Conquering my CSA: My Arch Nemesis, Kale

Kale, Kale, Kale

You smell like sweaty socks

Kale, Kale, Kale

I want to leave you in the box. 

This is how I feel about Kale and yet it comes week after week after week. When I asked our CSA guy about it, he said, "Well everyone loves Kale". To which I said, "Who? Name me three people you know who like Kale". Then he was quiet.

No one loves Kale. But it is really good for you and I have finally figured out something other than Kale chips to make. The light bulb moment came when I stopped thinking about Kale as Kale and instead pretended it was giant spinach. Any recipe that calls for sauteed spinach can be replaced with Kale. I find it works best in Indian food Saag dishes.

Curried Potatoes and Kale
1 lb baby potatoes peeled (or 1 lb of regular potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces)
2 tbl olive oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tsp turmeric
14 oz canned tomatoes
2 cups of very finely chopped kale (remove stems)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1 lime or 2 dried limes
Optional: one can of rinsed chick peas

Warm olive oil then add ginger, garlic, and coriander seeds.  Saute for a few minutes until fragrant then add potatoes and spices.  Saute for 3-5 minutes. Then add kale, tomatoes, chick peas if using and dried limes. Place lid on pot, add dried limes or lime juice, and cook until potatoes soft (about 20 minutes).  

**This recipe is also delicious without the tomatoes**

Conquering my CSA: Broccoli

So I have passed the overwhelmed phase and now it is game on CSA. I am eating/freezing every bite every week before the next batch comes. As C would say, "I am going to dominate you".
This week we got a massive amount of broccoli-two huge heads. More broccoli then a family could eat in a month in addition to our other vegetables.

The first trick to conquering your CSA is to prep it when you unpack it. This makes a huge difference. It takes about 20 minutes to clean and cut everything and makes it much easier to use on those busy week nights. Most things can be prepped ahead, exceptions tomatoes and cucumbers.  Get everything cleaned and sliced up. Not sure how you are going to use it? Make a commitment! If you don't do it now there is a high likelihood it will end up rotten in the back of your fridge. 

Prepped the broccoli right in the container for the broccoli salad. 

Next, you could eat steamed broccoli every night and not get through this amount so get creative. It works best if you divide it into multiple dishes. Make a cold snack or salad with some and then plan to eat some hot one night with dinner.  For broccoli, there are many options.  I have recipes for broccoli salad (not super healthy I know but SO DELICIOUS) and roasted broccoli. Other great ideas are:

• Shaving the stems and adding to salads for extra crunch
• Keeping the florets in the fridge to have with dip or for THE GREAT VEGGIE SWAP if you have kids (to be described later)
• Chop up very finely and add to quiche or omelets (see my post on Dinner Eggs)
• Broccoli coleslaw
• Broccoli and cheese soup
• Steamed Broccoli (C's favorite food)

Broccoli Salad

1 head of broccoli cut into bite sized pieces (use both the florets and some stems)
1 medium red or sweet onion cute into bite sized pieces
4-5 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled (make the whole bag and use the rest for BLTs for lunches this week)-If you are a vegetarian replace the bacon with 3/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup of raisins
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Combine broccoli, raisins, bacon, and onion.  Mix the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar together until smooth. Let chill for 3-4 hours prior to serving.

Make it right in the container you are going to store it in!

Roasted Broccoli
1 lb broccoli cut into florets
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
Sprinkle of salt
Juice from one lemon

1.  Preheat the oven to 425°F. 
2. On a cookie sheet toss the broccoli florets and minced garlic with olive oil and lemon juice until lightly coated. Sprinkle salt over the broccoli and toss to coat.
3. Cook for 10-12 minutes until browned and cooked thoroughly.  

Overwhelmed by my CSA: Chana Masala

It is CSA time! We love our new CSA but it is challenging to cook so many vegetables every week.  Never before have we asked ourselves, "How do you cook 5 lbs of kale?" or "What do I do with 3 lbs of tomatoes?".  This recipe is an amazingly delicious curry that works well with any vegetables. I made it this time with chick peas and potatoes but it would be equally good with spinach, kale, kidney beans, peas, etc.  It is good both hot and cold and makes a great lunch to take to work. Feel free to play around with it and find what works for your family. This is Baby R's favorite meal so I make it moderately spicy for him (blue is an area to adjust the spice content for your family).

10/10!

