What's for Dinner?

Lunchbox tip: Dip

2012-01-30T08:13:00.000-06:00

In my morning fury and efforts to pack healthy lunches for the boys I almost always send raw veggies. They are super easy and you can't get much healthier than a raw vegetable. The only culprit in the lunch box scenario is to ensure that they get eaten, I have to send "dip." That is what my kids call salad dressing. But I was always baffled how to send it until I hit a stroke of genius - no

Skinny Tuna Tip

2011-12-16T15:05:00.000-06:00

I have been trying to make my scale's numbers go down instead of up, and it's quite the challenge especially since I decided to do this during the holidays. I am trying to do what I can on normal days and not worrying too much about the parties and holidays (with a bit of reserve.) I really wanted some tuna salad but knew the mayo included in that wasn't helping my cause. I happened to have an

Crock Pot Lasagna Florentine

2011-12-12T08:00:00.013-06:00

Most of you know that I was fairly burned out on crock pot food as a child, but I do understand the necessity and convenience of it. Sundays are a prime example of that. We attend church on Sundays and we have a house full of hungry people when we get home. I don't have time to cook anything and sandwiches don't say "sunday lunch" to me. (I came from a household growing up that had a big Sunday

Pinterest Potatoes

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have recently jumped both feet first into the whole Pinterest thing. I made my first recipe found on Pinterest with great success. These are Hasselback potatoes from this site. And I actually found it through an amazing online food site called foodgawker. Give it a try!

Apples from that Rocking Chairs and Checkers Place

2011-12-05T14:24:00.000-06:00

My boys know of the Cracker Barrel restaurant as the one with all those rocking chairs and checkers. This recipe is my attempt to copy the apples from that place after I found a deal on a peck of apples (at WalMart of all places). They are a perfect accompaniment to breakfast or brunch, or simply as dessert on its own. (But just for the record we counted them towards our fruit count for the

Not Forgotten...

2011-11-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted in case you haven't noticed. I have not forgotten about you quite yet, but I would be fibbing if I said I have not considered retiring this food blog. My life is not getting any simpler as my boys are getting older. And with that preschool clock ticking I often think about how I should be cherishing my last few months at home with my son(s) before they

Crock Pot Chickpeas

2011-09-09T08:00:00.002-05:00

It's no secret that I really like hummus. I've posted about it before. My hangup comes when I have a bag of dried chickpeas and I've forgotten to soak them overnight. I know I could do the quick soak method. And I am not sure why my beans never turn out right using this way, but they don't. I have used can ones but the dried ones are so much more economical. When Alton Brown showed a crock pot

By George we got it!

2011-09-03T15:25:00.001-05:00

We had a major food victory in our own test kitchen. We were able to duplicate the yellow curry of our newlywed yesteryears. We are very, very limited in our Thai dinning options here and this ranks up there in my husbands very favorite foods- so to be able to replicate it is exciting news. While we were newlyweds and Mason was finishing up his degree, we would occasionally treat ourselves to

Mom Food

2011-08-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is not a part of my diet food series. You can be relieved or discouraged - whichever way you lean. But I had not been feeling well for a couple days and needed some mom food - something comforting AND easy - but my mom wasn't around to make me some. Chicken and Dumplings was the only thing that sounded good and I had a crock pot recipe from my sister for it. This hit the spot dead on. Easy.

Meat-pyramids...

2011-08-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

As you know I've been trying very hard to make good diet choices. I wish I had some dramatic results to report but I've lost about 4 pounds - which is about a pound per week net loss, except I lost it all the first week. It's frustrating to be working so hard with no continual results, but I'm plodding on with a less than super attitude hoping that a few more pounds shed will keep me motivated.

Making Good Choices (aka diet)

2011-07-25T21:13:00.000-05:00

We have been emphasizing making good diet choices here lately at our house. We're trying to lose a few pounds and be in better health all around. My usual squabbles with a "diet" is the fact that my food choices are limited. I always have problems with breakfast anyway without those limitations. The usual diet cuts out carb foods at breakfast - and that is a lot: waffles, toast, muffins, pancakes

With a fried egg on top!

