Showing posts with label Kid Meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kid Meals. Show all posts

Friday, June 17, 2016

Pink Pasta...Because Why Not.


Can I tell you how excited I am to be back at work.  It has been two long years of juggling 4 kids, a move cross the USA, a husband that works from home and than my choice to return to school and all that entails.   The last two years has taught me a lot.  I have learned that I need to be constantly learning and improving or I get depressed. My brain needs stimulation or it goes crazy.  I enjoy what I do and I want to be better at it.  I want to write more and cook more.  It's been forever since I have felt that way.  

I have a gap in kids that will allow me to find the time to squeeze in a few more years of education. Isabella is 9 and that leaves me with 9 years to "edu-ma-cate" my silly self.  I am pretty excited.


My busy life has forced me to simplify my cooking.  My eating habits have evolved as well.  I find myself in the kitchen with less prep, tastier dishes, and more time to do other things.  I made macarons the other day with my daughter and holy shit those take a long time.  SOOOO much work! Secretly, they tasted amazing; but, I realized how much my approach has changed in the last two years and I love it.  

I love simple foods, with whole ingredients.  I like having my shopping cart bulging to capacity with vegetables.  My family appreciates this too. 


This recipe is fun.  It made the kids smile to see pink noodles.  Easy slip of a bit of red food coloring during the final stages of boiling the noodles and presto-bammo you have a kid friendly dinner.  

Cory made the sauce the night before (he is a keeper that guy of mine) which made dinner even better because all I have to do is reheat the sauce and grate some cheese.  


I even had Cory pose with the spaghetti.  This is a comical process seeing how our 2 year old is not used to both of her parents being tied up with photographing food. She wanted in on the action and while I snapped away, she tried to climb Cory's legs.  We laughed so hard at our life.  We are almost 50 and dealing with a two year old.....crazy!  She does keep us young and we love her so much.


Cory's sauce is simple (recipe below).  Add the following ingredients and let it simmer until reduced to the desired thickness.

Ingredients:  1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/4 diced red onion, 1 cup of fresh mushrooms sliced, 1 small zucchini sliced, and two cans of diced tomato with juice, and one can of tomato sauce.  For the fresh herb he added fresh basil and oregano.

He's a man that does not cook in the kitchen very often so his technique is "throw it in a pan with some oil and let it simmer".  Seriously, this is what he does and it turns out great every time.

As I always recommend with my recipes, taste the sauce and make your own assessment.  Be your own quality control and add salt as needed.  Let me know if you have any questions. I'm around.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Owl Bento Box #SundaySupper


Sunday Supper is all about Back to School and we have you covered for meal planning and ideas.  See the list with links and recipes at the bottom of this post.

Ah, back to school is right around the corner for us.  Maryland officially begins school next week. BUT, psst.... we start when we want too. Well, kind of.  Our school year is 180 days and we make sure that we keep records and that our kids are "doing school" by the book for 180 days but it also means we get to learn what we want and visit lots of places.  Field trips are the best!

We homeschool our kids and love the freedom that this brings to our family.  We start late because we go further into the summer months.  In Maryland many of the local history locations, living farms, and towns host homeschooling functions.  We try to catch a few of these so that Isabella can get some "hands on history" to start our new year.  This year we will be heading down to Williamsburg, VA to learn about the American Revolution and then to our local Renaissance Festival to learn about this particular time in history.

This is one of the many reasons why I LOVE to homeschool.

Our lunches are a bit different because I don't have to get up early each morning and pack a lunch for my kids but that does not mean we don't have fun when lunch time comes around.  We find ourselves going to parks, camping, hiking, site seeing or enjoying our friends.  These are all reasons for us to pack fun lunches. Bento Boxes are fun lunches in my opinion.