Chana Masala

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 medium onions, minced (remember in Indian food onions are what makes the gravy thick and delicious so DON'T skimp)

2 clove garlic, minced

3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or 1 15-ounce can of chopped tomatoes with their juices

2/3 cup water

4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

4 small potatoes peeled and chopped into 1/2 in squares

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 lemon (juiced) (or 2 dried limes)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander seeds, cumin, cayenne (if you are using), turmeric, paprika and garam masala (if you are using dried limes add them now). Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water, potatoes, and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice and cook until potatoes soft (about 30 minutes).

What are dried lemons and why would I use them?

Dried limes are an Iranian cooking secret. They add amazing flavor to many curries and 

soups. Order yourself some on amazon and you will be amazed at the flavor they add!

Date Night: Mongolian Beef

10/10 from all three boys!

Going out to eat becomes much harder with children and leaving them behind with a babysitter is also no easy task. In an attempt to cope with the going out withdrawal, I have started copy cat recipes of our favorite dinners out. This recipe is an awesome copy of P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef and is simple and delicious for a weeknight. The kids also love it which is a plus!

Mongolian Beef
2 small packages of thinly sliced beef cut into 1 in squares
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large scallions
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. In a large plastic bag place beef, cornstarch, and a few teaspoons of water. Coat steak evenly with mix and let stand. 
2. In a pot, place 2 tablespoons of oil and heat over medium to low heat. Add finer and garlic cook until fragrant.  Add soy sauce and water. Dissolve brown sugar and remove from heat. 
3. Heat up the remainder of the oil in a wok or frying pan.  Fry beef until darkens on all edges. Place meat in sauce pot and heat up about 1-2 minutes.  Add chopped scallions at the end. 

Crap I forgot dinner: BLTs

Bacon is something I always keep on hand. It is an easy dinner when you forget to meal plan or when you are in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store.  My kids love BLTs and I love that it is quick, easy, and delicious.

Brown Sugar Bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 package of sliced bacon

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. In a large zip lock bag combine brown sugar and mustard. Add bacon and shake to coat.
3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place a cooling rack over top and place bacon on the rack (this helps for easy clean up and crisp bacon).
4. Cook for 20 mins. 

Slice up some lettuce and tomato and you have a delicious easy last minute dinner.

Grilling

Grilling is a working mom's secret to easy and fast week night dinners. You can grill everything-pizza, meat, fruit, veggies- making the clean up easy. If you have an outdoor place to eat it is even better because the whole mess stays outside. Here are a few summer grilling tips:

• Take the time to marinate your meats. It makes a huge difference in flavor and helps to cover up imperfect cooking.
• Use the whole grill. If you grill your veggies on one side on low with the meat on the other side on medium, the whole dinner will be done at the same time.
• Flip your meat and veggies with tongs or a spatula NOT A FORK otherwise you lose delicious juices. 
• Don't press down on burgers or chicken. It squeezes out the juice and makes your food dry. 
• Have fun and experiment. Almost everything tastes good on the grill!

Be on the look out for some great grilling recipes in the next few weeks and awesome vegetable dishes as we enter into CSA season. 

Salmon burgers!

Call it a burger and kids will eat it: Chicken Burgers

My kids absolutely love these burgers. They are easy to make and delicious. I often serve them with just a simple salad or in the summer with corn on the cob. 

Chicken Burgers

1 pound ground chicken
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

5 mushrooms finely chopped (these don't add any flavor, they just help to keep the ground chicken moist)

1/4 pound Havarti with dill cheese, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs

1 egg

Burger buns of your choice

Combine ground chicken, poultry seasoning, chopped shallots, Dijon mustard, egg, bread crumbs, chopped mushroom, diced Havarti (yes the cheese goes right into patties). Mix thoroughly. Form into 4-6 patties 

Preheat a non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the patties and place them in the hot skillet. Also cooks up well on the grill. Cook 6 minutes per side until the patties are firm to the touch and cooked through.

Sour Cream Sauce

1 cup sour cream

3 to 4 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped or snipped with kitchen scissors

Place the burgers on a bun of your choice and top with the sour cream sauce. To make them more healthy add some baby spinach or fresh tomatoes on the top and enjoy. 

Adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/danish-burgers-with-herb-caper-sauce-and-a-mod-salad-recipe/index.html

The Day the Pediatrician Tried to Kill the Baby

Sometimes I am so proud of myself. I look around at my beautiful family, wonderful home, and my awesome job and say, "Wow, you rocked today".  Then God laughs at my pride and gives me a day where I find myself saying, "Wow, you really sucked today".  I would like to title a recent day, "The Day I Almost Killed My Baby".  It went well until I picked the boys up from school (cue music).

