This week's recipes!

Thursday's lunch:
Slow cooker pork Cuban Sandwichn on whole wheat,
cherry tomato halves,
blueberries and blackberries

Here are our recipes from this week!! As always, we included a fish dish and one meatless dish. We all take dinner leftovers from lunch the next day (makes clean up/lunch-packing efficient!).

I have to admit, I was even surprised how filling our meatless baked potatoes turned out to be!!

Easy Chicken Curry - this one we had actually planned to make last week, but let our laziness convince us to order a pizza. This is a new recipe, and Hubby was skeptical. So When we finally made it this week, he was kicking himself for voting pizza before...

Shrimp and Cannellini Beans (with asparagus and toast) - This recipe is SO ridiculously easy and makes your kitchen smell SO yummy! We pair it with a veggie, and some extra carbs (sprouted wheat toast + butter).

Friday's Toddler Lunch:
Baked sweet potato + mozzarella, strawberry,
shelled edamame, orange slices,
and yogurt pretzels

Cuban sandwiches (with Crockpot pork loin). I got this recipe from Parenting.com magazine, but couldn't find a link for it online. For the pork loin, cook tenderloin, onion soup mix, 1c water, 3/4c red wine, 3 tbsp garlic, 3 tbsp soy sauce, on low for 4 hrs in a Crock Pot. We shredded it and used half to make sandwiches. We toasted split, wheat ciabatta rolls, and topped with pork, provolone, deli ham, and dill pickle slices. We served with a side of steamed broccoli.

Sweet potatoes, mozzarella and edamame - really, this is all we ate for our meatless meal. Super quick: microwave some potatoes (M and I had sweet potatoes, hubby went for a regular russet). Cut open and apply a smidge of butter. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese. Serve with shelled edamame. Very filling. Nutritional bases covered. :)

Pork tacos - (see the Cuban sandwich recipe for how we made the shredded pork). Stir in 2 tbsp BBQ sauce with 1 cup of the shredded pork. top a corn tortilla with meat and 1/4 c bagged coleslaw + 1tbsp greek yogurt.

Grilled Pizza - We use store-bought whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's. I shop there about once a month, so I stock up on a few for the freezer when we are low, but we have also found it at many 'regular' grocery stores. You may have to ask where they keep it (sometimes its in the freezer section). Then we skip to Alton Brown's recipe for margherita pizza (about halfway down this lengthy recipe). We omit the red pepper... and usually the garlic (but only because we forget it since this is easy enough to do from memory).

Recipes this week!

Feeling a bit in a rut lately with recipes, so I had to rifle through my big 3-ring binder for a couple of old favorites to liven things up!

As always, one meatless meal and one fish meal!

Cozy at Home (Cauliflower) Mac and Cheese - Ok, this one isn't new... but its one of my favorite meatless options! You can use any veggie in place of the cauliflower, and sometimes we add peas, too. I like that the cauliflower blends in... though I feel a little guilty sneaking them in on my toddler...

Raspberry Chicken Salad (first recipe here on Cooking Light's recommended uses for apricot preserves). I swap in canned, no-salt green beans for the salad greens for my toddler. I also lay out each ingredient separately on his plate, like an artists palate. This is one of his favorite meals :) If you miss the carbs, you can serve with some crusty bread or whole wheat toast.

Chicken Tortilla Soup - Easy and filling! I put this in a pre-warmed thermos for my toddler's lunch.

Gulf Fish en Papillote + Kale Pesto Pasta - Dusted this off from the back of the 3 ring binder! The gulf fish is so simple, fast and healthy, but has the best presentation!! Serve this one to guests! This was my first time making the Kale Pesto (recipe from weelicious.com). It was tasty, but we had tons of leftovers!! I think I still prefer the basil variety, though...

Easy Chicken Curry - truth is we didn't get to this one this week... it will be the first one we make next week, though!

Recipes this Week

Just returned from a week vacation visiting our parents over Easter break, but we are hitting the ground running to make our weekly meal plans, and keep my sanity. Sunday morning after we flew in, hubby and M ran to the store for breakfast supplies (eggs, sausage, fruit, bread and milk). Then later he went back during naptime for the veggies for the sausage and rice! My motivation for cooking most weeknights is to have leftovers - so I have something to pack for M's lunch as well as our own. It helps us all make better food choices when we are crunched for time, and let's us spend our $ on meals out over the weekend when we can really enjoy it.