I love Bento Boxes.  This Owl Bento Box is super easy and Isabella gets a real "HOOT" out of opening the sandwich tray.  This particular bento box is stacked.  I love the variety that is available when selecting a Bento Box. I visit our local H Mart in Catonsville.  They have a huge selection of fun inserts (I am using the reusable cupcake holders), little sayings on sticks, cute picks to decorate with and a selection of boxes to choose from.

Pinterest is filled with fun ideas and food suggestions to use in your next Bento Box.  This idea of the owl was easy and something my kids could assemble and would want to eat.  It took me all of 3-4 minutes to make it.  It took me back to when my kids loved Winnie the Pooh.  Owl was one of my favorite characters. I think because he loved to learn, loved to read and he lived in a tree house.  I want to live in a tree house someday.

Want to know how I did it?  See the instructions below and enjoy your next fun Bento Box.



Owl Bento Box
Makes one sandwich

2 slices of lunch meat--any kind
1 slice of cheese--any kind
2 slices of leafy lettuce (wings)
2 slices of bread (body)
cheese or carrots (feet and beak)
6 slices of cucumber (base of eyes)
2 small round carrot slices (eyes)
1 black olive, cut in half (eyes)
extra carrot sticks to hold up the leafy wings

1.  Prepare all of your items.  Cut the carrot sticks for the feet, the triangle for the beak, the circles for the eyes.  Slice the cucumbers and halve the black olive. Tear the lettuce and stack them to create the leafy wings and feathers of your owl.

2.  Make your sandwich using the bread, meat and cheese.  Using a large circle cookie cutter, cut the body.

3.  Assemble your owl using the picture as your guide.  Instruct you children or husbands (he he he--oh that would be funny) to add the lettuce to the sandwich when they are ready to eat their owls.

4.  Ta-Da--you're done with the owl.  Find other healthy snacks to fill the cubbies in your Bento Box. I included fresh blueberries and a trail mix that I make at  home.

Are you searching for back to school recipes? Take a look at these by Sunday Supper contributors:

Back to School Beginnings

Back to School Lunches and Simple Suppers


Back to School Sips


Back to School Super Snacks


Back to School Sweets and Treats


Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. 

Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Enchilada Dip



My kids ask for enchiladas about once a week.  They love the combination of corn tortillas and cheese layered with lots of red sauce.

I have seen versions of this dip around and decided that it may be a bit easier than making a couple of trays of enchiladas--especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  On those two days I am usually running kids from 4:30 until 8:00.  I try to make meals in the morning so that those that are home can reheat and eat at their convenience.  I miss eating together but busy families do what we have to do to get everyone fed and out the door.

I was correct.  It was much faster to whip this up.  I served the dip with corn tortilla chips.

I found that I could portion up the leftovers in small containers. This made for a great snack after school.



Beef Enchilada Dip with Green Chilies and Black Beans

1 pound of ground beef
1/2 medium onion, diced small
2 gloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of enchilada sauce (I make my own sauce--follow link)
2 cups of cheese, grated  (I used jack and mozzarella--but you can use any cheese you love)
1 small can (4.5 oz) diced green chilies
1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 bag of tortilla chips

toppings:

diced tomatoes (optional)
avocado chunks (optional)
green onion (optional)
black olives (optional)
sour cream (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a large frying pan, cook meat and onions together until the meat is no longer pink.  Add garlic, cook another 3-5 minutes and remove from heat.  Drain any fat from the meat.

3.  Add black beans, chilies and 1 cup of cheese to meat mixture.  Combine well.  Transfer mixture to a baking dish.  I am using a round stone dish that makes the dip about 1 inch thick.

4.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the meat/cheese mixture.  The recipe says 2 cups but you can always use less if you prefer your dip not so runny.

5.  Top with remaining one cup of cheese  (add more if you want more)  I like lots of cheese so we usually add a bit more.  I also use what I have in the fridge.  This is a great way to use up small pieces of cheese.

6.  Heat in oven until cheese is melted.  In my oven this takes about 7 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve.

7.  While the cheese is melting, prepare your toppings.

Written by Sherron Watson











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