Recipes this week

pretty peppers :)

Baby Sister turned 1 month old this week, and I am finally feeling like I can start to get back in the swing of things! The first two weeks she was with us, we had parents around to help us cook and go out to dinner with, and the first week I was home alone with her we had a lot of 'salads': pasta salad, egg salad, etc.

So, this week, we still have easy recipes, that can, for the most part, be done in stages (prep during the morning's nap (or any of the others during the day when I can catch a break), cooking during her last nap during the day.

As always, there is one fish dish, and one meatless dish. :)

Leftover Quinoa Salad for M's lunch.
We usually swap salad for green beans.

Also I made a batch of a new *No Bake* lactation cookie recipe from The Gluten Free Go To.

So, this week's recipes?

Veggie Bow-Tie Pasta Salad-  (Parenting.com) we used penne instead of bow-ties, and added leftover rotisserie chicken, since that's what we had on hand.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers (Real Simple, using brown rice instead of white)

Crab Cakes with Roasted Vegetables (Cooking Light) I omit the butter sauce. Not because its bad tasting or for you, I am just lazy and find it isn't necessary... and this week we added the leftover rice from the stuffed peppers as a side... even though this already has potatoes)

Taco in a Salad (What to Eat When You're Expecting)

Curry Quinoa Salad - (FitPregnancy.com, I couldn't find this online, so I printed it below. I am sure in a month or so it will be available) Even M got into this one once I pointed out all the new words in there: "Chickpeas!", "Pepitas!", "Keen-wah!".

Remember the magic words from Sam-I-Am:

"You do not like them, So you say.

Try them! Try them! And you may.

Try them and you may, I say."

watching the monitor while making crab cakes
(stick in the fridge to set up while you run to pick up M from school!
Cook them when you get home!)

Curry Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed

2 cups water

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground red pepper

pinch of salt

2 medium carrots, shredded (about 1 cup)

1 15-oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

3 green onions, thinly sliced

2 granny smith apples, cored and chopped

1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas!)

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp grated lime zest

juice of two limes

salt and pepper to taste

9 cups mixed greens

1. In a saucepan, combine quinoa, water, spices and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low for around 15 minutes, until quinoa is transparent and liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork, cool, and place in a large bowl.

2. Add carrots, chickpeas, onions, apples, pumpkin seeds and parsley.

3. To make the dressing: whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour over quinoa mixture and toss.

4. Divide into 6 servings and serve over 1 1/2 cups of mixed greens.

Three more weeks of simple cooking!

If you are working on your simple cooking weekly recipe planning, here are our last 3 week's recipes (again, each week includes one fish recipe and one meatless recipe. And leftovers from all meals were turned into our lunches the next day - including for the 2.5 year old!)

Week 1

I am leveraging some of the goodies from our CSA box this week: carrots, broccoli, lettuce.

Pear struessel muffins, Once a Month Mom. with blueberries instead of the chopped pear and applesauce instead of the pureed one... YUM! We put most of these in the freezer and are doling them out for special breakfasts.
Meatloaf Cupcakes w/  mashed potato 'icing', modified from Cooking Light with a side of broccoli
Shrimp 'Fried' Rice, Weelicious (140 Fast, Fresh and Easy Recipes) - very similar to their Veggie Fried Rice recipe + peeled, deveined shrimp
Turkey Spanikopita Burgers, Rachel Ray (365: No Repeats) with a side salad for mom and dad, green beans for M (he's still not into the texture of lettuce...). Also always a surprise for guests that no, they will not even notice the spinach IN the burger. It's just yummy!
Veggie Bowtie Pasta Salad, Parenting.com. Use your favorite Italian dressing and you can't go wrong. I love all the veggies mixed in, too!
Veggie-filled Sausage and Rice, modification of my mama's savory, FAST recipe :)

Would anyone use it if I included the shopping list for the week, too?

Week 2

This week we leaned heavily on a new cookbook we received from a friend: Williams Sonoma: One Pot: Food Made Fast

Chicken Stew with Dumplings
Chicken and Vegetable Curry - made with zucchini and green curry... so not really spicy. Served with brown rice that I'd made the day before while we were eating dinner
Mustard-crusted salmon & potatoes (& Caesar salad for the adults, canned peas for M). This one actually didn't go over all that well with my crowd, if I am being honest. Too strong a mustard taste.
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese (from Eating Well When You're Expecting)
Mu Shu Pork Stir Fry. This didn't look like it was all going to fit in the pan... but as the cabbage wilted, I could add the rest. Surprisingly good!

