I WANT MY MTV, oops I WANT 727FoodNOW

So okay, there are moments when this overworked mother and underpaid family nurse is just too overwhelmed to cook, what is a mother to do?   A).  dress for real dinner out.  Tight shoes, are you frikkin kidding me?  B). face another generic take-out pizza delivered barely warm and just barely edible with too much salt and too much fat?  C). Or if I had the stamina and energy to exhume a freezer dinner by me, can you believe that I not have enough energy to reheat?   Have you ever had a day that the effort of bathing is an aerobic exercise?  I'm just whipped and ready to call it in. Tired meet Tina, Tina meet Tired.

727Foodnow offers a great selection of restaurants that for an amount a bit bigger than nominal fee + tip, you can have a fresh hot delivery of good food to your very own front door that is not the pizza norm.

We have successfully ordered from a number of the restaurants for our zip code. The food has ALWAYS arrived in a timely manner.  We have never had a misorder where we received some one elses' dinner.  The only misfire we had was from Gratzi where the seafood the linguine pescatore that was way past the seafood prime.  It was so fishy and repellent that I gagged.  727FoodNow gave us an immediate credit.  It has been a great service when you do not want to do the norm.  I'm not lazy, believe me,  I routinely cook marathon days of investment cooking, saving meals by freezing or do ahead prep.  Bulk food cooking is  my specialty.  I am proud of my cooking days and we happily eat for weeks off from my advance preparation.  However, sometimes life is so overwhelming that the home delivery service is God sent....and I have routinely used 727FoodNow as our only option to cheese and crackers.

Convenience is expensive, but there are times that convenience trumps cost.
An illness in the family, a house remodel, a schedule that can't be adjusted, "I'm just too tired" are all the reason to justify our 727FoodNow orders....no one has ever rejected the food when presented.  We have ordered enough to know what is a value and what is not worth the price.....you need to choose.  There are many options and all should be applauded for adding this service to their options.

I would recommend  727 Food Now as a momma's best secret friend.

Take the hand offered, even if you don't know the need, yet.

Get me to the Greek

Very vaguely associated with Greek Pastichio....definitely Americanized and speedy cooking techniques.  Get me to the table quick is the name of the game in this house...a little something different from our usual baked ziti.


1 package of fat rotini noodles, boiled al dente and drained
1 lb. package of lean ground lamb
1 fat yellow onion chopped
handful of frozen chopped peppers (from a stirfry mix)
3 fat garlic cloves minced
1 cup of parmesan grated
1/2 cup of grated mozzarella
1/2 cup of cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs, using one at a time in recipe
1 tsp of ground pepper
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of dill weed
1/2 tsp of dried rosemary
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 jar of light alfredo sauce
1/4 cup of  milk
1/2 cup (generous) crumbled feta

browning in the pan

Boil noodles, drain and cool.
Brown lamb, breaking up chunks.
Brown onions, peppers, garlic and seasonings with lamb.  Allow to cool

Mix noodles with mozzarella, cottage cheese, 1/3 cup of parmesan and one beaten egg.
Spread into a glass baking dish sprayed with non stick spray.

Top with meat mixture evenly.

Add milk, remaining parmesan cheese to jarred Alfredo Sauce with one more beaten egg.
Pour over meat and noodles.

Put in 350 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Pull out of oven, remember you forgot the feta cheese.

Sprinkle casserole with feta and run under the broiler for 2 minutes.
Serve with Pita Panzanella.  Pat yourself on the back for not calling out for take-out.  Take a picture for your friends.

Bacon Clam Pizza

On the hunt for tasty fast food...this will fit the bill. Very easy and delicious. Almost tastes like a smoky clam chowder on a bread crust. Quick to put together and the flavor very good.

