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!

Hot dip for friends

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
I've been making my own version of spinach and artichoke dip for a while, and am happy to finally "catalog" this one. I was lucky enough to enjoy this yesterday with some great friends (love you Amy and Janelle!). Best served with a good dose of laughter and of course gossip :)

Where the recipe came from
My "base" recipe for this came about a long time ago from a free recipe book I received with a bottle of Classico Alfredo sauce. You know...the super healthy white jar of butter, cream and cheese (that somehow doesn't good bad on the shelf?) I'm happy to say this recipe has definitely slimmed down (but certainly not a "health food" by any stretch of the imagination.

Making the dip
When I started making this yesterday, I burned the garlic. If you've ever done this, you know that it instantly changes the wonderful garlic and oil smell to something super bitter.

So I cooled it down, washed out the pan and started over. If it smells that bad, it can't taste good, right? The other change I made to previous versions was that I added sour cream. Why this brainwave never occurred before, I'm not sure - but it works!

The recipe
3-4 tbsp olive oil divided
1 large clove of garlic
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup half and half (I use the reduced fat version, but you could also go fat free, full fat, milk would probably work too)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
dash crushed red pepper (you could omit)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can artichokes, drained and rough chopped
1 box frozen spinach, defrosted (put the spinach in a towel and squeeze to remove all water)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat)
3/4 breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over med heat in large skillet, add diced garlic. Cook about a minute until garlic starts to sizzle. Add flour, stirring. Let cook 2-3 minutes.

Add half and half, stirring. Add basil, oregano, red pepper, salt and pepper. Crank heat to med high and bring to a boil. Let boil 3-5 minutes until sauce starts to get thick.

Add spinach, artichokes, parmesan cheese and sour cream. Put heat back down to med, stir and let heat through.

Put dip into a 8" square baking dish or hollowed out bread bowl. (I dried my bread bowl out in the oven for about 15 minutes before I put the dip in. I was thinking it would create a better "barrier" so the dip wouldn't seep through as much. The dip held up fine in the bread bowl, but I have no idea if putting it in the oven ahead of time did anything) Mix remaining olive oil with breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top.

Serve warm with bread chunks, tortilla chips, veggies, etc.

Because I was feeling "over-achiever" yesterday, I made my own breadcrumbs from the bread I removed from the bread bowl (my husband was slightly upset that there was no bread for snacking). In case your interested, I put the bread pieces in the Cuisinart to "crumb the bread" (Brett's term). Mixed it with 1 tbsp garlic flakes, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano and salt and pepper. I spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 400 for 10-15 minutes until they hardened up.

Happy snacking!

Apple time!

Pork with Honey Mustard Apples
First off, I want to apologize for the delay in blogging. This week has not been our best food week...one night was leftovers, one night was pizza and the other night we were minus a stove which made for a dinner-free-for-all. My dinner that night consisted of edamame, a handful or dates, a few cheese and crackers, and a bowl of chocolate cheerios :) Tonight, we're back in business!

Where the recipe came from
It just so happens that we live 3 minutes from two different orchards, so needless to say, I have apples everywhere. When planning my meals for the week (obviously, I didn't have to plan too many!) I picked up a package of thin-sliced pork chops as a great pairing with some apples!

Making the recipe
I had originally intended to do the pork chops with an more traditional applesauce, but as I was cooking, I decided the sauce needed more of a savory flavor, so I added mustard. After tasting, I thought it needed a little more sweet, so added the honey. I also found that I needed more stock that I originally thought I would.

The results
Brett and I both thought the recipe came out great! Brett's not a huge pork fan - and we generally don't eat that much of it, expect for the occasional pork tenderloin (although to be honest, I probably haven't bought a pork tenderloin in a year...the last time I bought one - the meat was rotten and I still can't get that smell out of my head). I had to "remind" him that he's OK with the thin pork chops, which is what I used in this recipe. He's also not a huge cooked apple fan - but there was enough sauce that he was able to get a taste for the flavor. The kids...no dice. Bodie was forced to eat a bite and said it was hot in his mouth (and proceeded to chew the bite for 10 minutes...so gross) Adela wouldn't touch it. But they both ate couscous, oranges, cucumbers and Adela ate all of her broccoli.

The recipe
1 pkg of thin sliced pork chops
2 tblsp olive oil (divided)
3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tblsp flour
3/4 chicken stock
1 tblsp Dijon mustard (I used grey poupon)
2 tblsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the 1 tblsp olive oil in a large pan. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork. Brown both sides (a few minutes per side) and remove from pan.

 Add the other tblsp olive oil to pan and saute apples. Add cinnamon and poultry seasoning. Stir and cook until the apples start to get soft, about 5 minutes.

Add flour and stir to coat. Let cook for 1-2 minutes and add chicken stock, stirring. Add mustard and honey and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce starts to get thick. Add the pork back to the pan and keep warm until ready to serve.

I served the pork with couscous and steamed broccoli (that only Adela and I ate). Because the pork and sauce had so much flavor, I purposely kept the sides simple.

Lemon couscous
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup couscous
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

heat chicken stock in small pan until boiling. Add cousous, lemon zest and juice, and basil, still, remove from the heat and cover. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add salt and pepper to taste.