Week 3

* bought a bag of spinach to add to 'beef' up the vegetable quotient of some of our recipes

Baked Shells (from the weelicious cookbook) (adding chopped spinach to the sauce). I couldn't find jumbo shells at either the grocery store or Super Target, so I just used whole wheat penne instead and sort of threw all the ingredients together (plus a few handfuls of spinach!) and baked for 20 minutes. It was still delicious! And the toddler ate every last bit of his without us doing acrobatics or bargaining.
Chicken and Kale Risotto with Pine Nuts and Bacon (using spinach instead of kale; from Start Fresh by Tyler Florence )
Taco Salad (from Eating Well When You're Expecting). Hubby said it: this is always so good. Never fails. We serve the toddler's with a side of green beans instead of on a bed of romaine.
Tomato-Ricotta Salata Spaghetti. Another regular in our rotation. We finally found our local CA grocery store is carrying ricotta salata!... and after three weeks in a row, this week they weren't. So I subbed goat cheese. Not bad.
Shrimp and Corn Chowder (& quesadillas made with whole wheat tortillas, Mexican cheese and chopped spinach; from Cooking Light) This is one of our favorite recipes to make. M loves shrimp (he's a southern boy at heart!) and the soup is SO savory!!! It's a quick and easy one to impress guests!!!

Dream Dinners - Make Dinner Ahead of Time

Since Baby Sister is on here way, and we live a long way from our family and most of our friends who might otherwise visit (and bring food!), I jumped on the chance to try one of these prepare-ahead-freezer-meal places with a Plum District deal to try Dream Dinners and make 3 meals that should each serve 3 people.

When I arrived, I was warmly greeted and given my own private drawer to stash my purse. I was given an apron and offered some beverages and an appetizer of Canadian Bacon Stuffed French Bread. Then they gave me the recipe cards for the meals I'd already selected beforehand and showed me the setup. Each station was devoted to 2-3 recipes. The recipes were clearly displayed, with color-coded ingredient measurements.

I made my 3 meals in under 30 minutes, and that was even more time than I really needed (mind you this was only special 9-serving deal, and a usual session requires at least 36 servings, but still.). The staff was super friendly - maybe even overly friendly. They really took their time explaining how everything worked, from the color-coded measuring utensils and recipes to the portion sizes and storage freezer. Since it wasn't busy, the associate helping me even did most of it for me (even though I'd kind of wanted to do it, and maybe even could have done it faster).

The real time saver in this process is not having to prep, or cleanup, or wash your measuring utensils between ingredients, or hunt for the right size measuring cup. Plus they have several of the main ingredients pre-packaged - in my case, chicken breasts, shrimp and rice were all in pre-portioned baggies. And... you haven't actually cooked your meal yet, just done all the up-front work.

The price is a little steep. They do have a loyalty program where the more times you come back the more you will save. However, you definitely have to consider the cost (prices may vary by location): A regular session requires you to purchase 36 servings (12 3-serving meals, or 6 6-serving meals), which on average will cost you about $200. I feel like our weekly grocery bill is $100-$120/week, and we shop at a granola/organic grocery store for our family of 2.5. We usually make 4-5 meals that make 4-6 servings each, plus our bill includes veggie sides (the Dream Dinners options are mainly meat-and-starch only) and milk and breakfast items and other snacks for the week.

BUT what you are paying for is convenience. I really have no idea if/how we will be able to cook a meal between work and bedtime with TWO kiddos (starting in February!). And by taking an hour on the weekend once or twice a month to save some time during the week could be a big help (and you can go with your girlfriends, bring your own wine, and get away from anyone referring to you as 'mommy' for a bit). The Fountain Valley location even offers a New Mom deal where for three months before and after your due date they will pre-package the meals for you and waive their normal fee for this!

They also have a freezer with prepackaged meals you can choose from while you are there (many of them on sale). In addition to my 3-meal deal, I picked up a pre-made six-serving white bean chili with cornbread for $17.

A couple other minor cons:

- You use A LOT of baggies. I am a pretty green person, and in the last 12 months we have probably used 1 box each of of gallon-sized and sandwich-sized baggies... and that's it. We use a lot of tupperware and reusable containers, so it felt a little weird to use 4 baggies (three separate baggies inside a bigger baggie) for one meal.

