A quick trip to the islands

Coconut shrimp with apricot dipping sauce

A few days before Christmas and things around my house are CRAZY (hence the lack of regular blogging) ! I still have a little shopping left to do and a LOT of presents to wrap. Tonight, though, we took a break with a fun dinner (that also just happened to use up the bag of shrimp that's been sitting in my freezer!)

Where this recipe came from
I love coconut shrimp! Unfortunately, traditional coconut shrimp is NOT good for you. And while deep-fried shrimp is delicious...I wanted to make a healthier version. This is one that I've been making for a while and it's always good! I usually use panko to make these crispier, but didn't have any. Instead I added some pecans which seemed to help!

Making the recipe
This is an easy one to do, but does take some time. While it was a great weeknight "getaway" dinner, it was a little bit of a rush and took longer than expected (I underestimated the time it takes to peel shrimp). Start to finish, it took a good 45 minutes (maybe longer). Totally worth it though!

The results
Brett and I both gave these a thumbs up! It was a great dinner, but would also make a great appetizer or snack. I didn't bother giving them to the kids, but they were pretty content with hot dogs nonetheless.

The recipe
1 bag frozen raw shrimp, thawed, shelled (is that word?) and deveined
1/4 cup pecans
3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/3 cup coconut
2 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400. Remove the shells (and other good items) from the shrimp. Put the pecans, breadcrumbs, coconut and salt and pepper in a food processor. Process until smooth and pour in a shallow bowl. Whisk the eggs, olive oil and salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.

 Dredge the shrimp in the egg mixture, bread crumb mixture and then put on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes and serve with apricot dipping sauce (recipe below).

Apricot dipping sauce
1/2 cup apricot jam
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp mustard (I used grey poupon)

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Five spice rice
I served this with brown rice flavored with Chinese Five Spice Powder. (If you've never had it, it's a great spice. It tastes sort of cinnamon-y exotic...or something like that). I thought the rice was good, but felt like it was missing something - maybe citrus. If I made it again, I would have mixed in some orange zest and juice.

3/4 cup brown rice
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat chicken stocked over high heat in a small saucepan until boiling. Add rice and turn heat down to med-low and cover. Cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Add in Chinese five spice powder, scallions, olive oil and salt and pepper and serve.

Pasta primavera

Pasta primavera

So last week found our house Brett-less once again. Obviously, that means it was time for a veggie meal that would last a few day...Enter veggies and pasta!

Where this recipe came from
No where, really. I know I've said it before, but I LOVE pasta. Pasta mixed with a random bunch of veggies...viola dinner! As much as I love pasta, I rarely make pasta with red sauce. As a kid I always requested my pasta with butter instead of red sauce. Don't get me wrong - I love tomato sauce (alot actually, I could sit and eat a bowl with a spoon). But for some reason, whenever I think of making pasta it involves an olive oil-based sauce,

Making this recipe
Easy! Cook pasta, cook veggie, mix together! The one thing I would change is the lemon. I added the juice of a half a lemon and I think next time I would bump it to a whole. Also, I had intended to add a pint of grape tomatos, but by the time of the week I got around to making it, I didn't have any left. It was fine as is - but I think it would have been better with the grape tomatos.

The results
I loved it! The kids ate it -Adela picked out veggies (that's my girl!) and Bodie mostly ate pasta. Under "encouragement" though I got him to eat a broccoli and some edamame. Overall, I marked it down as a winner!

The recipe
1/2 box whole wheat angel hair pasta
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 package baby portabella mushrooms, wiped off and chopped
1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
1 can of diced tomatos, drained
1/2 cup frozen edamame
2 scallion stalks, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
juice of a half a lemon (what i used - but you might want to add more)
2-3 tbsp chicken stock
shredded parmesean

cook pasta according to package directions and drain (I think it takes less time to cook than it says on the box - so watch it early). Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive  oil over med heat in a large skillet. Add broccoli, mushrooms and garlic. Cook until mushrooms and broccoli soften about 5-7 minutes. Add tomato, edamame, scallions, oregano, basil, lemon, and salt and pepper, stirring.

Let cook 1-2 minutes for lemon to infuse. Add remainder of olive oil, chicken stock and pasta. Serve with cheese.

