A new family fav...the rice bowl!

Sausage and peppers rice bowl

So my friend Mindi has been doing the whole “eating for your blood type” thing for a while now. It’s been really working for her – she’s feeling and looking great! I’ve sort of been blowing it off for myself though until this past weekend. Mindi and I did a ski lesson together (hello…check off a New Year’s resolution) while the boys snowboarded. Afterwards we got some food and a few beers, the topic came up again. For some reason Brett rattled off his blood type - AB- (is this really something people know about themselves, like their phone number?) and the next day she sent me a ton of info on what he should be eating/avoiding. As an FYI – beer and meat were on his “avoid” list. So needless to say Brett will not be participating! :)

Luckily I had some old maternirty paperwork filed, so I dug it up to see what my blood type was. I’m O+ (which I will now never forget) and it turns out I’m supposed to avoid gluten and dairy…awesome. More specifically it said that wheat makes me gain weight. The silver lining is that beer and wine are on my “OK to eat list.”

As Brett said, “It’s like reading your horoscope. You don’t know if it actually applies to you, or if it’s just general enough to apply to everyone.” OK, so I, like Brett, am not going to start the regiment. But I did find the concept sort of interesting. It definitely inspired me to branch out a little and look for ways that I could replace wheat in my diet with other things. Because as I believe, it’s all about balance.

Where this recipe came from
So Monday night I had planned to do sausage and pepper subs for dinner. After reading about the gluten thing, I decided it might be fun to turn these into a rice bowl.

Making the recipe
Brown rice take FOREVER to cook, so keep that in mind when you are planning this. I started the rice before I cut up all the veggies and sausage.

The results
This turned out to be a suprising success!! I didn’t mix the rice/sausage mixture together for the kids – but they both ate it! If Brett was home, I would have had to cook the sausage/veggies separately, but since he wasn’t I was able to cook everything together. Much easier. I’ll definitely be looking for other ways to incorporate rice bowls into our dinner routine!

The recipe
NOTE: Since I was cooking for just me and the kids, I did half of what I would normally do. If you’re cooking for 4, I would double this.

1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup brown rice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 links chicken sausage (I used the sweet italian flavor - but use whatever you like), chunked
1/4 red pepper, chopped/cut in strips...whatever you like)
1/4 green pepper, cut the same way
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
shredded mozzerella cheese for topping
salt and pepper

Heat chicken stock to boiling in a small saucepan. Add rice, lower heat to simmer and cook until tender, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile heat olive oil in a skillet over med heat. Add pepper and onion. Cook for a minute or two and add sausage. Cook a few more minutes and add garlic. Continue cooking until vegetables begin to soften - about 8-10 minutes. Add scallion, salt and pepper.

Once the sausage and veggies are browned mix with sausage and check seasonings. Top with mozzerella cheese.

Eggplant rolatini, deconstructed

Eggplant Rollatini, deconstructed

Between the cold and snow, cranky kids and Brett being away – last week was feeling like a long one. How that happens when you only log 3 days of work, I don’t know – but there you are anyway.

When the weeknight crazies start to get to me I change the circumstances. Do something different and fun. I decided that we had earned a movie-dinner. As a general rule – we eat dinner at the dinning room table, not in front of the TV. Sometimes though, for sporting events or pizza night or something, I set up the kids little folding chairs around the coffee table and we pile around the TV for dinner. Thursday night called for such a drastic event. I made the kids quesadillas (because they’re not messy) with flax seeds and tofu “hidden” inside (I ended up pulling out all of Bodie’s tofu) and popped in Cars (somehow that movie never gets old). The results, everyone relaxed and enjoyed the evening…mission accomplished!

Where this recipe came from

I though I deserved a treat as well, so I wanted something comforting and yummy. I had an eggplant in the fridge and since we had calzones the previous weekend, I decided to pull together one of my favorite restaurant meals…eggplant rollatini (I know, I’m wild!). I’m not actually sure if I had the correct ingredients, and I definitely didn’t assemble this in the right way – but I threw together what I had and it was AMAZING!

Making the recipe

This was definitely a make it up as you go situation, but it was super easy. I layered everything in a baking dish and popped it in the oven. Instead of separately cooking eggplant and then doing a lot of cheese and eggplant layering, I tried mixing the breadcrumbs with the cheeses and using that as a topping. So easy and so good!

The results

Bodie wouldn’t go near this and Adela had one bite. I thought it was delicious…I would definitely make this again!

The recipe

1 eggplant, sliced horizontally into ½ inch slices (I left the skin on)

½ cup tomato sauce

½ cup grape tomatoes

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar for drizzling

Salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic

½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs

½ cup part skim ricotta cheese

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Spread the tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a square baking dish. Top with a layer of eggplant slices and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining eggplant (My eggplant fit into two layers) and top with tomatoes. (I used what I had - but you could dice a regular tomato or used a drained can of tomatoes.)