- Beware of the cooking time on your meals. Several on the menu take up to 90 minutes... which may defeat the purpose of eating something sometime between school and bedtime or soccer practice (we only have about a two-hour window at our house). Perhaps better for the work/stay-at-home mom or weekend meal.

I really hate to even mention anything bad about my experience because when they helped me out to the car with the meals (my delicate condition, and all), I found that my car wouldn't start. So while I was stranded the lovely ladies were kind enough to feed me Butternut Squash Ravioli while I waited on AAA. YUM! I hope all my meals are this delicious!

Now... do I try these before Baby Girl arrives, or keep them as the start of my stash? I feel like I need to evaluate if the other meals are as good as the ravioli... and if the cooking part is really easier since all the prep is done. And I think I will at least have to give this one more try so that I can really put a value on the convenience of it. If not by May (when I expect to go back to work), then soon thereafter.

Fresh Cooking for the Week - How to Simplify

Hoppin' John Soup & corn muffins

How can you work full time outside the home and still get good home-cooked meals on the table for your family most nights of the week? There are several options, but the one that works best for us is what I like to call IE Meal Planning.

IE = Industrial Engineering. This was my major in college - and grad school. The simplest way I've seen it explained is on a nerdy bumper sticker: "Engineers make things. Industrial Engineers make things better." So in case I haven't discussed this already on this blog, it kind of is my hobby to optimize everything, not just the traditional factory stuff the profession was born from. All aspects of life can benefit from the intersection of 'taking the easy way out' and 'doing it right'.

So you and I probably know at least half of the recipes our families make regularly by heart, but I still pull out the recipes for them each week, like a Kan Ban system to help me plan our meals (ok, I am boring you, right? My professors would be so proud, though!). Not only does this help me make sure I have all the ingredients I need, the instructions are still handy in case hubby needs to jump in and help out while we cook.

On Saturday or Sunday, I take requests from the family and pick 4-6 recipes for the week. I generally try to have at least one meatless day and one seafood day - and just enough servings to make dinners and lunches for all of us for most of the week (I admit I look forward to NOT cooking by Friday!). I put the pages on the cookbook holder (even for recipes out of books, I prefer to make a photocopy of the pages I'll use - just to accommodate this system. Is that OCD?). I review the recipes and add the ingredients we don't already have to the OurGroceries app (along with the stuff we need for breakfasts and snacks) and head to the store, reusable grocery bags and phone in tow.

I should interject here that 95% of our recipes are healthy, fast and tasty. Very few make the cut that take too much time or work and even those have to be earmarked for a Sunday evening when we have extra time. Fairly often a recipe for muffins or another snack will make the pile - but those have to be made on the weekends, too!

During the week, Daddy picks up from daycare (I do drop-off), so I can usually get an uninterrupted start on dinner. And most days the meal is in its final stage of cooking (or close to it) when the boys get home.

We dish out our plates, eat together, play a little, then its off to bed for the little one. After he's bathed and tucked in, we pack up the leftovers into our lunches for the next day (check that box on the To Do list!), wash dishes and still have some time to relax ourselves.

As an example, here are our recipes for this week:

Fish Sticks with Green Beans and Potatoes (from Tyler Florence's Fresh Start)
Hoppin' John Soup (adapted from this Parenting.com recipe, by swapping in a can of black eyed peas for one of the cans of white beans, and adding a cup of cooked brown rice)
One Pan Lasagna (from Tyler Florence's Fresh Start)
Cozy At Home Mac n Cheese (from What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting, we use cauliflower as our veggie add-in)
Two Cheese Pesto Pizza (from Weelicious.com)
Pear Struesel Muffins (from OnceAMonthMom.com - but I'll be honest, we probably won't get to these until THIS weekend...)

(if you use MyFitnessPal, I can share the nutrition info I already input for some of the recipes below that don't provide it!)

more weekly recipes:

1 week
3 weeks' worth

Toddler Food this week: chili

This was a Leftovers for Lunch kind of week!

Earlier this week, I told you about the super easy and yummy Cheers! Pizza!

our Cheers! Pizza! leftovers!