Nuggets!

Pecan chicken nuggets with honey mustard dipping sauce

Sunday night was our "decorate the tree" night, so I thought a snacky dinner we could eat while decorating would be fun.

Where this recipe came from
A few years + ago, I was watching an episode of Emeril where he was making chicken nuggets. Previous to this, it had never occured to me that one could make homemade nuggets. Although I'm not sure why, since they are essentially smaller pieces of breaded chicken. Anyway, this is my version.

Making the recipe
I used to make do a half-package of chicken whenever I made these. Since it's sort of a lot of work to bread all of the tiny pieces, I now do a whole package. I use the thin slice breasts and chunk them up, but you could easily do large breasts or tenderloins (although I hate the white stringy things that come in the tenderloins). Also - leftovers are great to stick in the freezer and pull out to top salads or for quick snacks.

The results
The kids eat these...homemade chicken nuggets!!! That in itself is exciting. On this particular night, the fact that they got to eat these off of paper plates on a chair in the living room was an added bonus!

The recipe
1 package of chicken breasts (Mine was 1.87 lbs), cut into large chunks
1 bag of pecans
1 cup of whole wheat bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Put the pecans, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in a food process and process until smooth. Put in shallow bowl. Mix eggs, olive oil, salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.

Dredge chicken in egg mixture and then bread crumbs. Put on baking sheet spreayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway.

Honey mustard dipping sauce
1/2 cup mayo
3 tbsp mustard (I usually use grey pupon dijon, but this time used Koop's southwest heat)
2 tbsp honey
pepper

Misx all ingerdients in small bowl and serve with warm chicken.

Birthday dinner!

Mac and Cheese

My daughter, Adela celebrated her 2nd birthday last Saturday. Since her birthday fell on Thanksgiving weekend (she was born on Thanksgiving) we had her birthday party the weekend before. I still wanted to do something fun to celebrate, but because she's an antsy little thing, I wasn't up for a family dinner out. I decided instead to make one of her favorite dinners, mac and cheese, complete with three rounds of Happy Birthday before we dug in.

Where this recipe came from
My grandmother makes the BEST homemade mac and cheese...hands down. As much as I love it, it isn't the healthiest thing on the plant...(sorry Granny, it's still DELICIOUS!) And while it's worth every bite once in a while, I wanted to create a slim-down version that I didn't feel as guilty about. (Although if I look like her at 80+ and get to eat that stuff, I'd consider myself one lucky lady!) Keep in mind it's still mac and cheese though, so don't be fooled that it's comparable to having celery sticks for dinner.

Making the recipe
I struggle with the "wetness" of the mac and cheese. Generally I make it too dry, which can probably be attributed to the fact that I don't measure. I'm working on it. I think this time it was OK, but you might want to experiment with adding more half and half when you make it.

The results
Everyone ate it, enough said.

The recipe
1 box whole grain elbows
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 heaping tbsp flour
2 1/2 cup reduced or fat free half and half (I'm sure milk would be fine too, but I've always used half and half)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 block Cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded (I use the cracker barrel 2% milk)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 tbsp flax seeds
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp chopped parsley
3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted or olive oil (I used melted brummel and brown and it's fine)

Heat oven to 400. Cook elbows in boiling water. I take them out when they are still a little firm. Since they will bake, you don't want them to get mushy. Heat olive oil over med heat in large skillet. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add flour, stirring. Cook for two minutes. Add half and half, stirring. Turn heat up to med high and bring to boil. Once it begins to thicken, add oregano, basil, Cheddar, Parmesan and flax seeds. Stir until all cheese is melted and add in parsley.

Add elbows to pan, mixing well. Pour mac and cheese into casserole dish. Mix breadcrumbs with melted butter or olive oil. Spread over the top of the mac and cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

Adela Mary enjoying her "Mary-inspired" birthday dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving...butternut squash style

Orange ginger butternut squash

Happy Thanksgiving all, one day late. My intention was to blog this before we left for the big Williamson bash yesterday, but surprisingly it never happened. After visiting my grocery store at 7:00 am this morning (I was the second shopper because I decided to brave Target at 5:45) I discovered that the big displays of squash are still in tact, so hopefully we can all still call this post timely!

