Ace Makes Dinner

Yes this was a Messy March project, how could you tell?  ;-)  Ace has been helping in the kitchen for years (literally) now as much as we ever let him to - so I thought it was high time he learn how to make dinner all by himself  mostly by himself.    Continuing with our theme of Messy March I thought what better time to give him some freedom in the kitchen!

I planned to do this on Friday night and he patiently awaited dinner time that night and after we finished several less than fun tasks we headed downstairs to get started.  Mommy fail! I did not have the biscuits that we needed and it was far to late to whip up some of my own dough to make anything.   He was disappointed but he recovered well enough with a trip through McDonald's drive thru as a substitute.

Saturday was plain too busy with toilet paper fun to bother getting ourselves ready to go to the grocery store (yes the whole day) and so we did something else for dinner.  However, that night I asked him to remind me after church so that we could go to the store to get some biscuits.   Sunday rolled around, we went to church, and came home got out of the car and then he remembered - kudos for remembering - but would have been SUPER awesome if we had still been in the car.  We went a few hours later.  :)

With our supplies ready: Pillsbury biscuits, marinara sauce, shredded cheese, mini pepperoni, and spinach I let the boy get to work.  I let Mae play too - but she freaked out when I plopped down biscuit dough on her tray.   She has made it bizarrely clear that she is NOT ok with anything dough related. Noted, Baby Girl...

Ace got to work patting the dough flatter. He worked in pretty quick fashion, didn't really lingering or play with it.   Really focused on the end goal.  I ended up smashing them a bit more for him because he agreed that they weren't flat enough.  :)

He did a great job applying the sauce as well and Mae enjoyed that part of the fun - she rubbed her fingers all over her tray and enjoyed sucking the sauce off of her fingers.  Ace didn't sample any of that - he was focused on the cheese.   Mae the second she saw it squawked her desire for some too!

Finally after cheese was liberally applied to all the pizzas he got to work applying the pepperoni and spinach to the pizzas in whatever way he felt led.  It was fun to watch him decide how to apply it.  He was insistent that they all have pepperoni and spinach rather than some without one or the other.   Well, ok then.

After he declared his work done I cleaned up around the individual pizzas and tossed the extra cheese on top of the pizzas and then put them in the oven.  Mae was fidgity in her chair so I let her down to wander while they cooked (which for the record was a total of 9 minutes at 350')

 
9 minutes later the pizzas came out - and looked delicious - cut one up for the boy and sent it on over to him.   He was thrilled.  Ate the whole thing and enjoyed it.   I won't lie I ate 4.  DELICIOUS!  Quick, fun, somewhat messy, and a great confidence builder in our young chef!!

Museum Meatloaf

Did you fear that I had succumb to the traditional failures of New Years Resolutions? Don't fret! Our family is still eating, I am still cooking... I just have failed to blog. Also I haven't been cooking any *new* recipes in recent days weeks... and thus no new and exciting blog. I do have a couple ready to post though so be sure to check back for some yummy dishes.

Now onto this post: Museum Meatloaf? What on earth are you talking about? Well that's what my husband said when he ate it. He said it was fit to be in a museum... and my husband is not one who often over gushes about mundane meals (which I thought this one was going to be when I set out to make it.) He's always appreciative, but he doesn't go out of his way to send praise my way to the nonsensical degree, so when he said that it was the best he had ever had and that it was the perfect blend of spices, I believe him and I thanked Paula Deen ... because well that's whom I got the recipe from. ;-)

Ingredients as adapted by me:
1,25 pound ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 whole white onion chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon french yellow mustard

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in bread pan.
• Spread topping onto the meatloaf
• Bake for 1 hour

I ended up checking my meatloaf at the one hour mark and found that it was still pretty moist, so I left it in for an additional ten minutes and it was perfect, so check it at 1 hour and then maybe add 10 minutes or less to the cooking time if it still seems too moist.
So wala, my super easy I-am-going-to-be-lazy-on-a-Friday-night meal, ended up being 'fit to be in a museum' - wish cooking was that easy every day. :) It was yummy, but we were piggies and there's only about 1 serving left. :)

Seared Steak with brussels sprouts and almonds

Another dinner set to the table this one... not a fan of. Another recipe from December's issue of Everyday Food. First and foremost I am not a fan of nuts in food and second I am not a fan of brussels sprouts. However, I thought it had been nearly a decade since I had willingly ingested brussels sprouts, so I thought I'd give it another go. Overall, the brussels sprouts themselves were fine - not my favorite - but not inedible. Still not a fan of nuts in my food though. The skirt steak was tough and stringy and for the price we paid for it was not a 'good' cut of meat. The flavoring though was delicious. Would I attempt this recipe again? No. Do I recommend it? If you like skirt steak and brussels sprouts, sure.