Arriving home, I decide to assuage my mommy guilt by making R some homemade baby food.  Hmm I think, he is getting tired of bananas. Maybe I should add something to the bananas to make them more tasty.  What about cinnamon, no use that all the time. Nutmeg, done that. I know! I will use honey. Of course that would be great. Honey will make it so tasty. Put on some music while cooking up baby cocktail of death. I even use organic honey--more spores to kill you with my dear.  Quick taste, about to serve, and then God himself slaps me across the back of the head and I remember. Boy that would have been embarrassing--visiting my future ICU colleagues with my limp botulinum infected baby.

R, having narrowly escaped attempt #1 on his life, continues to play happily after eating his bananas sans spores of death. I start the bath and begin to undress him on the changing table. When he is half way undressed I hear that the tub is getting full. I step away from the changing table. Where is the baby? Did you perhaps forget that your rolling, sitting, moving baby is still on the changing table? Dash back to table--narrowly rescuing R from the 4.5 foot plunge of death onto hard wood. Ok maybe not death, but embarrassing trip to the ER for head CT.

Still happy and smiling at me, R has no idea how the day has gone. He is happy and loves me and trusts me. I am appalled at my mothering but more humble. Hey, at least dinner was good right?

Lent: Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Lent is a season our family takes very seriously. We give up something important (ice cream for both boys this year) and work to grow in our faith. It is also an awesome cooking season for me.  I finally get to make seafood and the hubby and I love it. There is one small little problem--the kids don't really go for seafood.  They like sushi but that is it (weird I know, not even fish sticks).  So I am often stuck doing the one thing I hate--making two dinners.  To cut down on the duplicate work I have a few go to Lent recipes that freeze well that I cook in bulk.  This allows me to spend time cooking the seafood for us and only quickly microwaving the boys dinner.  The easiest and quickest one is sweet potato quesadillas.  They freeze great, are a cheap meal, and even entertain well. 

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

2 finely chopped onions

3 minced garlic cloves

3 tablespoons olive oil 

4 cups of grated sweet potatoes

1/2 teaspoon of oregano (better if you have fresh oregano but dried is fine)

2 teaspoons ground cumin 

1 teaspoon chili powder (leave out if your kids don't like spicy food)

Tortillas

Grated sharp cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Homemade salsa or guacamole

Saute the onions and garlic in the vegetable oil until translucent. Add the sweet potatoes, oregano, cumin, and chili powder if you are using it. Cook covered for ten minutes stirring frequently or it will stick.  When the sweet potato is tender add salt and pepper to taste.  Make quesadillas by placing the filling and cheese inside then folding over or just use like a taco filling and top with whatever toppings you like. 

(Recipe adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home Cookbook--great cookbook if you are a vegetarian. I have only ever liked this one recipe from the book.)

Porky the Pig Part 4

"10 out of 10 but it's not my favorite" CB

If you made the whole pork shoulder you probably still have some pork in your freezer, so here is another yummy and super easy pork recipe. This one is actually my favorite left over pork recipe. It is probably one of the easiest recipes I make--it is so easy that my wonderful, supportive, intelligent but horrendous at cooking husband is even able to make it.

Hoisin Pork Rolls with Crunchy Slaw

Hoisin Pork: 
2 cups of pulled pork
3 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1/3 cup hoisin sauce 

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tsp oil over medium heat. 
Add the garlic and ginger and stir about 30-60 seconds
Add the pork and hoisin sauce. 
Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 5 minutes

Crunchy Slaw:
1 bag of raw coleslaw or sliced cabbage
3-5 scallions, chopped (less if your kids are more picky)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1.5 tablespoon rice vinegar (do not substitute traditional vinegars, if you don't have just leave it out)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce 

Small tortillas, white or whole wheat

Mix together cabbage, green onions, and cilantro. Place the oil, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and soy sauce in a resealable jar and shake. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss until coated.

Serve the hoisin-ginger pork along with the crunchy slaw with tortilla wraps. Place both inside of a tortilla and roll up. 


*Based on a recipe from www.mealplanning101.com* Highly recommend this blog!

Kid Favorite: Firehouse Chicken

This is part of a new series of the boys' favorite recipes.  If you don't have kids, don't cook this--it isn't very good. If I was rating it, I would give it a 5/10 but the boys love it. It is second to only their absolute favorite--cheesesteaks and if you have met my boys you would know this is very high praise.

10/10 ~PJ

Firehouse Chicken
2 lbs of bite sized chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, or tenderloins)
1 bottle (about 28 oz) of your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Wegman's Brown Sugar BBQ)
1 can (20 oz) of pineapple chunks
1 onion diced
2 gloves minced garlic

Place chicken, BBQ sauce, un-drained can of pineapple (aka pineapple + juice), onion, and garlic into a 4 qt dutch oven or a pot with a lid. Bring to a boil briefly then turn to medium low and simmer with the lid on for about 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Then enjoy with your little people!