Where this recipe came from
This year I was charged with making squash. I had picked up two butternut squashes

at the store last weekend and sort of forgot about it until Tuesday. After frantically searching the internet for the "perfect recipe" I stumbled upon a Martha Stewart recipe that reminded my of my favorite Thanksgiving item as a kid...candied sweet potatoes. My grandmother made them every year (and I never been able to correctly replicate it). Anyway, I decided that this would be the perfect addition.

Making the recipe
Things didn't necessarily go to plan. As I was cooking and tasting (don't worry family members, I was using clean forks...most of the time anyway). I felt like I was missing something. I decided to add a little orange juice and ginger. I also ended up mashing the squash. It was sort of half mashing on it's own and looked strange. This is a perfect example of cooking something that ended up turning out completely different than what I originally had in mind. In the end, it tasted pretty good, so no complaints!

The results
I didn't have high hopes bringing this dish to the feast. As I was making it, Brett kindly asked "why are you making something no one is going to eat?" (Did I mention he's anti-squash). Anyway, I hoped that the rest of the family didn't share his views. Happily the squash was a hit! There was barely any left (which also can be attributed to the fact that there were 20+ people in attendance, we have a lot of  Williamsons!) Nonetheless, everyone loved it.

The recipe
2 butternut squash
4 tbsp butter (you could cook it in olive oil, but this was a holiday, right?)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
tiny dash of crushed red pepper (optional, of course, but I think it brings out the sweetness)
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the squash in half. Remove seeds, peel and cube. Be prepared...this takes a while.

Melt the butter over med heat, until it's melted and starts to brown.

Add the squash and cook until tender. This took about 20 minutes for me, but is partly because my pan was a bit overcrowded.

Once the squash is tender, add the brown sugar, chicken stock, orange juice, ginger, cinnamon, red pepper (if using) and salt and pepper. Mash and mix. Serve warm.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all of my friends, family and readers! Special shout out to all the great family we got to share Thanksgiving with this year (especially Aunt Kathy and Uncle John for hosting)...and apologies for Bodie puking half-way through dinner! Don't worry, he didn't eat the squash!

Part-time Vegetarian

Eggplant Parm Florentine

The kids and I tend to eat a lot less meat whem Brett travels for work (except for occasional chicken nuggets of course.) As I've mentioned before, I'm not anti-meat, but it's generally more work than I feel like adding to a long day and I'm perfectly happy without it. Also, since Brett's not a big veggie-guy, I try to take advantage and enjoy vegetable-centric meals when I can!

The other thing I'm going to admit about my husband traveling (and this recipe in particular) is that I love to cook a huge "something" and eat it for a few days. Lately it seems that unless I serve hot dogs or mac and cheese (from the box) I spend most of dinner time arguing and bargaining with my children to eat. It certainly makes the effort of a lot of cooking and cleaning see fruitless night after night...especially when Brett's not around. I'm semi-ashmed to admit that I made this recipe on Sunday and proceeded to eat in Mon night, tuesday night and Wednesday night as well. I suppose it could be worse...

Where this recipe came from
I LOVE LOVE LOVE eggplant parm, but wanted to make it a little healthier (this turned out to be a good instinct since I ate it for 4 days). I decided to bread and bake the eggplant instead of frying it, and also added spinach to boost the nutrients.

Making the recipe
Obviously baking the breaded eggplant and then baking the entire casserole took longer than I would normally have on a weeknight. Because it was a Sunday though, I didn't mind. When I make this again, I think I'll chop the spinach before adding it. It was still good, but I think smaller pieces might have been easier to manuever.

Note: I realize 3 eggs seems like a lot for breading, but eggplant soaks it right up! I actually started with 2, but didn't have enough.

The results
No one else went near this but me. The kids? Yup...they ate "kid food" for a few nights (and I still had to bargain at dinner time...thank god for leftove halloween candy!) Whatever...enjoyed my dinner 4 nights in a row!

The recipe
1 large eggplant
3eggs
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2-2 cups whole wheat breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
2 cups baby spinach
2 cans garlic and oregano diced tomatos
1 clove garlic
3/4 cup shredded mozzerella
2 tbsp parmesean

Preheat oven to 400. Slice the eggplant horizontally into 1/4' slices (I left the skin on, but that's up to you).

