Italian Anyone???

What is more natural for a home cooked meal than a pasta dish?  I grew up loving Lasagna so much that it was what I asked for as my birthday dinner.  A family friend, Mrs. Schmidt made such an awesome version of it, even though she lived an hour and a half away, I was always excited to go to her house in hopes that we would be having lasagna (okay, so playing with my friend was also a big part!!).  Ahh....childhood memories.

photo courtesy of google images

I have tried several variations on lasagna, and still have not found the perfect recipe for us.  We have done it with Spinach and without, with ground beef, and with a beef and Italian sausage mix.  I have pre-boiled the noodles and have used the oven ready recipe ones.  I personally like doing it in the crock-pot  but the family does not, and truth be told, it does not really make it any easier than just doing it in the oven.

photo courtesy of google 

I have to say, my most recent variation used the oven ready noodles, and I did like that one.  You do not overlap the noodles, and just place them width wise across the pan instead of length wise.  They expand as they cook, so any extra space will be filled.  I made my meat sauce with a combination of ground beef and Italian sausage.  I cooked the meat before, so I could assemble in the morning before I went out for the day. That made for an easy prep for dinner after work and school.

When I make lasagna, I usually make two pans.  I figure if I am going to put forth the effort to make the dish, might as well have an extra one for in the freezer.  But, I hate having my good casserole dishes in the freezer, so I bought a disposable lasagna pan.  I looked at purchasing a regular pan, but several pans recommending not putting it in the freezer, so I went disposable.  A lasagna pan is about an inch deeper than a 9x13, but it is also about an inch wider in length and width.  So now I have a huge gap around that pan, but I through it in the freezer, and we will see when I bake it.

I also made homemade bread to go with it.  I baked the loaves in the morning, and turned one loaf into garlic bread that I popped into the oven while the lasagna set, and finished it off with a nice salad.  With Thing One on his Lenten journey, we had enough for 2 dinners and lunch for 2 on Sunday (so Thing One could have some!).  The second loaf went into the freezer and will accompany the second lasagna, probably sometime next month.

Ash Wednesday, here we come!

Today started the Lenten season, and for us that meant a day of fasting and abstaining from meat.   Wednesday is also the day that Ms. Daisy and I go to Seguin so she can volunteer at their Family History Center.  So that means that we get home late in the afternoon.  Trying to put a meatless meal on the table by 5:30ish so we can get to be ready to leave for Church on time takes a little planning.  Since it was a fasting day, I was trying for something lighter as well.

I looked through The Soup Bible cookbook, and finally found a recipe that seemed interesting.  I was a little leery of the outcome because of the ingredients and also wondering if my finicky Thing Three would eat it.  It has those Legumes that we do not speak of if we want her to eat it.  Navy version. :)  But I figured that since it was pureed, that I might be able to pull it off.

Wednesday morning started and after I had lunches made, started chopping.  I, of course, have to double the recipe to have enough servings, but did forget that Thing One has gone to rice only for lunch and dinner.  I know, I know, that it totally unhealthy.

I did convince him to eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast, so at least he is getting some protein.  And, it is only for 40 days.  If he makes it, I will be proud of him, but I will be surprised as well.  I will continue to monitor him and make sure that he stays healthy.



So I started chopping and the original recipe called for 2 large onions, 4 stalks of celery and 1 parsnip.  Now, I have never cooked parsnips, so I decided to baggie them separately "just in case".  I could have saved the baggie, since they really are just like a carrot, white and a little sweeter in my opinion.  I decided to only use 3 onions since it just seemed like so much onion.  I did substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock to keep it a Lenten meal.

By doing the chopping I was able to start cooking as soon as I got home.  I soaked the legumes the overnight, so they were ready to go, but still cooking for 1-2 hours seemed like a long time.  I cooked them just over an hour, and they seemed pretty tender to me.  Sarge later said that the could have cooked for longer, but time was of the essence, so it was what it was.  After sauteing and adding the other veggies, it cooked for a while longer and then I pureed the whole thing with my stick blender.  Thing Three would be none the wiser about the base ingredient.

When I served it, it was well received.  It did have a sweet taste to it.  Even Thing Three ate most of her bowl.  I did serve it with some homemade rolls that I had programmed the bread machine to have ready when we got home.  It was a light meal, and while it will not be a mainstay in our repertoire, I will use it again.

Just Make It Up!!!

Sarge called me in the middle of a cookie booth to ask what we were doing for dinner.  I had thought about actually preparing a meal, but since all three Things were going to be gone (retreat, dance, gym), I figured we could just make some sandwiches for dinner and call it quits.  

I told him we have bacon that needed to be cooked up and an assortment of cheeses.  Just make up some sandwiches.  Well, that was the beginning of a new creation.

He fried the bacon.   That was going to be a definite in the sandwich.

Next he decided to fry some jalapeno slices in the bacon fat.  Yes, I know it was wrong, but oh did it taste good!!!

Next, he started assembling the sandwiches.  To keep the sandwich healthy (one can hope, right??) he added fresh spinach to the sandwich.




For the cheese, he used the leftover cheese mixture from the poppers that we made for Super Bowl Sunday.  It is a mixture of mexican cheese, cream cheese, fresh cilantro and spices.  Said assembled sandwiches were then buttered and more cheese (cheddar) was added to the outside of the sandwich before grilling.

Here is the finished product!  All we could say was "Oh my goodness!!".  It may not have been good for the diet, but was a great way to end the booth night.

Kale Chips

"How do these taste good???" was the statement from Thing One after putting a Kale chip in his mouth.

Ms. Daisy decided that she would try something new, and found a recipe for Kale chips.  So she bought some Kale, looked up a recipe and made some.  