 The next win was veggie-packed Three Bean Chili (we add a half pound of cooked ground beef to the recipe). Don't be afraid of the jalapenos - make sure you take out all the seeds, but the peanut butter and cocoa cancel out the heat, leaving the flavor. The cooler weekend approaching put me in a mood for the chili, plus our recipe makes many servings so its definitely a time saver during the week. And surprisingly it went over well with the toddler. We threw in a handful of cooked whole wheat macaroni and topped with cheese. We even shared our cornbread, biscuits and tortilla chips with him (See, even leftovers can be versatile, just pair with a different carb each night!).



chili... mmmm!



So our lunches this week included our leftover chili three times much like this one...

3 Bean Chili + whole wheat macaroni + cheddar, strawberry slices, mini slice of cornbread; blueberry yogurt, steamed broccoli + cauliflower; cereal bar + applesauce



Our third meal of the week was peanut-coconut Chicken on a Stick (again, thank you weelicious.com). I will say, I am thankful I did not skip the soak-the-skewers step because my gas stove tried very hard to set them on fire. We also made the Zucchini Coins as a side. They did not go over as well, so I think next time I'll use breadcrumbs instead of panko, as I think the texture was a bit much for the little one. I, however loved them! M took some leftovers in his lunch one day this week.

I also 'invented' a new snack: Toddler Trail Mix, which contains Cheerios, Moms Best Honey Grahams, raisins, dried cranberries, and quartered dried apricots - but obviously can contain any combination of things your kiddo likes to eat!

Shredded Chicken on a Stick, mango and blueberries, quartered zucchini coins, halved cherry tomatoes, mini slice of cornbread; toddler trail mix; strawberry yogurt + cereal bar

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Ruby's Diner

a choo-choo speeding by!

Ruby's Diner is a Southern California chain (though there are locations across the country), with an 1940's diner feel, waitress uniforms and all. We have been meaning to try out a Ruby's location for a while and decided to go for it one sleepy Friday evening when no one felt like cooking. We weren't sure exactly what to expect, except that Ruby's is a diner... so probably good hamburgers? I was pleasantly surprised when the waitress's opening sentence was, "Can I start you with a milkshake?"

Our nearest location's theme was a train station (Orange, CA). We usually like to sit outside at dinner (given the kid's table manners and great SoCal weather), which turned out to be a front row seat for the choo-choos (and also where all the other families with young kids chose to be, so we felt right at home)!  We saw about 5 trains go by during our meal, both passenger and freight. Some seemed to scare M, but others he was thoroughly excited about. Each location has a local theme (including WWII aircraft, and surfing) so we will have to try them all in our travels!

enjoying a cereal bar appetizer

The food was yummy (hubby and I both enjoyed our burgers), and I was surprised that they even have many options for lower calorie or low carb fare (to offset the milkshakes, of course). I even felt good about sharing some of my sweet potato fries with M, and he happily ate his chicken-finger-and-apple-slices kids' meal, too!

Definitely a thumbs up for a family meal here.

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Cheers! Pizza!!

Cheers! Pizza!!

 I couldn't wait to post this tonight!! I snagged an easy recipe from Weelicious.com for two-cheese pizza. I thought this was going to just be so-so (especially since my toddler doesn't really care for pizza - he only ever eats the crust!), but at least it would be a fast weeknight dinner, and hopefully M would eat some of it... Turns out both hubby and child went crazy for this recipe. Seriously crazy for it. Hubby even ate some of the pesto pieces after he proclaimed how much he was not even interested in tasting it.

Here is how easy this recipe is (we made a half batch):

2 pieces whole wheat Naan

1/2-3/4 c mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

2+ tbsp pesto

2+ marinara sauce

1/2 c leftover chicken, diced

Preheat oven to 450. Top 1 Naan with pesto, and the other with marinara. split chicken between two crusts. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan, and spread equally over crusts. Bake for 10 minutes. Cut into slices. Pair with halved cherry tomatoes and leftover steamed broccoli & cauliflower. DONE.

My toddler sang "piz-za!! piz-za!" on the way to the table. And then he ate it all. I did have to use my "cheers" technique to get some of the veggies going. This is where I ask if we can cheers x. Then we each load our forks with x, touch them together, say cheers! and then eat our bites.

And then he asked for seconds! "Mo-mo piz-za!"