In a medium size bowl, mix garlic, ricotta cheese and breadcrumbs. Spread over the eggplant and top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Breakfast (and a winner) for dinner

French toast sticks with berry dipping sauce

So lately dinner successes have been few and far between. Either I spend a lot of time and energy cooking something no one likes (see yesterday's post) or I'm tired and throw together some kid food and call it a day. Literally, all week I've felt like eating a bowl of cereal for dinner. I don't know if I'm a little creatively spent or need some extra sleep or a little from column A and B. Anyway, last night I found myself pushing chicken nuggets (frozen, gasp!) on the kids (that for some reason they weren't interested in) and just felt like I was saying "I know you already ate all of your apples, but finish your processed junk meat or no sugar as a reward."

Obviously that's not what I said, but I may as well have. I felt like I was yet again struggling with dinner - this time a "kid food" and they weren't even eating. So, I decided that tonight things were going to be different. Instead of forcing an uber-healthy, but not kid friendly dinner or making something I didn't feel great about  - I was going to make something healthy that I knew the kids would love. Enter breakfast for dinner!

Where this recipe came from
My super sister-in-law (I actually have two super sister-in-law's...soon to be three) Jen gave me this great cookbook for Christmas...Williams Sonoma cooking with kids (or something to that effect). Bodie and I were looking through it the other day to come up with new things to make together and we came across french toast sandwiches that were cut into shapes with jelly in the middle. He got super excited, so I put this on the soon-to-make list. I didn't feel like bothering with the cookie cutters tonight, so I decided that I would take the elements (french toast and fruit) and make my own twist.

Making the recipe
This one was pretty fun to make. I decided to toast the french toast after I cooked it to give it more of a crunchy texture. It definitely helped make these more stick-like. For the sauce, I pretty much put all of the ingredients in a pot and let it cook. The consistency was slightly thinner than what I was hoping for. It was more drizzle-sauce like and less dipping sauce, but it still totally worked. I think I would cut back on the water next time or omit it all together.

The results
Ding ding ding...we have a winner!! Bodie actually said "this is my favorite dinner." I almost cried :) This was the first dinner in I don't know how long where I didn't have to tell the kids to eat...not once. I'm really feeling like next to my wedding day and the birth of my two children this was one of the best days of my life (just kidding...sort of!). The kids had fun eating it and it was a REAL dinner (or breakfast). YEAH!!

The recipe(s)
French toast sticks
6 slices of whole grain bread
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Whisk eggs, milk, honey, cinnamon and ginger in a medium-size bowl. Dip each slice of bread in egg mixture, turning. Cook over medium heat until browned and flip.

Cook on the other side until browned. Remove from pan and cool for a minute. Cut into strips (I cut each bread slice into 4 "sticks"). Put on a foil-lined backing sheet and put in the toaster oven or regular oven at 375 for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with the berry sauce.

Berry sauce
1 package (16 oz) of mixed frozen berries
1/2 cup water (if you want a thicker sauce, cut this in half or omit)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp honey
juice of a half lime or lemon (I used lime because I had it...but lemon would be great too).

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan over med-high heat. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Use the immersion blender to process, or transfer to the blender and process until smooth.

I had a lot of berry sauce left over...I'm planning to mix with vanilla yogurt and some granola!!

Overachiever Vegetarian

Spinach pesto bulgar wheat cakes with roasted chic peas

So I recently acquired a box of bulgar wheat from a friend who has gone to the dark side (gluten free). I've never used bulgar wheat and quite frankly wasn't aware that you could do anything with it unless you were making tabbouleh (which I've never made). After doing some research, I discovered that it can be used as a rice substitute...who knew?

Where this recipe came from
I thought my kids might be more interested in eating Bulgar wheat if I made it into a "cake/patty" form. Like "hey...look little cake/nuggets to dip, this is so fun, I can't wait to eat it??!!" And since we were doing Bulgar wheat, I figured let's go all the way and get some spinach in there. As I was chopping up the spinach in the food processor, I wanted to add some great flavors to make the "cakes" more interested. I somehow ended up with a pesto that I thought would give the wheat a lot of great flavor.

Making the recipe
This was fairly easy to do. I mixed all of the pesto ingredients in the food processor and then mixed with the bulger wheat. Formed those into cakes and baked in the oven. To go with it, I wanted to dry roast some chic peas (another something I've never done), but since my kids love beans, I thought it would be a great way to round out the meal. Halfway through roasting the chic peas, I decided i wanted to add olive oil. I think it helped give these more flavor and a better texture.

