, if my dad isn’t sleeping or working, he’s tied up with building our church. There’s little time for fishing, so my parents opted to purchase 100 pounds of trout and sent two beautiful fish my way. So, what to do with two giant fish? Well, first I learned to fillet the trout. Click here to view the tutorial.The lemon and parsley butter is so perfect for trout; and probably salmon too!

Ingredients for Trout with Herb Butter:
1 large trout (“elbow to fingertips” – sorry we forgot to weigh it!)
4-6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground pepper

How to Make Trout with Parsley and Lemon Butter

1.Start by filleting your trout. Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.
2. Combine 4 tbsp of butter with 1 tbsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp chopped parsley. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mash it all together with the fork.

3. Sprinkle both sides of the fish fillet with salt & pepper.

4. Drizzle the flesh side with olive oil & cut each fillet in half.

5. Preheat non-stick skillet to medium high heat. Once its hot, add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Cook trout with the skin side down first for 3-4 min until browned and crisp. Carefully turn each fillet over and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 3 more minutes.
6. Remove finished trout from the skillet & top each hot fillet with 1 tablespoon of the Lemon-Parsley Butter. Please don’t mind the partially squeezed lemon in the background. It was the only one we had.

The herbed butter was adapted from SavoringTimeInTheKitchen.

I dare ask… Do you catch and release?