a hit!
Cooking for this family is occasionally a challenge. Fussy kids. I know, I know, serve one meal and if they do not like it, they go hungry. I just don’t have the heart to do that. There are some ways to make it a bit easier. One way is to starve them. Well, that came out wrong. What I mean is, serve an early lunch and a late dinner with no snack in between. They will eat.
The other afternoon, I was on an “errand date” with our five year old, Maximilian. I often take one of our children with me when I run errands as a way to have special time with just them. There is often a coffee (for me) or treat (for them) shared, too. Well, our afternoon ran late and we found ourselves at the grocery store at dinner time. The cell phone rang and Daddy encouraged us to bring home dinner. I just did not want to get fast food and we had already had a request of “not pizza.” With our groceries, we selected some ready-to-eat meals from the Market’s Kitchen. We brought home some Pork Tenderloin, a whole rotisserie chicken, corn and rice pilaf. The cost was certainly less than feeding seven people fast food. We even had leftovers.
Tonight I served the leftover Pork Tenderloin and the other half of the chicken along with corn on the cob and (raw) green beans. It was easy. But one look at the meal and I thought for sure our Timothy would not be pleased. He wasn’t pleased when we brought it home the other evening. So, I grabbed the rest of the black beans that were opened a couple of days ago from the fridge and remembered some inspiriation.
I was watching 30 Minute Meals on The Food Network a couple of weeks ago and Rachel Ray prepared Nacho Bread Pizza. I did not have a baguette, but I substituted with a Large Tortilla. I forgot the hot sauce, but no one missed it. I did finish with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and offered sour cream to go with.
I served it to Timothy, my only “beany boy. He ate it without complaint. After our “meaty-boy” Maximilian finished his chicken and corn, he requested some of the Nacho Pizza. Then, not wanting to miss out, Pier-Jérôme requested some as well. Maximilian also added some of the Rotisserie chicken to his bean filling. They all cleaned their plates. Yay! Here is the recipe:
Nacho Bread Pizzas
1 loaf baguette or semolina bread, day old is fine (used a large Tortilla)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped or 1 pickled hot pepper of any kind, chopped (jalapeno)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans
2 teaspoons hot sauce (we did not miss this)
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt and pepper
1 cup prepared salsa, any variety
2 cups shredded Cheddar, smoked Cheddar, Monterey Jack or pepper Jack (we used sharp cheddar, but less than one cup)
1 heart romaine or 1/2 iceberg head, shredded (I chopped up organic spring mix)
/2 cup green olives with or without pimiento, chopped forgot this, too
1/4 red onion or 2 to 3 scallions, chopped (skipped this, too)
2 plum or vine tomatoes, seeded and diced
Split bread lengthwise. Hollow the bread out and cut each half in half across, making 4 boats.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil, 1 turn of the pan, garlic and hot peppers. Drain beans. Add half of the beans then mash the remainder of the beans in the can using a fork. Add mashed beans to the pan and combine with whole beans. Season beans with hot sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. When the spicy beans are hot through, spread them evenly across all of the bread. Top with salsa and liberally sprinkle with cheese, covering bread to all edges. The boats will only be half-full. Melt cheese in the oven until it bubbles and begins to brown.
Top Nacho Bread Pizzas with lettuce, olives, onions and tomatoes and serve
best laid plans..
Here is the midweek menu report:
Monday's dinner was okay. I don't know if it is the "Recipe Rave" that the Saving Dinner book claims it to be. Basically it was just four ingredients.. chicken, garlic, brown sugar and olive oil (I think.. darling husband actually made it). We used 3 big, thick breast halves. Perhaps if the chicken was thinner, it may have been nicer. I have a sweet tooth, but the brown sugar was almost too sweet for the chicken. Next time we will try the Garlic Lime Chicken.
Tuesday's plans were scrapped as I predicted.. yucky fast food. Even the salads at fast food places are rubbery as is the chicken. Oh well.. just be thankful for time together and full tummies, right!
I grocery shopped without my list late Tuesday evening. I realized on Wednesday that I did not have fresh parsley (no garden yet), I forgot the heavy cream ( I was willing to sub with my husband's half and half.. but he wasn't) and I defrosted bacon and forgot that I actually had pancetta. Needless to say, our dinner plans were postponed. I had a sore throat and did not wish to try a new recipe that I could not really enjoy. I boiled the water and darling husband prepared mini penne pomodoro. Elaina and I had the leftovers for lunch today, yummy as usual. My sore throat is gone, too. Zicam really works!
To prepare Jeff's Pasta Pomodoro: boil pasta of choice (most often it is angel hair here) with a nice sprinking of kosher salt to flavor the pasta. While pasta is cooking heat olive oil (a few turns around the pan ). Press a few garlic cloves and a bit of kosher salt into the hot oil. Chop a few fresh tomatoes and add them to the garlic (don't let garlic burn). Add a splash of red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes and toss. Drain pasta and add to the tomatoes. Finish by incorporating ribbons of basil leaves throughout pasta. Optional: Serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano.
At the grocery store I picked up ingredients to make that "really wierd potato salad." Last year, after watching the preparations on Everyday Italian, we tried it. It really was not bad. I also like that it is not mayonnaise based.
3 medium russet potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus additional olive oil, if necessary
1 pound good-quality hot dogs, pierced
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Boil the potatoes whole until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and cool to room temperature. Peel and cut potatoes into bite-size pieces, discarding potato skins.Put the hot dogs into a hot grill pan and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool the hot dogs to room temperature, then cut them crosswise into bite-size pieces.