The results
Ummmm, probably pretty close to what you would think (as least as far as the kids were concerned). As I was complaining to Brett on the phone about the kids not eating dinner and how stressed I was getting about it, he asked what I made them. All I heard on the other end of the line after I hesitantly told him was laughter...Bodie took one look at these and said he was NOT eating them. After forcing him to take a bite (and sitting through the ensuing gagging/choking/throw up face), I didn't push him to eat any more. he did eat some of the chic peas though. Adela ate a few bites (success!) and most of her chic peas. I thought these were actually pretty good. if I made them again, though, I think I'd need to add some egg to the mixture to hold them together. What I was most impressed with though was the pesto...it was SO good! Like, literally, I was eating it out of the food processor with a spoon. Add that to some goat cheese a stuff a chicken breast with it....YUM!!!

The recipe
2 cups baby spinach
one handful fresh parsley
3 scallions, cut in thirds
zest and juice of one lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup almonds (I used sliced, but whole would be fine too)
salt and pepper
2-4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup bulgar wheat, cooked according to directions
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400. Cook the bulgar wheat according to package directions (I cooked it in chicken stock, but water is fine too). Meanwhile, Put spinach, parsley, scallions, lemon zest and juice, garlic, almonds and salt and pepper in food process. Process and stream in olive oil until desired consistency.

Once the bulger wheat is cooked, mix it with pesto, bread crumbs and cheese in a bowl (as I mentioned, you might want to add an egg). Form into small patties and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

I served these with sour cream (which was mysteriously gone from everyone's plates even though the cakes were still there...)

Roasted chic peas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can of drained, rinsed and dried chic peas
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Heat olive oil over med heat in a small skillet. Add chic peas, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook until the chic peas start to brown - 5-8 minutes.

Baked salmon and New Year's resolutions

Baked mustard salmon

Happy New Year! Back to blogging after fun and crazy holidays (which ended with a day in bed sick from a bug...). At any rate, I'm back with something that I actually made during the holidays that's a perfect healthy meal. Speaking of healthy...(the recipe will follow in a few), I wanted to hit on my New Year's resolutions for 2011. I think my husband stated it perfectly when he said that a New Year's resolution should be three things (I believe the saying is even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while? just kidding - love you honey!) :

1. Something that you want to stop doing;
2. Something that you want to do better; and
3. Something that you want to learn.

While I have many things I'd like to work on this year, I've narrowed down my three things. #1 involves punctuality, or getting off "Chenail time" as I like to call it. #3 is learning to ski...to be continued and #2 involves food. Specifically, introducing more/different healthier foods to my family. I have to admit - we've definitely gotten better. But I've found that a lot of weeks recently (especially when Brett travels) the kids have been eating a lot of scrambled eggs, mac and cheese, etc. for dinner. I'm not looking to eliminate those nights from our life completely. Quite honestly, I need them or I just may go crazy. What I'd like to do is find a balance where we're continually getting good healthy meals (that everyone will eat) and the kids are getting a wide variety of options. I'm afraid of getting stuck in a rut where the only things I'm offering them are "kid friendly" meals. I'm guessing 75% of the time that's all they'll eat (Bodie at least), but I want to keep trying so that I don't end up with a 13-old who eats nothing but Kraft mac and cheese (and I'm guessing 4 boxes at a clip at that age!)

So here goes....

Actually this one is more of an adult meal, but since I made it in 2010 all resolution bets are off. If you have a kid that eats salmon (Adela will take a bite or two) I salute you!

Where this recipe came from
A long long time ago Brett and I were eating at this great restaurant/pub and I had this amazing mustard salmon. The restaurant version was more of a "powdery-mustard" topping, but this one tastes just as good and is super simple to make.

Making the recipe
This takes 3 minutes to prepare and bakes for 20-25 minutes. That's it!

the results
Brett and I love it...in fact, it's generally the only way I make salmon. As I mentioned, Adela will take a bite of it here and there...Bodie won't touch it.

The recipe
3/4 lb salmon fillet (this serves 2, so increase depending on how much you need)
juice of 1 lemon, divided
3-4 tbsp mustard (this time I used a spicy mustard, but any kind you like...wasabi mustard is so good with this!)
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter (I used brummel and brown), melted
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil, sprayed with cooking spray. Place salmon on baking sheet and squeeze juice of half of the lemon on top. Next, spread on a generous layer of mustard.

Mix breadcrumbs with melted butter and salt and pepper.

Cover the salmon with the breadcrumb mixture and pat down. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness, or until done. Squeeze the rest of lemon over the top and serve.

*PS...What the "plated-photo" does not show is the kid's leftover mac and cheese Brett and I enjoyed with this dinner. What was that I was saying about my kids eating something other than Kraft mac and cheese?? Here's to 2011! Cheers!