I steamed the broccoli in 1/2 inch of water for 4-5 minutes (until the broccoli was slightly softened and bright green) Topped with salt, pepper, drizzle of olive oil and a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Fall soup for a cold rainy night

Pumpkin, black bean and sausage soup
Today was a rainy, cold and miserable day...perfect night for a big bowl of hot soup! I had planned on making this soup all week, and apparently I picked the right night!

Where the soup came from. Last weekend I read a tip in a magazine (Cooking Light, I believe) that suggested putting pumpkin puree in oatmeal. I eat oatmeal every morning, and thought this would be great. The actual experience was not so great in fact, and I had the better part of a can of pumpkin puree leftover. So...I thought a pumpkin soup would be the perfect use-up. For some reason I thought pumpkin black bean soup sounded like a "thing" so I made a mental note to add black beans. When I mentioned the soup to my husband, he decided it needed sausage too...so there you have it!

Making the soup. The problem I always run in to when making something pumpkin (that isn't a baked good) is that I expect it to be sweet and am always confused when it isn't. When I was seasoning, I felt like it should have a hint of sweetness, so I added a touch of brown sugar. I had originally intended on including apple in the soup (and am just remembering this fact now), so I wonder if that would have done the trick.

You will see in my list of ingredients that I used heavy whipping cream. I would normally NOT do this. Generally, I would just use whole milk (which I have in the house for my not-yet-two-year-old) or fat free half and half. I had the heavy cream, so used it. Not much, but it probably made the soup slightly richer (which is, perhaps, not a bad thing). I had planned on adding fresh parsley at the end, but only had cilantro - so used that instead. I may have just liked the flavor of the cilantro in this better.

The results. Both Brett (my husband) and I thought the soup was great. The kids...eh. Typically, I don't give my kids soup. Talk about a "hot mess" (get it, because the soup is hot and kids are messy? moving on...) However, I'm trying to get better about making them try everything instead of just resorting to a safe kid-food haven. The results...Adela wouldn't try it and Bodie ate 3 bites. Not a complete loss, but not a huge winner either.

The recipe.
1 tblsp olive oil
1/2 pkg of sweet turkey sausage (three links)
2 tblsp onion, chopped
1tblsp flour
3 cups chicken stock (I use low-sodium)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp dried sage
1 tblsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of black beans rinsed and drained
3 tblsp heavy whipping cream (milk or half and half would be fine)
3 tblsp chopped cilantro or parsley

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Brown the sausage and halfway through, add the onion.

Cook until the sausage is all cooked through. Add the flour, stirring and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and pumpkin, stirring thoroughly.

bump up the heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, sage, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Drop the heat back to medium and add black beans and heavy whipping cream. Heat through 5-10 minutes or until ready to serve. Stir in cilantro or parsley right before serving. 3-4 servings.

To accompany the soup, I baked a beer bread mix. Tastefully simple Wheat is what we had and it was delicious! (Not exactly what i would call a "whole grain" but delightful nonetheless).

Mixing the dough

Fresh baked

To dress it up, I made a honey butter to go with it. Normally we don't eat "real" butter...we're more of a brummel and brown family. But, since this was my first food blog post I wanted to show off!

Mix 1/4 cup slightly softened butter with 1 tblsp honey. Mix with a spoon and serve with the warm bread!

Happy Friday!

Welcome to my blog!

So I started a blog! Super excited to share my family cooking experiences and at last have a record of what I make! Before I get into it, here's some background info:

1. What we eat. As a general rule, I incorporate healthy foods into our meals. We try to eat a lot of lean proteins, whole grains and fruits and veggies. DISCLAIMER: Not everyone in the family is a good eater on all of these fronts. My husband won't eat cooked vegetables (and only a handful of raw ones), My son will eat any kind of fruit, but refuses to eat most vegetables (I find the daycare-incorporated "no thank you bite to be helpful here), and my daughter will clean her entire plate one night, and not touch a bite the next.

2. I have no time. I'm a working mother of two small children (3.5 and almost 2). Dinner time can be crazy at our house. As soon as we walk in the door (around 5:00) everyone is starving, usually whining and ready to eat! Pre-kids, my husband and I never ate dinner before 7:30, and I had time when I got home to make more complex dinners. Now...not so much. But I do the best I can to get a great, healthy dinner on the table by 6 (some days are better than others).

3. I have even less time. My husband travels for work...a lot. This makes cooking even harder to fit in and even more of a chore. A lot of nights, I'm just cooking for myself and two kids who would be thrilled with Kraft Mac and Cheese of frozen chicken nuggets any day of the week. For myself?? A bowl of cereal or a few servings of Stove Top stuffing (I have some carb-weaknesses) would be more than fine. While I have resorted to this on more than one occasion, the goal is to make real food, let's say...90% of the time (everyone needs a night off, right?)

What I promise to deliver:
1. Pictures. They're the key to any good blog, especially with food! I'm not the best picture-taker, but you'll get plenty of blurry/bad lighting shots.

2. Frequency. I hope to blog at least twice a week. Perhaps I should make myself an "allowed glass of wine while blogging" rule?? This might produce more frequent posts.

3. Good and bad. I want to catalog what works and what doesn't. No sense in only writing down the good stuff, when we can all learn from my mistakes.

Now for the food...but not tonight. bedtime. I have a pumpkin, sausage, black bean soup that I dreamed up planned for later this week. Probably a great place to start!