Whisk eggs, olive oil, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Mix breadcrumbs, salt and pepper in another bowl. Dredge the eggplant in egg mixture, then coat in breadcrumbs. Spread out on a baking sheet(s).

Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

When the eggplant is done, drain enough of the juice from one can of tomatos to coat the bottom of a casserole dish. Line with half of the eggplant.

Sprinkle half of the spinach over the top and then top with the rest of the canned tomato. Layer the remaining eggplant, spinach and tomato. Top with mozzerella and parmesean cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cajun night

Chicken and kielbasa jambalaya

Let me start by clarifying that this is not a "true" jambalaya recipe. More of a "cajun-y" rice and meat dish. I'm going to call it jambalaya since I'm not Cajun and don't know the difference! Tip on this one. If you're making it for kids, pull out some meat and rice before hitting it with the cajun spice!

Where this recipe came from
I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that before Brett and I got married I regularly (read: once every few weeks) made the jambalaya in the box. I don't care what anyone says...that stuff is good! Eventually I decided I could make it myself and it really wasn't that hard.

Making the jambalaya
This is easy to make. Somewhere over time, I discovered that if I cooked the rice and meat separately, the rice cooked faster. Particularly if you are using brown rice. Also, this can be made with whatever combo of meat, seafood or veggies you like. I usually make this with kielbasa and shrimp, but didn't have any.

The recipe
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium size onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 package chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 turkey kielbasa, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can diced tomato's (I use the jalapeno ones for extra heat)
1-2 tbsp cajun seasoning (depending on how hot you like it)
Tabasco to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper (make sure the cajun seasoning you are using doesn't have salt before you add any! Mine does and I didn't realize this the last time I made it)

Heat chicken stock in small saucepan over high heat, bring to boil. Once boiling, add rice and cook until tender (about 40 minutes for brown rice).

Meanwhile, heat oil over med heat in large skillet. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook until veggies are tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and kielbasa. Cook until chicken is cooked through.

Add Worcestershire sauce, cooked rice, tomatos (I cuisinart my tomatos, because Brett doesn't like "big chunks". You could go either way) and cajun seasoning, Tabasco, salt and pepper.

Let cook for 10 minutes or so until some of the "wet" cooks out.

Check for seasoning and serve topped with cheese (pretty sure the cheese part isn't what you would call "classic cajun" but when is adding cheese ever bad?)

Thanksgiving come early

Roast citrus chicken, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and glazed carrots

*Notice the napkin layout. Bodie set the table :)

This past Sunday I felt way overdue for an afternoon in the kitchen. (yes, I realize it's Thursday and I'm finally blogging this. Little behind all over the board this week. Who needs winter sweaters out of storage this year anyway?) Not that I want to do it every weekend, but there's something about cooking for a few hours (wine glass in hand) that I find very relaxing. Since I hadn't roasted a chicken yet this fall, I decided it was the perfect day. With Thanksgiving just around the corner we went for the full shebang!

Where these recipe came from
The roast chicken is an adaptation of an amazing Giada De Laurentiis roast chicken recipe I've made before. I didn't pull the recipe out this time, just added the essential flavors I remember. I couldn't find whole grain stuffing in the store, so I made my own. it was MUCH easier than I expected! The cranberry sauce was just cooked cranberries in a pan, and the carrots is an easy adaptation of a WW carrots recipe my mom makes (MOM...this is way easier to do than getting out the cookbook FYI)

Making the recipes
For some reason roasting a chicken always seems to take long that I think it's going to. This one took a good 2.5 hours. It was a 5lb+ bird, so maybe that had something to do with it? Everything else went to plan...here's to a great fall afternoon in the kitchen!

The results
Chicken: awesome! Super juicy and tender! Everyone seemed to like it (expect for Bodie who seems to have "chicken issues")
Gravy: this was good. I really liked the citrus in the background. I've definitely not yet perfected the gravy technique however..I would have liked this to be thicker. But it was really nice as a sauce.
Stuffing: this was good, but I think I can do better. For my first homemade stuffing attempt, I was pleased. But I think I can keep tweaking this.
Cranberry sauce: Bodie and I almost finished the entire thing, we liked it so much. As someone who could eat an entire can of the fake stuff (high fructose corn syrup and all) I was so happy with the way this came out!
Carrots: excellent! Everyone ate these. The honey glaze definitely helps!