As usual the lineup includes one meatless dinner and one fish dinner.

Sausage and Rice - Our dinner-in-a-pinch, this week with brown rice! I still haven't perfected this, but I try to sub whole grains for processed ones in as many places as I can. I started 1 cup of brown rice with 3 cups of water. Brought to a boil and then simmered for 10 minutes before adding the kielbasa rounds. Cooked with sausage for 10 more minutes, then added the chopped broccoli and red pepper. Cooked for a final 10 minutes. The result was still a little soupy, and a bit creamier than the white rice version, but I let it rest, uncovered for a bit, served with a slotted spoon. By the end of dinner the extra water had been absorbed/evaporated.

Chicken and Bean Nachos - adapted from this recipe, We make the avocado salsa (usually omitting the jicama if we can't find it). Otherwise we layer tortilla chips, then shredded rotisserie chicken (we use about half of one, and save the rest for something else), rinsed canned pinto or black beans, and a thin layer of shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese on a cookie sheet. Broil for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted, and top with the salsa. We usually make one cookie sheet-ful for our family of 2.5, and the rest makes all our lunches for the next day.
To make the next day lunches, I put all the topings together in a tupperware, one in each corner, and pack chips seperately. Hubby and I assemble all but the salsa, microwave to melt cheese, then top with Salsa. M eats all his seperately.

Not your mama's tuna salad - courtesy of Rachel Ray. This is another easy favorite of mine :)

Tacos & re-fried beans - The tacos are your average recipe (store-bought shells; meat seasoned with a store-bought packet of seasoning... we used half a pound of leftover bison, and some of our leftover rotisserie chicken from the nachos above; diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, avocado chunks, plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream) and we used Ellie Kreiger's recipe for the beans (delicious! even my husband was pleasantly surprised!)

Quinoa salad - adapted from this recipe, I swapped quinoa for the wheat berries, but everything else is the same - YUM!

This week we also took a family urban hike to our closest grocery store on a chilly, overcast day and picked up frozen pizzas (hubby and I always get our own since we like different things, which means plenty for M and lunch leftovers) + frozen veggies for a Saturday-night-in dinner. We also picked up ingredients to make our favorite breakfast casserole Sunday morning:

2 cans reduced fat crescent rolls
1 roll reduced fat breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled
8 eggs (1 yolk reserved)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350
1. Unroll one can of crescent rolls on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.
2. Top with sausage and cheeses (beware: too much cheese will make the casserole too greasy).
3. Scramble the 7 eggs and 1 egg white (reserving the 8th yolk), and pour over the sausage and cheese.
4. Unroll and top with the second can of crescent rolls.
5. Brush top layer with reserved yolk.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until center of casserole is set.
Cut and serve!!

Easter Week Recipes

Our version of the Easter Egg Lunch Box!

The list is short this week for the holiday weekend. But I loved the two Easter-themed ideas below. The Easter Egg Lunch Box is SO easy, but such a cool idea!!

We still included a meatless dish and a fish dish!! :) And, as usual, leftovers went to school for the toddler's lunch as well as our own lunches!







Sweet Broiled Salmon (Yum - hubby was especially a fan). We served this with steamed broccoli and leftover brown rice and boiled beets (see below)










Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs .we only did a few colors (blueberries for blue/purple, raspberries for pink, turmeric/yellow beets for yellow, and red cabbage for blue-green), but the toddler really liked helping with this. And we used the leftover berries and juice in a smoothie (seemed wasteful to toss it). We used the boiled beets as a side with our salmon dinner.
We made deviled eggs with these and served with multi-grain bread, and raw veggies (pepper strips, carrot sticks, celery - frozen peas for M). I thought this was going to be viewed as a cop-out dinner, but both of my guys gobbled it up and asked for seconds!!

our resulting naturally dyed eggs!
top row, down: blueberries, raspberries,
 red cabbage + baking soda (one un-dyed egg in this row)
, yellow beets + turmeric

Easter Egg Lunch Box - I used cubed cheese, blueberries, Annie's whole wheat bunnies, frozen peas, and a 'trail mix' of sunflower seeds/pepitas/dried cranberries. I served with some of the leftover deviled eggs from above.