The Kale chips seemed to be liked by all who tried them.  Some in the household said they tasted like fries.  

Basically all she did was wash and take the leaf off the stem.  Then she tore them into chip size pieces.  Drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with Seasoned Salt.  Bake in the oven, and voile!  you have a crunchy healthy snack.  

I didn't try them, just cannot fathom that one, but maybe next batch I will.  I know as soon as the Things read that  I did not try they that I will have to next time.  

No Carbs Tonight???

Today we needed to make a special meal for Ms. Daisy.  She has to have a special scan done tomorrow that requires her to have no carbs after lunch today.  While many people do have the carb free diet on a regular basis, this household is not used to that, so we need to have something that is good for all, but will be within the carb free requirements for her.   I found a yummy recipe for prepping for this test that is called Stuffed Steak Ole.  You use a flank steak, slice it open and then fill it with onions, peppers and tomatoes.  The first time I made this, I spent the time to finely chop all those veggies into little pieces.  This time, I thought about it, and realized that it is just Pico de Gallo.  We love that stuff, but I don't waste my time making it.  Since we live in south Texas, it is just as easy to run to any grocery store and pick it up fresh.  It might be a little be more expensive, but so worth the time savings.

Thing One was gone for the night with his youth retreat, so that was one less mouth to feed.  Thing Two needed to be picked up from Tennis try-outs.  Still waiting to hear if she made the squad (of course she will, and it will just add to the craziness of my meals), and Thing Three wanted to head to her schools Math & Science night).

So I prepped the Steak and left if for Sarge to cook.  The original recipe called for it to be cooked on our George Forman grill, and when he was in Korea, that is what I did.  I told him he could either do that, or cook it on the grill.  I found out when I got home that he grilled it.

We needed something to go with the steak, and it cannot be a potato, so I started cauliflower on the stove and left directions with Ms. Daisy on how to finish the mock mashed potatoes (using the cauliflower).  The girls actually liked it.  No one felt like they were missing out with dinner.  That was the ultimate result that I wanted.  Mission accomplished.

Monthly Outlook

A couple of years ago I was looking at my meals, and they started to all blend together.  Every week we had variations on the same thing.  Chicken, Pasta, Sausage, blah, blah, blah.  So after hearing many grumblings, I started asking the family what they wanted, and making a list.  That evolved to making a calender so the kids could see what was for dinner.

Now I use Cozi for my calendar.  It is a great mobile and desktop application that allows me to put all my stuff on one calendar, and I can send either email or text reminders to family member about events that they need to be aware of.  It also has a shopping list on there.  I have Thing Three pretty well trained to add stuff to the shopping list and also look on the calendar.  She even added her own things to it.  Thing One refuses to conform, go figure.  Thing Two is about 50%, so that probably makes sense.  Its nice when we use it because if someone is going somewhere they can get other items as well. :)

This month we add in Lent, so that will bring in additional yummy dishes.  We also have cookie booths going on which will effect meal plans.  As well as all the other activities that my family has in store for me. :)

I try and make sure that there is a variety each week, so I do not have Italian meals three days in a row, or several soups the same week.  Sometimes that does not always work since we need to work around what is going on each week.  If you are looking for a great app that you can use for planning, reminders and shopping lists, check out Cozi!

Yellow Broth

This week poses its own challenges in the kitchen.  We had a lot of rich treats to eat during the Super Bowl, and still have a lot leftover.  We also have several nights that we will be out and about.  Tuesdays is one of those days.  The first Tuesday of the month becomes a huge challenge for me.

Thing Three has team practice from 5:30-9:00, but doesn't get released from honor band rehearsal until 4:00, so that gives me just over an hour to get her home, changed and feed her something before heading out the door.

Ms. Daisy needs to be at the local library for her meeting at 6:30.  It is close to where Thing One has Boy Scouts, so he drops her off on his way to his meeting at 7:00.  She only has the meeting on the first Tuesday of the month, so it is only once a month that we are asking him to speed up his schedule by a half an hour.

Sarge and Thing Two have choir rehearsal at 7:00 as well.  As long as the weather is nice he takes them on the bike.  If it is icky out, he drives them in the jeep and then has to drop off Thing One and pick him up afterwards.

Crazy, right???

So as I was looking at meals for the month (yes, I plan for a whole month, but that is another blog), I came across a recipe for Yellow Broth.  There are several different variations for this recipe of Irish origination.  I think with just a slight change from chicken broth to vegetable broth, you could have a good soup for during lent.   So while I do not normally include recipes, I thought this might be worth sharing:

photo from prudentliving.com

Yellow Broth
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 onion, minced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 3/4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup medium steel cut oats
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 Tablespoons cream (I used creme fraiche)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh chopped parsley to garnish

1. Melt butter in pan and add onion, celery, and carrot.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until the onion begins to become soft.

2. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.  Add chicken stock and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

3. Stir in the oats and chopped spinach.  Cook for 15 minutes more stirring from time to time.

4. Stir in the cream and season well.  Serve garnished with parsley, if desired.  Serves 4.

How easy is that!!!  I was told that the several in the family had 2 servings.  Oh, I had made a double batch to begin with, since it only serves 4.  I did get the thumbs up to keep it in the recipe book for us.  I also did not finely chop and mince my vegetables.  We would like to have something to actually taste when we are eating.  And having the Steel Cut Oats adds a different texture and flavor.  I would not substitute regular oats for it, as the Steel Cut Oats have more of a Barley texture to them.  I chose to use the Creme Fraiche with this meal since I did not want a sour cream, but wanted something of more substance than a heavy cream or whipping cream.