Ingredients:
1 skirt steak (1.5lbs) cut into 4 pieces
2 T of butter
1lb of brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/4 cup of chopped almonds, toasted
2 tsps fresh lemon juice

Directions:

• Season steak with coarse salt and ground pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add steak and cooking until medium-rare. 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate to rest.
• Reduce heat to medium and melt butter. Add brussel sprouts and season with salt and pepper. Stir and cook until crisp-tender. 3-5 minutes. Toss in the almonds and lemon juice and cook for another minute or two. Or if you prefer crisper brussel sprouts, remove and then add nuts and lemon juice.
  

So while the meal wasn't a wow factor, it filled us up and only took 20 minutes to really prepare and plate, so not too shabby. Although to make myself feel better I did take some pre-made cookie dough and toss it in the oven for a yummy cookie dessert. Yum!


I might have over estimated the capacity of the cutting board.

Chicken with cauliflower and parsley

The first recipe of the new year and the first use of my new Le Creuset! This dish was pretty simple and pretty delicious! I only wish I had made more cauliflower! The recipe came from the magazine Everyday Food. The recipe says that it serves 4. Total prep and cooking time was about 35 minutes, just as stated in the magazine and the prep work was extremely minimal - my kind of cooking!


Ingredients as modified by me:
5 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 head of cauliflower (1lb)
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 T cider vinegar
1 T capers, rinsed.

Directions:
Preheat oven 450'

• In the Le Creuset over a medium heat (or in a ovenproof skillet over a medium-high heat) season chicken with coarse salt and pepper and cook chicken* skin side down for 5-7 minutes or until brown. Flip chicken and cook until brown on the other side.
  
  
• Place cauliflower around the chicken and coat in the pan juices, season with salt and pepper. Put in a pinch of the fresh parsley and transfer the Le Creuset (or skillet) uncovered into the oven. Cook until chicken is cooked through and the cauliflower is tender (about 20-25 minutes)



• Remove from oven and stir in remaining parsley, vinegar and capers.
  *No oil is required for this dish

After making this recipe I would add more cauliflower - with the capers, vinegar and the juice from the chicken it was an amazing array of flavors - yum! I ate umm... almost all of the cauliflower :-D Sorry husband (and child!) I would certainly make this dish again and highly recommend it for a relatively easy meal.

Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Basil Sauce

I never liked ravioli much growing up. I found the mushy cheese to be overpowering and NOT in a good way. They were often too mushy or I wasn't even willing to try it. However, I've gotten slightly more adventurous in my eating and so ravioli has entered into the rotation of my meal planning menus. Especially when you can buy 2 packs of spinach and ricotta ravioli at Costco for uber cheap!

I was a tad nervous freezing them, even though it clearly states that you can. Just because you CAN do something, doesn't always mean you SHOULD. Well, it turned out pretty well. There were a few that ended up mush rather than cheesy goodness, but a few duds isn't a reason to abandon a repeat dinner anytime soon in this household.

I used a jar sauce: Wild Harvest Organic tomato basil pasta sauce; simply heated on the stove while the ravioli boiled. Drain the ravioli, pour some sauce on top and wala a very good dinner that is filling and only causes 2 pans to be dirty. Well three for me since I had to thaw them in the microwave first before I could boil them. Not too shabby. So I'll happily make this dish again!

Another dish that from frozen to the table took less then 30 minutes to make! If they were fresh it only would take about 15!

Quick Meal - Chicken Lo Mein

I'm always looking for a quick meal, something that doesn't involve a lot of chopping, prepping, etc. Because honestly if it isn't quick we aren't going to eat it. I often cannot start cooking until my husband is home from work because my helper is not so much a helper in the cooking department at the ripe ol' age of 1 - so finding recipes that are speedy are best so that we are not eating at 9pm or yet again eating out.

I found this chicken lo mein recipe from Kraft, as usual I was able adapt the recipe for what we had in the kitchen and our taste, below is my altered recipe.


1/2 lb. spaghetti,
1/4 cup KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen bell pepper
1/2 of an onion cut into strips
1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup lite soy sauce

It took less than 30 minutes from start to finish and was on the table to be photographed eaten very quickly. It was pretty yummy too!