Tacos - the usual recipe, a special request of my husband. We used ground bison meat, taco seasoning from Sprouts, as well as their guacamole seasoning. We added chopped tomatoes, spinach instead of lettuce, shredded Mexican cheese, and black beans, and both crispy shells and soft corn tortillas.

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!!!

Reusable Squeeze Pouch Review!!

The cute Squooshi packaging
(and my anxious toddler's hands!)

My 2 year old loves puree pouches. We use them sparingly for a few reasons, though. 1 - they seem to make him 'go', 2 - they are a lot of packaging waste for a quick shot of snack. To solve problem #2 I started looking around for some reusable pouch options and came across two: The Sili Squeeze (with Eeeze model) and Squooshi!

I decided to try them both at the same time, and do a head-to-head comparison:

The two items arrived on my doorstep just a day apart from each other, the Sili first. My son seemed to know what to do with it (since the nipple is very bottle like) but lit up when I told him that we would put 'applesauce' in it (his term for all flavor combos of purees... and sometimes even yogurt). I had perused the websites of both companies, and was excited to see that Squooshi had a blog that, though new, had several recipes (upon further research, I see that Sili's website has some recipes, too). So the next morning, I grabbed the un-carved pumpkin from our front porch from Halloween and blended it with apples and spinach to make our first toddler puree, filled our 'citrus'-colored Sili and we headed to the playground, with the toddler begging to eat the applesauce along the way.

As soon as we set foot on the playground he inhaled the pumpkin puree. He did need some help getting the last bit out of the pouch, but he often does with even the disposable models. The rubber on this is very pliable and allows you to get almost everything out. I was quite pleased with our first experiment. My husband did point out that the orange color we got + the green-hued filling made the pouch appear brown, which was a slight turnoff (light-colored fillings we've tried don't seem to have this issue). I read online further that we could also put the next day's oatmeal in the pouch, since we were getting up early for an hour drive to spend the day with Thomas the Train. I hadn't thought of oatmeal in a pouch!

Squooshi smoothie for breakfast!

When we got home, our Squooshi package was on the front porch! I admit, the packaging is rather nice to receive (to keep in mind for gift-giving) with a modern white box, and a little linen drawstring bag inside that holds the pouches and caps. My son instantly recognized what the pouches were and wanted to hold them. He was giddy with the cute animal designs, too. The package contained 4 pouches, 2- 4.5 oz pouches and 2-3.5 oz pouches, with 4 total different animal designs (lion, bird, panda, and walrus). I got to work again on a fruit-yogurt combo from the Squooshi recipe card that came with the pouches, and put them in the freezer.

Sili at the playground!

We forgot to pack a frozen smoothie or oatmeal for our trip the next day (I was especially sad, given the county-fair-like food options at our train event - this would have provided a much better option), but we did have some for an after-nap snack when we got home! I found the Squooshi's easy to give a quick scrub with the bottle brush, but there were a few more nooks and crannies in the Sili, so we wanted to run it through the dishwasher (which is allowed). Drying the Squooshi was a bit tougher, but I wedged the green cap in the zip-lock-like opening to allow some airflow, and later put some freshly washed ones on the dishwasher tines as the other dishes were drying. If you keep a bottle drying rack on your counter, this would be another convenient place to dry these. All options worked just fine.

Every day this week, I packed a frozen banana-strawberry-orange-Greek yogurt - kids' echinacea smoothie  in M's lunch - replacing his usual yogurt!

- Ease to Fill: at first I was frustrated with spooning smoothies into both models, until I realized I could just pour our concoctions right from the blending cup. The threads on the Squooshi tend to catch a little more, but its not a deal-breaker - just wipe before you zip it up.

squooshi smoothie as a snack at the kids' museum!

- Ease to Wash: The Sili Squeeze can go in the dishwasher after disassembling, but the Squooshi is an easy rinse and once-over with a soapy bottle brush. We do a pretty even mix of both for our regular dishes, so neither is more or less convenient. You do have to reassemble the Sili before using it again (much like a baby bottle- put the collar on the pouch before filling!! I did find that out the hard way!), whereas the Squooshi is ready to go.

