Question of the Week: Dinner

Everyone,

This week's question of the week is about dinner.

What are your Go-To meals? Please include recipes/links if possible.



My go to meal is Macaroni and Cheese. The Kraft kind. Or Annie's (the one with the bunny) if I get it on sale. We probably eat that 3 times a week for lunches. The kids love it. Pirate is not a fan of cold cereal in the morning and sometimes he eats that for breakfast. Or if they won't eat the dinner I cook, they have mac and cheese. Very healthy, I know.

If I'm strapped for time, we often have pancakes or eggs for dinner. Sometimes we have spaghetti and meatballs. The one meal that I know I can count on everyone eating is pasta with goat cheese. It come from my favorite cookbook, "The One Armed Cook". I seriously use this book at least 2 times a week for super fast, easy, and tasty meals.

1. Pasta with Goat Cheese Sauce (or pink pasta as Butterfly calls it)

1 jar (2 cups) of spaghetti sauce
4 oz goat cheese
noodles

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. In a medium pan, heat up the spaghetti sauce. Cut the goat cheese into chunks and add it too the sauce, stirring the whole time until cheese is melted. Serve over noodles.

See? Super easy. We have it with bow tie pasta noodles because that's what Butterfly wanted one day. Now we can't have this meal with out it. The boys LOVE it and inhale as much as their little tummies will hold. It is really tasty. I like to sprinkle some parsley over the top of mine and add a little garlic. With bread and a salad on the side, it makes an amazing meal in about 10 minutes.

One of the sub-questions of this week's question is:

Do you have picky eaters? How do you handle it?

Yes, I have ONE picky eater. Professor loves anything with sauce, but will only eat the sauce. He will eat noodles on occasion. He likes hot dogs, butter, chips, and crackers. Oh, and ANYTHING sweet. Cakes, cookies, ice cream, yogurts, whipped cream, etc. Anything else is flat out refused.

I try very hard not to stress over his eating. He'll eat when he eats. It's not like I can cram food into his mouth and make him eat it! Then he won't eat anything (yes, I have actually tried) and cries for a long time after that. So I offer him what the rest of us are eating, and take it away when he tries to throw it on the floor.

This could be the reason why he is several pounds lighter than his brother, and also several inches shorter. I do worry about him and not eating enough through out the day. But seriously, I can't force him to eat things so I really just don't make a big deal out of it.

This summer, my goal is to make smoothies a lot at home (he will drink those) and add things like spinach and avocado to them to get him more veggies. To get them ALL more veggies.

When I have time (and Juice to help me out) I love to make a big meal. Today for Easter we are having ham cooked in the crock pot, home made rolls, steamed green beans, roasted asparagus, salad with home made ranch dressing, parsley potatoes, and fresh strawberries for desert. Yummy!

Safire

Rain Rain Rain

Everyone,

It seems like it has been raining non stop today. But we were adventurous (after a very lazy morning) and were able to go out to the resource center to play with Chef and Al. They were both into the cars first thing, and then Butterfly moved on to the barn and all the animals. There were only 3 other kids there (not counting the boys) so she had the entire play area to herself. She used it too! The boys were able to get down on the carpet and play a little bit even. We all had a really nice time. Chef even gave me some of her candy that she made yesterday. Oh. So. Yummy. I did not share. If you'd like to see what she did, go here.

Butterfly, ever the enthusiastic learner, basically ordered Al around during circle time and was enraptured by the book on spiders. She told me all the way home about them. "Mama, did you know that spiders have eight legs and two body part, not three like bugs. Spiders are not bugs. They are a very big word."

"Arachnids?"

"Yes, a very big A word. I can draw A! Spider starts with A!"

She learns so much so fast. Pretty soon she is going to be telling me about all sorts of things and I will be happy for my college degree to keep up with her. Smarty pants.

She had a late nap and a rushed dinner so we could make it to the church for activities tonight. Juice is still working with the 12-13 year old boys in scouting (they did concealed weapons, I mean, pocket knife certification tonight) and I am working with the 8-11 year old girls. We made no bake cookies tonight and frosted sugar cookies. Yum and yum! They each got to take a plate home to share with their family and we gave a plate to each member of the bishopbric. There was lots of giggling, lots of sneaky cookie tasting and then lots of running after. I had Pirate, Juice had Professor. Butterfly and another little girl in the ward (5 years old) totally hit it off and played so nicely in the classroom next door to the kitchen so I could keep an eye on them as well. It was a good night. If a little bit sticky night.

Recipe for the No Bake Cookies:

Saving Cookies (no idea why they call it that, it's just the title)

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light karo syrup
4 cups corn flake cereal
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Combine sugar and karo syrup in a pot over low heat. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Fold in (quickly) the cereal, peanut butter, marshmallows, and chocolate chips. Drop in teaspoons onto wax paper. Cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!

The girls used their (clean) hands to make the cookies. I also made a batch with peanut butter and without and they worked out just fine. I also ran out of karo syrup for the peanut butter batch so it's a bit rich. But very forgiving. They girls had a great time and we got to talk about filling the measuring cups to the brim and working as a team.