1 thin Boboli prepared pizza crust
1/2 cup of light Alfredo sauce
1 10 ounce can of chopped clams well drained
1/2 red onion, slivered
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tsp of minced garlic
one package of precooked bacon 8 slices used
sprinkle of fresh minced parsley
pinch of red pepper flakes, if you like a bit of heat
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat your pizza stone, (you have one, don't you?) for twenty minutes
While the stone is heating, make your toppings.
In a tbsp of the olive oil, sweat the red onion slivers and minced garlic until fragrant.
When the stone is super hot, top with prepared pizza crust, spread with the light alfredo sauce within 1/2 inch of the edge, sprinkle with chopped cooked bacon, sprinkle with clams, top with cooked slivered onion and garlic.
Brush edge of crust with reserved oil.
Cover pizza with the cheeses, sprinkle with red pepper flakes and parsley.
Bake 15 minutes until hot and bubbly.

The Hot Brown Pizza Pie!

Hot damn, it's a Hot Brown Pizza

The first Saturday in May is always a grand day of traditional Southern pursuits.  All in celebration of the fastest two minutes in sports, the "Run for the Roses", the Kentucky Derby.  Many fine Southern women search for weeks to find the perfect Derby chapeau, the more outlandish the better. It is one occasion that we can match the British with our elaborate millinery. Large and small parties are planned weeks before the race.  Mint will become scarce and vanish from the grocer's shelves in preparation for the flowing libations featuring Kentucky's finest bourbon. Traditionalists will plan on serving the legendary Hot Brown sandwich with their mint juleps.  A Hot Brown is a celebrated sandwich created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville Kentucky during the 1920's to feed the many late night reveler after a night of dancing.  It is said that the dancing guests would end the evening festivities in the Hotel restaurant and would be famished.  Chef Schmidt created the Hot Brown to satisfy the demanding crowd who was weary of ham and eggs. It is traditionally made with thick slices of toast, topped with turkey, slices of tomato, dressed with cheesy mornay sauce and crisp rashers of bacon.

I have for years made Hot Browns at home, the traditional way. This year, however, I decided to shake things up a bit and use all the traditional ingredients in a new way.  It was a rousing success.  

May I present....my version of a Derby pie, the "Hot Brown Pizza."

• One thin crust Boboli pizza crust
• 1/3 lb. of thick cut roasted turkey breast, from the deli, diced
• 7 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1 ugli tomato, seeded, cut in dice
• 1 cup of highly seasoned mornay sauce see below
• 3/4 cup of shredded 4 cheese blend

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Place Pizza stone in oven to heat for at least fifteen minutes.  The pizza stone preheated to smoking hot is crucial to creating a nice crisp to a pre-baked bread shell.

Make Mornay sauce while the pizza stone heats.  Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. of unsalted butter and 1 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil over low heat in a large saucepan.  Whisk in 3 tbsp. of flour and cook a few minutes.  In a small sauce pan, heat 1 cup of 1 % milk with one half of an onion, a bay leaf, and some whole black peppercorns, over gentle heat, do not scald. Strain hot milk into a quart measuring cup and add one teaspoon of chicken base and stir to mix.  Off the heat, stir the hot milk into the butter/oil/flour mixture.  Back over low heat, cook slowly until thickened.  Add 1 tsp of worchestershire sauce, 1 tbsp of dijon mustard and one cup of shredded parmesan cheese.  Stir well, reserve.

Pull heated stone from oven.  Quickly spread the thick mornay sauce over the crust.  Top with turkey, bacon and tomatoes.  Cover pie generously with finely shredded cheese.  Bake in hot oven for 8 to 10 minutes.  Watch carefully, you don't want it to burn.

It was gobbled up by the family in nearly the same amount of time it takes to run the race.  This recipe is a "Winning" bet.

Chocolate Hazelnut Krispy Treats

Who doesn't love crispy treats? Add chocolate hazelnut spread and crushed candies to make over the top good

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella)

6 cups crispy style cereal (Rice Krispies)

12 pieces of Ferrero Rocher fine hazelnut candies, buzzed for a pulse or two in a food processor, to break up, alternately, bash them with a rolling pin.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.

Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.

Remove from heat and stir in chocolate hazelnut spread until melted.

Add cereal and bashed up candies.

Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well coated.

Try a little nonstick cooking spray on the spoon to keep it from sticking.

Using a sheet of wax paper, evenly press mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan coated with nonstick cooking spray.

Cool completely.

Cut into squares.

Hazelnuts