- Fit and function in little hands: M needed zero help and zero instructions to break into the Squooshi. This may be a drawback if you rely on your kid having to wait for your permission before starting in on a squeeze pouch (we know the imminent dangers), but in our case, we find this a positive. On the other hand, the M tried to take off and put on the cap of the Sili and had an explosion in the car one day. It does take some firm pressure to snap the cap on, and to a toddler this can also mean getting a grip on the base while you do so... and spilling the contents.

- Price: One 4oz Sili is $7.99. A 4-pack of 4.5 oz. Squooshis are $19.99. For the price, you certainly get more of the Squooshi's. However, the Sili's certainly seem a little more substantial (not sure if that also means they will last longer?). I've only been test-driving for a little over a week, so I can't say how long I think the Squooshi's will hold up (Our Panda seems to currently be missing already... and I hope that since it looks so much like the store-bought versions, that it didn't get tossed in the trash at school?).

- Sizes: The Squooshi comes in 3.5 and 4.5 oz sizes. The Sili comes in 4 oz and 6 oz sizes. For our two-year-old, the 4 and 4.5 oz sizes seem to be perfect. We may enjoy the 3.5 oz more when Baby Sister arrives? Or the 6oz for older kids or grownups?

a look at the inside of the Squooshi (from the bottom)

- Durability with Toddler & Likelihood to Explode/Leak: the toddler was more than happy to help me test here - and I didn't even have to ask! He squeezed the Squooshi while I filled another and promptly dropped it on the floor, and later anxiously massaged it in the car waiting for the green light to eat it. He twirled the Sili by the string that held the cap to the bottle... and then promptly flung it by accident. Everything stayed in tact. Nothing leaded.  No leaks or holes.

- Options:  Squooshi's work with the Boon Spoon, in the same way store-bought squeezes do. In fact, they will soon be releasing their own version. The Squooshis currently come in 4 cute animal designs - two for each size. The Sili offers two nipple types for their pouches - one with a star "no spill" tip, and one "with eeze" tip which is more like the store versions, and easier for kids to figure out. The newly redesigned cap keeps either from leaking into the cap. Both sizes of the Sili come in 4 colors: Red, Orange, Blue, and Green.

I am excited to soon test out some other more grown up ideas for squeeze pouch fillings including mashed potato-veggie and sweet potato combos and oatmeal!!

** note: Squooshi supplied their product for our family at no cost, but requested honest feedback on our experience. Keep an eye out on Facebook for a giveaway where you can get a set for free, too! **

*** giveaway is now closed ***

Lunches: more single mom time!

I was a single mom for several days this week, so in preparation I made a big batch of the toddler pasta and therefore M had a fairly repetitive lunch this week...

toddler pasta (topped with Parmesan - I was feeling fancy!), rotisserie chicken, strawberries
steamed baby carrots, yogurt
diced mango, whole grain blueberry muffin (Real Simple)

toddler pasta, blueberries, rotisserie chicken
steamed carrots, yogurt,
whole grain muffin, strawberries

Chicken and Black bean Enchiladas (the toddler version skips the enchilada sauce, which is quite spicy, and tops with mild salsa instead), steamed cauliflower, yellow pepper, zucchini
pasta, kiwi, steamed carrots
yogurt, whole grain muffin

I love granola - Toddler Lunches

Short week, so only four lunches to share.

I do hate to brag, but good produce is really cheap on the left coast! We picked up cherries this week! Mmmm mmmm mmmm....

People: have you tried the weelicious granola bars yet? I am addicted to the chocolate chip version. M seems to be enjoying the dried fruit version, too.

Cheers Pizza!, halved cherries, peas and corn ("beh-ja-buls" at our house)
steamed carrot sticks (cut from regular-sized carrots) and yogurt
weelicious granola + apricot wedges

sausage and rice (and peppers and broccoli) and orange slices
watermelon and yogurt
weelicious granola and apricot slices

This was our super fast lunch that we put together after coming home from
a trip to the ER to have a rock removed from the toddler's nasal cavity...
1/4 turkey and cheese sandwich slices, steamed carrots, grape tomato halves, frozen peas
cherries and yogurt
granola and apricot wedges

leftover from our Memorial Day grilling:
grilled marinated chicken, grilled squash and zucchini, strawberry slices, Annie's Snack Mix
watermelon and yogurt
granola and apricot wedges

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Toddler lunch - home made fish sticks were a hit!

Happy Friday!