Juice just walked in and looks exhausted. I feel the way he looks. Bed time!

Safire

Professor's Whole Wheat Waffles

Everyone,

I know I promised this a long time ago. But now, here it is! I just made another big batch this morning (okay, Juice made them while I lounged on the couch and entertained Butterfly) and they make the house smell so good. Yum! I love these things. I think I am going to continue to make them for breakfasts after I have the twins. It's cheaper than cereal and probably better for us.

Professor's Whole Wheat Waffles

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup cooking oil

Mix together until batter is slightly runny (adding water or more buttermilk as necessary). Make with a waffle iron and enjoy!

Like I said before, these freeze excellently, double beautifully, and are tasty with syrup or jam or even peanut butter. I think one batch makes about 10-12 waffles on my small waffle iron. That is, if you don't spill a bunch out of the sides like I always seem to do. The batter will separate if you leave it in the fridge overnight but it's an easy fix with a fork or a whisk for a few minutes.

Oh, and please note that it uses BOTH baking soda and baking powder. And don't get them mixed up either...yucky. Also, if you find you don't have buttermilk, you can add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of regular milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. If you don't have vinegar or lemon juice, a tablespoon of cream of tarter and a cup of milk will make it as well, although it won't be as tart. Regular milk does not do this recipe justice. It needs that buttermilk!

Enjoy!

Safire

For Your Eating Pleasure

Everyone,

I've had several people ask me for the recipe I talked about last post. So here you go! I got it from my food "bible" or my absolute favorite cookbook, The One Armed Cook. (But the cover is red...I can't figure out why it keeps coming out at blue. Just know, the cover is red!) We eat out of this cookbook at least 2 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. We love the ease, the tastiness, the little tips that it's full of. I love it so much I've actually stocked my pantry with all of the staples she suggests so that I can just whip up something quick and easy. If you're looking for a great cookbook, this is it.

This recipe is for a flank steak, but I switched it to a London broil and added a few steps. Here is how I cooked it.

London Broil, adapted from Broiled Flank Steak from "The One Armed Cook"

1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon ground ginger (heaping because ginger is good!)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon bottled chopped garlic (I add an extra teaspoon or 3 because we love garlic)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (we have dark sesame oil...so flavorful!)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 London Broil, about 1 lb-2lbs

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine all the ingredients except for the London broil, shaking well to mix.
2. Add the meat; turn to coat with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, turning the bag occasionally. (If you're doing this with a flank steak, it needs to be marinated overnight. London broil is a little more tender and I put this together before church, cooked it when we got home and it was tender and juicy.)
3. When ready to prepare, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Snip a corner of the bag with scissors and drain the marinade into a small saucepan; set aside.
4. In a broiling pan, place the meat and bake for 10 minutes. Turn meat over, bake for another 10 minutes. Turn meat again, back for another 5 minutes until the meat is brown. (Omit this step for the flank steak.)
5. Turn off the oven, turn on the broiler to high and broil for 4 minutes on each side or to desired doneness, watching carefully for flare-ups. (The meat should be around 160 degrees. I actually turned the broiler down to low and did a few more flips just because I can.)
6. Remove pan from oven give it 5 minutes to rest. Slice meat diagonally against the grain. The middle should be pink.
7. Bring the marinade to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with the steak.

You can double the recipe nicely for a bigger piece of meat. It says it serves 2, but it always is enough for us to eat it for 2 days. And it's really good the next day, or even cold. Let me know if anyone tries it.

Safire

PS- Day 2 with the blood glucose monitor. My levels have been hovering around 90 , which makes me wonder if me cutting out the cereal in my diet has really paid off because I really haven't changed much else. Wish I had known this fact before I failed the test...

Reader Requests

Everyone,

I've had a few reader requests lately so I thought I'd answer them. Jill has asked to see some of my scrapbooking. Here you go!

The pictures of the pages aren't that great. I had a hard time getting no glare on them because I refuse to take the page protectors off. But still, you get the idea.

And Karen over at Keeping it Simple has asked me to post the most awesome chicken salad recipes. You know, the one that almost set my house on fire. It's that's awesome. :) Here you go! (courtesy of my mom...Thanks Mom!)

BowTie Chicken Salad

1 box pasta bow ties, cooked as directed
celery, diced
green onions, chopped
water chestnuts, chopped (optional)
1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
red seedless grapes
1 package Craisins
1 small package slivered almonds
chicken or turkey; cooked and diced
Dressing:
1 cup real mayonnaise
1 bottle Kraft Coleslaw Dressing (has to be Kraft or it tastes funny)

Mix together celery, green onions, water chestnuts, pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, grapes, Craisins and almonds. Add chicken or turkey and pasta box ties. In a separate bowl, blend together mayonnaise and dressing. Pour almost all of the dressing over the pasta mixture. Fold in and let salad stand overnight, refrigerated. Pour the rest of the dressing over the salad mixture and stir well before serving.

I always leave out the celery, the almonds, and the water chestnuts and it doesn't seem to hurt the taste at all. And I cook my chicken in olive oil for an hour and send them through the food processor rather than dicing by hand. Both ways are good though!

Any more requests?

Safire