Toss the potatoes, parsley, basil, and olive oil in a large bowl. Season the potato salad with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the hot dogs to the salad and toss. Season to taste, adding additional olive oil if the salad seems too dry. Serve the salad at room temperature.
Last week our groceries included Applegate Farms Hot Dogs Beef Nitrite & Antibiotic Free Organic – 8 ct Who wants to feed their family nitrites or antibiotics? Certainly not I. Unfortunately, no one liked them. Not even me. So I went back to our favorite – Hebrew National Beef Franks to include in the potato salad. Wouldn't it be nice if they could make them organic and without nitrites? I just wrote to them and requested just that. Futile? Probably.
Here's hoping that we stick to the menu for the rest of the week!
the menu
In my unending quest for organization, I try to make a weekly menu. We do not always stick to the plan, yet, if it is on paper we tend to get take out or "wing it" less often.
This week's menu is:
Monday: Carmelized Garlic Chicken from the Saving Dinner
Tuesday: Leftover Bratwurst with grilled onions (for the meaties.. ), Annie's Mac-N-Cheese, bagged salad with Drew's Salad Dressing or Blue Cheese Vinaigrette (for Timothy). Mom has to go out so dinner is all Dad. This is the plan. However, since we are meeting Dad at Lowe's to pick up some plants and seeds for the garden, dad may scrap my plans and we will have fast food before I head out.
Wednesday: Pasta Carbonara. We have never made this before. Bacon and Heavy cream sound incredibly rich, but the gentlemen in our family really do like those ingredients. I was inspired to try this dish by Elizabeth at Kitchen Comforts.
Thursday: Breakfast Dinner. When cleaning the basement last month, I found the heart shaped waffle maker which we received as a wedding gift from one of my dear bridesmaids. Julian so enjoys waffles and has been anxious to give this a go. I plan to serve with scrambled eggs and (Veggie) Sausage (they'll never know it's veggie, really!).
Friday: Fish Romano, once again, from the Saving Dinner
Saturday: I have to work. Menu is Dad's choice. Whatever he prepares, I will leave some broccoli handy. He likes burgers. So I should prepare some hummus and leave some raw veggies and pita. Julian and Timothy would be pleased to make a meal of hummus since neither care for burgers. The younger three will enjoy burgers with Daddy, though.
Sunday: Sirloin Strips marinated in Pineapple Juice, fresh grated ginger, fresh pressed garlic and Tamari. Served with Jasmine Rice with Bragg's Liquid Aminos, Steamed Veggies. Brownie Pizza for Sunday Dessert.
surprisingly addictive carrot salad
4 medium carrots, peeled
1/3 cup salted peanuts
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut oil
few drops sesame oil
Nigella says: Grate the carrots very coarsely, push them through the french-fry cutter blade in the food processor, or just cut them into skinny batons or sticks. In a bowl, combine them with the peanuts and then add the remaining ingredients. I like to eat this, straight out of the Pyrex bowl I mix it in, held up high, under my chin, for ease of eating-action. In fact, the only way I stop eating it is by having someone prise the bowl out of my hands.
Serves 1-2, depending on your compulsiveness or generosity.
Forever Summer
I find it strange how much I like this recipe. Even more strange is that all of our children devour it. I understand why Nigella claims that it must be removed from her hands. I often make it on informal nights as a snack. If I served a bit on each child's dinner plate, it would not get eaten. Yet, if I have a bowlful with a fork handy, the children see me eating and want in on "Mom's Salad." Little do they know that this is one of my little tricks to get them to eat more healthy vegetables!
laughable
I never really learned to cook. I could follow a recipe and bake something and it would turn out okay. As far as actual cooking went, I just never learned. I had to call my mother-in-law when I was 25 to ask her how to make baked potatoes. I was not a risk taker in the kitchen. A recipe was always necessary.. no natural instinct. Fortunately, I discovered that food cooked in the oven was very forgiving if I used a Pampered Chef Baking Stone. Then a few years ago, my remote control landed on Food Network. We can all taste the difference.
My husband on the other hand.. he doesn't mind taking risks in the kitchen. Much of what we cook is though of, shopped for and prepped by me, then like the doctor who comes in at the last second to catch the baby, my darling husband whips the dish together. I am not complaining. Really, I am not. He has an impeccable sense of timing. So between the two of us, our family is not starving.
We have come quite a long way from the early days of our courtship, when meals came from takeaway or the toaster oven or microwave. Even farther from the days when meals came delivered frozen on a yellow Schwan's truck.
The fun part about cooking for our family is the diversity. Yes, I am being a bit sarcastic here. Daddy was fussy as a child. His dear mom, God bless her, she tried and tried to get him to eat well with not much success. He will not eat cooked vegetables. No crockpot meals. No casseroles.
Julian is garlic boy. He could eat garlic pasta everyday.
Timothy may as well be a vegetarian. He will eat bits of meat with steaksauce. He loves tabasco and spicy beans.. yet, he is the only one. Besides me, that is.
Maximilian enjoys meat the most. He tolerates pasta.
Since Pier-Jerome turned three his fussiness kicked in.
Elaina will pretty much eat anything on Mommy's plate. Her new trick is to simply spit back out anything that does not immediately please her palate. Well, isn't that fun! I have no idea where that one came from, but it would be nice if that trick left as quickly as it arrived.
And me. I'm not fussy. Just no beets, green, red, yellow or orange peppers, raw onions and being a former vegetarian, there are a few meats that I am 'just not there yet' with.
So what do we eat? This blog will answer that. There was a time when I considered myself a "nightmare in the kitchen." It is absolutely laughable that I share our culinary details in a blog. Here goes anyway.
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