I have a fun recipe to share this week: Fish Sticks.

Not the frozen ones, but simple, healthy ones made at home - quickly. Both kid- and dad-approved.



rasperry summer salad (raspberries, grilled chicken, goat cheese, apricot dressing
 and green beans instead of lettuce) + rosemary crackers;
whole grain blackberry muffin + tangelo slices;
grapes, carrots and yogurt



Homemade Fish Sticks, quick whole wheat cheddar biscuits, frozen peas, apple slices;
whole grain blackberry muffin + apricot slices;
blueberry granola + yogurt

hard boiled egg, Annie's snack mix, cherry tomato slices, green beans, black beans;
blueberry granola, yogurt;
watermelon chunks, whole grain blackberry muffin

Not pictured: two days of the same recipe: cauliflower mac n cheese with our typical sides/snacks of veggies, yogurt, muffin and fruit!

Fish Stick Recipe

(adapted from from Cooking Light's)

 

Ingedients

1/2 c panko

1/2 c bread crumbs

1 pound skinless Pacific cod or other firm-fleshed white fish fillet

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (we used whole wheat) 

1-2 large eggs, beaten

Cooking spray

1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

2 cups frozen green peas

1 tablespoon butter

8 mint leaves

Preparation

1. Cut fish into 16 (3 x 1-inch) pieces; pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle fish evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place flour and egg in separate shallow dishes. Dredge 1 fish finger in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip fish in egg; dredge in breadcrumbs. Repeat procedure with remaining fish, flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Arrange coated fish on a cooking-spray-coated broiling pan. Bake at 425° for 8 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, carefully turning once.
2. Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in peas; cover and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in butter, mint, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place pea mixture in a food processor; process until smooth. Place about 1/3 cup pea puree in the middle of each of 4 plates. Stack 4 fish fingers on the puree. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

(note: our toddler preferred the whole frozen peas for dinner instead of the mushy ones, but I enjoyed the minty version in the recipe!)

Quick whole wheat biscuits (we used all whole wheat flour, regular milk, and added 1/4 - 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar to the batter before baking!)

Toddler lunches this week - breakfast for lunch!

So we got some feedback this week from school that Mason is no longer interested in his cereal bars. He eats half and throws half. We will no longer be including those, I guess... one less prepackaged thing probably isn't bad.

Also, in talking with another parent at school, he asked, "Are you the family that packs the eco-friendly lunches?" Maybe. I'll take that as a compliment!

So, here are this week's lunches (and a few from last week - sorry I forgot to share)! Perhaps this lends some inspiration to your shopping this weekend.

mini-frittata (see recipe below), half a biscuit, steamed carrots, frozen peas, cherry tomato halves
yogurt and cereal bar,
Weelicious granola, orange slices and raisins

turkey slice, cheese slice, rosemary crackers, cherry tomato halves, raisins
Rise and Shine Muffin, yogurt
Weelicous granola bar, strawberries

leftover black beans and rice, steamed carrots, leftover chicken (from our bike-to-chick-fil-a kids' night), cherry tomato halves
Rise and Shine muffin and yogurt
Annie's snack mix and stawberries

peanut butter and honey sandwich, pear sticks

mini-frittata, half a biscuit, steamed carrots, orange slices, cherry tomato halves
mango and cereal bar
Weelicious granola and yogurt

taco salad toppings, steamed carrots, shredded cheddar, Annie's snack mix
1/4 blueberry bagel and yogurt
Weelicious granola and orange slices

taco salad toppings, steamed carrots, cherry tomato halves, cheddar slivers, Annie's snack mix
mango and yogurt
Weelicious granola and orange slices

Mini-Frittatas

(modified from a parenting.com recipe)

1 c chopped mushrooms

1 c chopped red pepper

10 large eggs

1 tsp salt

shredded mozzerella (about 3/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 350. Saute mushrooms and pepper. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Divide the veggies evenly among the muffin sections. 

Whisk the eggs with the salt, and pour into muffin tin, dividing equally. Top each well with some cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes or until puffy.

Serve with tater tots!

Toddler Food - Mexican Recipe!

In case you need inspiration for your weekend market trip... recipes links are at the bottom!

I was just scrolling through some of the older recipe posts and getting re-inspired for my own grocery trip!