The recipes
Roast citrus chicken
whole chicken (mine was 5lbs, but whatever size you want to go with)
1/2 bunch fresh thyme
1 bunch fresh sage
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 large orange (I used 2 small clementines)
1 lemon
1 cup chicken stock

Heat oven to 400. Pull all the junk out of the middle of the chicken and then rinse and pat dry. Put the herbs, garlic, olive oil, zest from the lemon, and salt and pepper in the food processer and process until it becomes a paste. Add more olive oil if needed. Cut the rest of the lemon and orange into chunks. Put the fruit in the cavity (gross) of the chicken and rub the herb paste under the skin. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan breast side up.

Add the chicken stock to the bottom of the pan. Cook the chicken at 400 for 30 minutes and then drop the heat to 350 for the remainder. Baste with the stock every half hour or so. Cook until a meat thermometer registers 180.

Let sit for 20 minutes before carving.

Gravy
drippings from chicken
1 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup orange juice
salt and pepper

Put roasting pan with drippings over two burners on the stove. Heat drippings and add in flour. Stir over med-high heat.

Cook for 2 minutes and add chicken stock and orange juice. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring. Let cook down until desired thickness and serve with chicken.

Whole grain stuffing
1 loaf whole grain bread (we ended up with about 2/3 of a loaf...Brett got into the bread a day early!) I'd say it was a good 5 cups cubed bread
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp dried garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper
1/2 onion
2 stalks of celery (we didn't have celery so I didn't use it...but I'm pretty sure it's a stuffing staple)
1 clove garlic
1/2 bunch fresh thyme, stripped from stalks
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 cups (give or take) chicken stock

Mix 2 tbsp olive oil with dried garlic, oregano and basil. Cut bread horizontally and brush with oil mixture. Put on a baking sheet and toast in the oven (at 400) for 20 minutes. Once bread is done, and has cooled, cut into small cubes. Meanwhile cook onion, celery, garlic in remaining oil in a small skillet over med heat. Mix bread cubes, cooked vegetables, thyme and parsley. Add in stock, a little at a time, until bread is soft. Spoon into a baking dish, coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Cranberry sauce
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
2 cups water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey

Mix cranberries, water, orange juice, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan over med-high heat. Bring to a boil and let cook. The cranberries will burst and start to thicken. Let cook down until desired degree of thickness. It took a good 30-35 minutes for me to get these where I wanted them.

Put into a bowl and cook for at least a half hour before serving.

Glazed carrots
1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Put carrots in a small saucepan with an inch or so of water. Cover and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Once water is boiling, turn heat back to med-low. Cook until carrots are desired degree of tenderness. I cook for about 10 minutes. Drain carrots and mix with honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Happy early Thanksgiving!

Bonus blog...fun grilled cheese!

When I started this blog, I had sort of set out to write alot about the foods I feed my kids. So far, I think most of my posts, however, have been foods that I either aren't giving them or they just aren't eating.

Tonight I decided to make a regular dinner (in most houses this would probably be a lunch, but whatever) more fun and thought I would blog it. I had leftover risotto so I resorted to a good old stanby for the kids...grilled cheese. I kow I said I was going to make real food a certain percentage of the time (did I really say 90%??) But I'm thinking that grilled cheese can squeeze into this category. I use whole grain bread, part skim mozzerella and add flax seeds in the middle. Flax seeds are full of omegas and lots of other good for you things. What exactly those things are, I'm not sure, but I know I'm supposed to incorporate them, so I do.

To make this dinner more fun, I let the kids pick out cookie cutters (they chose dog bones) to shape their grilled cheeses. I realize this means we will be wasting some of the grilled cheese. However, I happen to be a great grilled cheese scrap eater and quite honestly I throw away more food every night than I would care to admit. I rounded out the grilled cheese with avacado chunks, red pepper strips (cucumber for Bodie) and oranges. Bodie cleaned his plate (minus a few avacado) and Adela ate her oranges, an avacado chunk and 4 bites of grilled cheese. Ugh...someday I know she'll be back to the amazing eater she once was. In the meantime "Bone-appetit"!!