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Toddler Lunch Equipment

SoYoung lunchbox

I had a couple of friends ask about what I was packing these toddler lunches in, and I realized that I never posted a complete description, so:

The lunchbox we use is by SoYoung (not the cheapest one out there, but its got a cute design and its pretty roomy- fits our stuff perfectly.). I bought it on Amazon. They also make 'cooler bags' which may be a better fit for bottles or depending on your containers. I love the bird and bicycle designs on those, and the robot or rocket would be cute on the lunchbox, too. And the giraffe!- though since its pink, so that won't fly at our house.

 

The containers I use are made by Sassy, and are BPA-free. We were handed down one set, and found another at Kohl's, but I found them available on amazon  and am sure you can find them at Babies'r'us, BuyBuyBaby, Target, etc., too. Weelicious.com recommends (and offers discounts on) some metal 'laptop lunch' containers.

I like using these containers and lunchbox, combined, because it makes packing lunch feel like a coloring book: I pack a lunch, coloring inside the lines, and ta-da: lunch is packed.

What do you use to pack your kids' lunches?

Toddler Dinners (including a super-fast option!)

I was a single mom for a couple of nights this week. The first night, we had leftovers, which took a lot of pressure off for the evening. The second night, however, I didn't plan so well. In fact, I thought Daddy was going to be home in time to help with dinner/kid management, so I had actually planned to make a totally new meal. But I was wrong. I started to make one of our favorite, 20-minute meals: Cauliflower Mac n Cheese (recipe at the bottom of this post). However, with the help of my toddler this was taking much longer than usual, and I had to bail about halfway through, when it was 6:30 and I still was nowhere near close to getting something on the table. So I pulled out a piece of bread and a slice of cheddar and got started on a half a grilled cheese sandwich. Somehow this cooked perfectly, and landed on a plate with a few steamed carrot sticks (a staple in our fridge) and a handful of (still) frozen peas. AND HE ATE THE WHOLE THING. Our guy has been boycotting dinners this week (except cheese and milk), so I was glad to see him gobble this meal, and ecstatic that he ate the bread and veggies, too! See the photo of a couple minute in.

I wanted to include a few photos of other lunches we have packed this week, constructed of leftovers:

The entree here is the guts of an enchilada (see recipe below), torn half a whole wheat tortilla, cubes of steamed sweet potato, strawberries, blueberries, mango, kiwi, a yogurt-covered pretzel; Snacks: yogurt and granola; applesauce (in the container) and toddler trail mix (pretzels, raisins, craisins, diced dried apricots)

Cauliflower Mac N Cheese, strawberries, blueberries, cherry tomato halves, steamed carrots, yogurt -covered pretzel; Snacks: yogurt, frozen edamame (in a Dora single-serve pack - full disclosure, most of these came home...); halved grapes, fig cereal bar

Cauliflower Mac N Cheese

(based on a recipe from What to Eat When You're Expecting)

8 oz whole wheat macaroni

1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 tbsp butter

1.5 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded Gouda

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1.5 tbsp wheat germ

1.5 tbsp Parmesan

Start cooking macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile...

Steam cauliflower. Meanwhile...

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour for a couple minutes to create a rue. Add the milk and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in Gouda, cheddar, mozzarella until smooth. Add macaroni and cauliflower, and stir to coat.

Mix together the wheat germ and Parmesan.

At this point, if you like baked mac n cheese, like grandma makes, you can transfer the mac n cheese to a baking dish, top with the wheat germ/parm and bake on 350 for 10 minutes. We usually can't wait this long and dish it right up, and sprinkle the topping right on our bowls.

For more veggie sneakiness, we have tried stirring in peas or sauteed kale. Broccoli would be an easy swap for the cauliflower. And chicken or beef or edamame would be an easy addition if you feel like you need more protein.

Easy Enchiladas

(based on a recipe from my friend Shelley)

10 oz canned chicken

1 cup black beans

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1/2 cup salsa*

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

7-8 whole wheat tortillas

1 can enchilada sauce*

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine chicken, beans, cheese, salsa and yogurt in a bowl. Scoop even amounts of filling into tortillas, and roll into tubes. Nestle the tubes side-by-side, touching, into a baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the tubes. Sprinkle a little more cheddar on top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve!

*To really make this toddler friendly, use a mild salsa, and look for a non-spicy enchilada sauce (unless your little one likes heat. We couldn't find our usual brand, and the replacement was still hot, so we only served him the guts, with pieces of dry tortilla.

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