Seriously: try the granola bars. They are really easy, and I made half the batch chocolate chip (for myself! so addicting!) and the other half with raisins/dried cranberries/diced dried apricots for M.

shrimp and corn chowder, wedge of veggie quesadilla, apple slices
weelicious granola (with dried fruit instead of chocolate chips), granola
blueberries, carrots, cereal bar

fish'n'grits, steamed broccoli and carrots
Weeliciouis granola bar and yogurt
kiwi and cereal bar

cauliflower mac n cheese, steamed veggies, edamame, blackberries
tangelo slices, cereal bar
Weelicious granola, yogurt

shrimp and corn chowder, veggie quesadilla wedges, apple slices
yogurt and weelicous granola
strawberries, steamed carrots, turkey slice

Meatloaf cupcake (mashed potato 'icing'), steamed carrots, diced tomato, blackberries
tangelo slices, cereal bar
yogurt, weelicious granola

Shrimp and Corn Chowder (Cooking Light)

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (Weelicious.com)

Pecan Crusted Trout (Cooking Light)

Cauliflower Mac N Cheese (What to Eat When You're Expecting)

Meatloaf Cupcakes (Cooking Light Santa Fe Meatloaf)

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Toddler lunch!! Spanikopita Burger Recipe

One of our favorite recipes is included this week: Spanikopita Burgers. I still haven't found the best way to introduce these, because I know the idea of spinach is a turnoff to so many people. Let's just say, the skeptics who've tried it have loved it... so you will love it, too.

Spanikopita burger (see recipe below), corn, blueberries, half of a Rise and Shine muffin;
Plain yogurt, steamed carrots
cereal bar, kiwi

Cauliflower Mac n Cheese, edamame, steamed carrots, blueberries
yogurt, cereal bar
Toddler Trail mix (Annie's snack mix, Mom's Best Naturals Toasted Cinnamon Squares, raisins, diced dried apricot)

OK... this one is sort of embarrassing... but it was a single mom night... and if you read one of those posts...
half-eaten piece of Cheers! Pizza, a quarter of a Spanikopita burger, green beans, halved cherry tomatoes, blueberries
Rise and Shine muffin, frozen peas
yogurt, diced mango

Spanikopita burger, half Rise and Shine muffin, halved heirloom cherry tomatoes, corn
Yogurt, orange slices & craisins
cereal bar, diced mango

Spanikopita Burger (adapted from Rachel Ray's recipe)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red onion, 1/2 chopped, 1/2 thinly sliced
• 10 oz box frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 pound feta crumbles
• 1 1/3 pounds ground chicken or turkey
• 1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
• whole wheat buns

Directions

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. To one side, add the olive oil and butter. When melted add the garlic and onion. Transfer the onions and garlic to a bowl to cool. Return pan to heat.

Wring the defrosted spinach dry (we squeeze in in our hands). Separate the spinach as you add it to the bowl with cool onions, garlic and season with oregano. Add in feta crumbles then chicken or turkey, grill seasoning and. Mix and form into 5-6 patties, 1-inch thick. Raise heat on pan to medium-high. Add patties and cook 6 inches on each side.

Top bun with cooked burger. We like to lightly toast the bun and add regular mustard to ours! Enjoy!

Dinner --> Toddler Lunch Leftovers

This week's lunches are the toddler versions of this week's dinners :) They are made from the very same food (with a can of Bebe's homegrown greenbeans to sub for the lettuce in the salads) + our not-so-green (we will work on that!) pre-packaged snacks.

summer salad: chicken, almonds, strawberries, goat cheese, green beans (instead of lettuce) and Annie's snack mix (original)
steamed carrots and raisins
yogurt and a cereal bar

taco salad: shredded cheddar cheese, ground beef/red&yellow peppers/onion mix, green beans, Annie's snack mix
cherry tomatoes, blueberries, raisins
cereal bar, yogurt

chicken nachos: rotisserie chicken, avocado/tomato/onion mix, black beans, shredded cheddar, Annie's Snack mix (in the pink container)
applesauce, raisins (we had a lot of these from our plastic Easter eggs!)
yogurt cereal bar

Cheers! Pizza! heirloom cherry tomatoes, orange sections
raisins, applesauce
cereal bar, yogurt

Sausage and Rice, strawberries
blueberries, raisins
blueberry multi grain waffle, yogurt