Butternut squash and cranberry risotto

This is one of my fall favorites…butternut squash and cranberries with creamy risotto…yum! It’s also a dish that typically make when my husband is not around. He’s (gasp) anti-butternut squash. In the past, I’ve made this with sweet Italian turkey sausage and it’s a GREAT addition! This time however, I substituted a can of
cannellini beans. When it’s just me and the kids, we tend to eat a lot less meat. I’m certainly not a vegetarian by any stretch, but it’s easiest and faster for me to cook without it. Plus, I typically want to take advantage of cook a lot more vegetable-centric meals. That’s not saying the kids always eat them, but I’m certainly trying!

Where this recipe came from
Many years ago, Brett and I hosted a wine weekend (we lived smack in the middle of Duchess County, NY wine country at the time) with his sister, brother-in-law and a few cousins (anyone remember wine-fest 02??) Anyway, in my quest to create the perfect fall menu, I stumbled upon a butternut squash, cranberry wild rice dish. I’ve since morphed the flavors into a risotto that is a must-make every time fall rolls around. I realize that risotto is not a “whole grain”  (at least I don't think it is, becasue it is white) but I make it anyway  because I love it so much. If there is a whole grain version, please let me know!

Making the recipe
Typically I make this with craisins instead of real cranberries. This time though, I didn’t have any craisins so I grabbed some cranberries out of the freezer. I actually liked the switch, but if you prefer a little more sweetness, I’d substitute craisins for the cranberries (although you could probably cut it down to a ¼ of a cup or so, and add them later in the cooking process). Otherwise, risotto is super easy to make. Add liquid, stir, once liquid evaporates, add more. It’s a little time-consuming, but the beauty is that everything cooks
in one pan!

The results
I was a definite thumbs up. I love the slightly sweet butternut squash, mixed with the tart cranberries and the cheesy risotto. Adela wouldn’t touch it and Bodie ate most of what I put on his plate (although I was sitting next to him, filling up his fork and threatening no Halloween candy if he didn’t eat). He didn’t complain about it, so I’d say that’s a semi-success.

The recipe
1 tbsp olive oil
½ butternut squash, peeled and cubed
¾ cup Arborio rice
juice of ½ lemon
2-3 cups chicken stock (you could use vegetable stock if you wanted to go vegetarian)
½ cup cranberries (mine were frozen)
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup fresh shredded parmesean cheese, plus some for garnish
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large skillet over med heat. Add squash and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should be getting slightly soft. Add rice and stir to coat in oil (add another tbsp if you need it.) Squeeze lemon juice in pan, stirring again. Add ½ - ¾ cup of chicken stock (room temp) and stir. Let cook until the liquid is almost gone and repeat with nother ½-3/4 cup stock, stirring occasionally. Continue to repeat. After 10-15 minutes, add cranberries.

And continue cooking process.

The risotto should take about 25 minutes, taste to get your desired degree of doneness (it will start to plump towards the end). When you are adding your last bit of stock, add in beans, cheese, parsley and salt and pepper. Cook out remaining liquid and serve topped with more parmesean cheese.

This makes 3-4 servings. (Probably closer to the 4 side, but for me, I'd say it's 3!)

My kids ate spinach!!

Penne with spinach and tomato sauce

As I've mentioned before, my kids (and husband) do not eat a ton of vegetables. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas to hide (incorporate) different vegetables into our meals. Enter pasta...it's super easy to add all kinds of veggies and in this case, I incorporated them into the sauce, so no one ever knew they were there! Also, I LOVE pasta. It's probably one of my favorite foods. I always buy the Barilla plus pastas, they're made with whole grains and chic peas and taste great!

Where this recipe came from
When browsing through the meat department at Hannafrod's over the weekend, I came across a chicken sausage that I haven't yet tried...spinach and feta chicken sausage. I thought it would be a great addition to some pasta and give me a chance to incorporate the sausage flavors in the pasta.