2011-07-15T15:45:00.000-05:00

You know that expression "with a cherry on top", well guess what is just as good? A fried egg on top. It's not as sweet but equally as delightful. They do this trick a lot in Asia. We saw several dishes on menus on our trip this past year that had a fried egg on top. I have also seen it floating around on menus here in the states on sandwiches and burgers. I promise, if you put a fried egg on top

Improvisational S'mores

2011-07-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Improvisation seems to be the name of the game these days. I don't know if that has to do with having children or just my luck, but I never seem to have exactly the prescribed items for whatever project I am working on whether that is dinner or a random sewing project. A whole day at home tortures my boys this summer but I had a lot that needed to be done at the house, so I planned a "camping"

Flag Food

2011-07-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th to everyone out there. Nothing says patriotism like food resembling our flag. Ha! We don't always have this cake on the fourth. Actually I remember it from my childhood as baby Jesus' birthday cake. But we can share it as a national birthday cake too. Holiday Cake (Jell-O Poke Cake) 1 white cake mix ingredients on box 1 (small) box of jello (strawberry or raspberry) 1 cup boiling

When life gives you blueberries: part two

2011-06-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

A friend came over for dinner and brought this recipe after she had been blueberry picking, and I have been thinking about it ever since. The combination of sweet, tart, crunchy, and soft made quite the impression. Imitation is the highest form of flattery so when we were invited over to a different friend's house for dinner I knew this would be on the menu for dessert - especially since we had

When life gives you blueberries: part one

2011-06-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

I've found that a great way to reap the benefits of nature's bounty is to use child labor. HA! The kids love "picking," well, for a good 10-15 minutes anyway. It is a good summer outing: not only is it fun, but we get outside and it is an effective way to connect the kids to the food we eat - and a good food at that. Blueberries are a tasty way to get vitamin C, antioxidants and fiber. (Did you

BBQ Pizza

2011-06-24T15:00:00.001-05:00

This recipe has become a staple dish at our house. It is especially used when I make our crock pot bbq. This is my trick to use those left overs that won't feed the whole family. The leftover bbq is spread out with other ingredients on the pizza and it is enough to satisfy all the hungry boys in our house. Resourcefulness makes me happy especially when it is in the form of pizza. BBQ pizza

Food Art

2011-06-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

You know when you get that perfect bite where every flavor comes together in the just perfect way? Yeah, meatball hoagies fall in that category of food art: crusty rolls, tangy sweet tomato sauce, juicy meatballs, and fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese. It's an artform.

It's still a green bean, but a good one...

2011-06-20T08:00:00.020-05:00

Again in my search for a "fun" veggie I found this dish. You've probably noticed, I've been on a veggie fry kick here lately. Anyway, some of the reviewers said they tasted like french fries, but fries must be a distant memory for those people. They were good but No, Virginia, it does not taste just like a french fry. You have been on the Atkins diet too long. A green bean called a fry is still a

Road Trip Food

2011-06-16T08:00:00.004-05:00

Don't they look like movie stars? I've mentioned before how food is a powerful memory marker and when I think vacation, I think tuna fish sandwiches. You say that's strange? It is, but I spent a lot of my childhood with my grandparents and if we were travelling somewhere, we brown-bagged it. None of that fast food foolishness. I can remember my grandmother's white and burnt gold cooler with

Everyday Cheese Grits

2011-06-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

I love me some cheese grits but the recipe I grab when I want to make them is what you would call a special occasion recipe. (AKA LOTS of butter and lots of cheese.) Also it uses a processed cheese product which I do not keep on hand, but I REALLY wanted some cheese grits for dinner. I finally found a reasonable recipe that: #1. I did not have to feel guilty about eating and immediately run to

Try something new...

2011-06-08T09:01:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to contribute here but wanted to put a challenge out there to all of you in cyber world. Try something new! This summer that is my goal - to try one new food a week. You may think there is no way you could find anything new, but just go to the produce department of your grocery store, or wander the alley of your farmer's market. I'm sure there is something you haven't eaten.

A veggie disguised in fried stick form...

2011-06-05T11:12:00.000-05:00

It's farmrer's market season which makes me happy because there is an abundance of fresh veggies available. But I know not everyone loves veggies and I also know that many of my friends struggle with getting their kids to eat their veggies. I had some zucchini and I planned on cooking it for dinner but I knew my boys were not going to eat it my usual way (steamed/sauteed.) So in my effort to come

Cook once, eat twice (or maybe 3 times)

2011-05-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

Cook once, eat twice is a dinner strategy that I really should use more often. Because when I do it I ask myself over and over, why haven't I done this all along? Why oh why don't I do this every week? This cuts down on my dinner prep so much. What is keeping me from doing this all the time? And yet I do it once and forget about it two weeks later. This past week we cooked out on the grill when a

A Freak Streak of Luck...

2011-05-04T07:58:00.000-05:00

This is one of those recipes that I stumbled upon in my trusty Joy Of Cooking and the stars aligned just right so that I had all the ingredients. We had made curry a few nights before so we had the left over coconut milk. I made a coconut cake the week before and had leftover coconut to toast. I keep jasmine rice in the pantry and ginger in the freezer. I even had some thai basil in the fridge