no more vacations for mom-mom

{I realllly love my mom-mom}

My parents were in Cape May for a few days, so Malayna didn't get to play with mom-mom on Monday as she usually does. She really missed her and talked about her often. She's been a little more clingy than usual and every day she asked if that was the day mom-mom was coming over. {It doesn't help much that Jimmy is also on a business trip. He's in Atlantic City golfing and having meetings at restaurants with grown-ups! I'm just a little envious. Can you tell?}

While we were having dinner the other night, Jimmy and I were talking about how delicious the meal was and how good the feta cheese in it tasted. {I cooked again!} Malayna asked what the cheese was called so I told her and then asked if she'd like to taste it. When she said no {no surprise there}, I said, "You don't know what you're missing." Apparently she did, because she replied "mom-mom."

Here's the recipe for the veggie dinner:

1 lb. asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 4-inch lengths
12 oz. small new red potatoes, cut into 1/4"-thick slices
2 medium-size zucchini, cut into 1/2"-thick rounds
8 oz. baby carrots
1 1/4 cups grape tomatoes
1 small onion, thinly sliced
5 tbs. plus 1 tsp. prepared pesto
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Place large baking sheet in oven, and preheat to 450F. Cut 4 20-inch sheets of heavy-duty foil. Combine all ingredients except cheese in large bowl. Toss to coat, and season with salt and pepper.

2. Divide vegetable mixture among foil sheets. Sprinkle cheese over top. Fold foil over, and crimp edges to seal.

3. Arrange packets in single layer on heated baking sheet. Reduce oven to 400F. Bake 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. (Pierce packet with knife to test veggies.) Let stand 5 minutes.

4. To serve: Place packets on plate, slit tops, and fold back foil.

{Some notes: I've used regular foil (doubled) when I didn't have the heavy-duty stuff, but it tastes better with the heavy-duty. Not sure why! I cook it for 30 minutes instead of 20. I don't like onion, so I didn't use it. And while I was typing this, I noticed that it calls for zucchini, which I didn't use either.}