Making the recipe
This one was super easy! Boil the pasta, throw the sauce ingredients in the Cuisinart, mix in a bowl, pour in a baking dish, bake for 20 minutes...that's it! Also nice to have veggies, meat, grains and cheese all incorporated in one spot!!

The results
My kids ate it! Not a ton (and they usually devour pasta) but enough. I think the two helpings of peanuts pre-dinner didn't help. Brett and I both really liked it and would definitely make it again!

The recipe
1/2 box whole wheat penne
2 cups baby spinach
1 can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic
1 handful of fresh parsley
1 large clove of garlic
1 pkg (4 links) of chicken spinach spinach sausage (the pre-cooked kind. You could use any flavor you like to substitute)
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Cook penne according to package directions (I would undercook by a minute or two since you are going to bake it). Meanwhile put spinach, can of tomato (partially drained), parsley and garlic in the Cuisinart (food processor. You could probably use a blender here if you don't have a food processor). Blend until sauce-like (I need to learn some new terms), about a minute.

Mix sauce, cooked pasta, sausage cut into chunks (I quartered the links length-wise and then "chunked" them) and feta in a large bowl with the olive oil and salt and pepper.

Mix to coat. Pour in a square baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Yeah pasta!!

Baked Lemon Haddock

Baked lemon haddock
Brett and I try to eat seafood on a fairly regular basis. We love it and for the most part is very healthy. The problem is that I am a very regimented grocery store person. I go once a week (usually on Sat mornings). I do not enjoy visiting the grocery store more than my allotted once per week. I spend enough time (and money) in that place as is and the last thing I want to do on my way home from work is stop there and pick up something for dinner.

This, unfortunately, can have a negative impact on seafood eating. Because I shop on Saturdays, I only buy fish if it’s something we are going to eat Sat-Mon. Otherwise, I don’t get it. Due to that, we eat a lot of “ Monday night seafood.” It’ s not the worst gig in the world because 1. I have a tendency to “over-indulge” on the weekends, so it’s nice to start the week with something healthy and 2. it’s usually quick to make…the perfect start to the work week.

Where the recipe came from
Lemon and most seafood are obvious partners. The haddock was on sale at Hannafords and I thought it would be nice baked. And that's it...sorry it's not more exciting!

Making the recipe
I pulled this recipe together with items I had on hand. It turned out perfectly and was quick and simple to make.

The results
Brett and I both loved it. Although it wasn’t a departure from most of the baked fish I make – it was nice, light and had great flavor. I didn’t give it to the kids. They’re generally not into it, so I gave them leftover (homemade…future blog alert) mac and cheese instead.

The side dish
I also whipped together a Quinoa side dish to go with it. If you’ve never had Quinoa, try it! I learned about it from another food blog I read, Happy Healthy Mama (thanks Maryea!!) It’s little balls (giggle, giggle) of whole grain that's full of protein and really tasty. I made a cranberry apple version to try something a little different…the results? Mixed. Brett was not a fan. He likes quinoa, but this particular recipe had a little too much cooked fruit going on. I liked it, but thought it need a little something more. Perhaps upping the cranberry and adding some chopped toasted pecans would have done it…

Baked lemon haddock recipe
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 lemon, zested (keep the lemon…you need the juice too)
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb of haddock

Preheat oven to 400. Lay the haddock out on a sprayed baking sheet (I cut mine into pieces before baking, so it was easier to work with instead of one super long piece). Cover with the juice of a half of the lemon, and salt and pepper. Mix the walnuts, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil in a small bowl. Spread evenly over the fish, patting to help it stick. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the fish easily flakes. Juice the rest of the lemon over the filets and serve. 3 servings (we ate all of it though!)

Cranberry apple quinoa recipe
1 ½ cup chicken stock
¾ cup quinoa
¼ cup cranberries
1 large apple, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Put the chicken stock and quinoa in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil and add cranberries. Cover and reduce heat to med-low. Cook for 7 minutes and add apple. Replace cover and cook for another 8 minutes or until liquid is gone. Add olive oil, salt and pepper. 3 servings

I served the fish and quinoa with steamed broccoli with a little lemon.

PS - sorry for the lack of pictures...dinner time was CRAZY the night I made this!