Side Dish Suggestions:
Sweet Potatoes
Corn
Applesauce
Yams au gratin

Porky the Pig Part 3

Here is another great dinner to make with your pork. This is a great dinner to entertain with and looks beautiful but is easy.  Homemade guacamole and salsa make a huge difference in flavor and taste when having tacos or fajitas at home. Below is a basic pico de gallo recipe that can be adapted for many different kinds of salsa.  I have included what I think are the best combinations but you can be as adventurous as you want. For the fruit salsas, some people like to omit the tomatoes. I love tomatoes so I keep them in but something to keep in mind.   

Pulled Pork Fajitas

Soft Flour Tortillas

Pulled Pork

Shredded Taco Cheese

Guacamole (see recipe below)

Fresh homemade salsa (see recipes below)

Fresh Homemade Pico de Gallo

3 chopped tomatoes

1 diced seeded jalapeno (feel free to leave out)

1 diced red onion

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt to taste.

Combine all the ingredients and enjoy. 

Corn and black bean salsa

For pineapple salsa: chop 1 can of pineapple and 1/2 teaspoon allspice (pork or fish)
For peach salsa: chop 2 fresh peaches and 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon (chicken or beef)
For mango salsa:  chop 2 cups of fresh or canned mango and 1/4 teaspoon allspice (pork or fish)
For corn and black bean: add one small can of corn and one small can of black beans (any)
For cucumber salsa: 1 cup diced seeded cucumber and 2 tablespoons chopped mint (chicken or beef)

*For smooth salsas blend in a food processor.*

Fresh Guacamole
2 avocados
2 plum tomatoes
2 shallots or one small onion
2 gloves garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 seeded jalapeno

Combine tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and jalapeno in a food processor and pulse until chunky. Add the avocados and pulse leaving chunky.
I often double the recipe to have some to eat with chips later. If you are going to store overnight add additional lime juice.

C loves guacamole and gives it a 10. 

*For smooth guacamole blend in a food processor until smooth.*

Crap I forgot dinner: Dinner Eggs

So it has happened to all of us--you forgot to plan so you open the fridge and even worse it is practically empty. Take Out it is! Or wait...perhaps not. In the series "Crap I forgot dinner", we will explore easy, simple recipes made from stuff you have on hand.  Remember if you make recipes in bulk and freeze them this will be even easy because dinner will just be a quick microwave away.

This recipe is an easy one in which you can adapt with whatever you have on hand. The required ingredients are the ones in italics and the rest is whatever you have on hand. This is another great recipe to hide veggies in and is a simple one dish meal.  It also doesn't have a crust which is time consuming and in my opinion dry and gross.

Dinner Eggs*
*Because the name Quiche sounds weird to my kids*

2 cups of milk
4 eggs
3/4 biscuit baking mix
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 package frozen broccoli florets
1 cup cubed cooked ham

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Grease a quiche or casserole dish.
In a large bowel mix together milk, eggs, and baking mix (it will be lumpy). Then add in your fixings. Pour into a baking dish and bake for 50 minutes.

Great combinations include:

• Sausage and mushroom with cheddar cheese
• Bacon and Gruyere
• Spinach, bacon, and swiss
• Smoked salmon, dill, and swiss
• Chorizo and tomatoes
• Anything that involves meat, veggies, or cheese

Serve with a simple salad and you have a beautiful simple super easy meal. 

On the Side

Trying to figure out what to make to serve with a dish is often more time-consuming and frustrating for me then cooking the main dish itself. That's why my favorite dishes are the ones that contain enough veggies in the main dish to make it acceptable for this pediatrician mom to not serve anything else.  These are a few of my favorite side dishes.

Carrots and Dip
Raw Carrots, Celery, or Snap Peas
Fat Free Ranch

I put this first because there is nothing wrong with serving your kids raw veggies with dip. Raw veggies are super healthy so if your kids are difficult about veggies like my PJ just serve your vegetable and after they have tried it, they can "trade" for uncooked veggies if they prefer. 


Brussels Sprouts for People who Hate Brussel Sprouts*
*Except for my children who still hate this*

I love this and could just eat this for dinner. PJ gives it a 2.

1/4 cup of Olive Oil
1/2 of a 4 oz pkg Italian Classics Diced Pancetta
1/4 cup chopped shallots or onions
14 oz shaved brussel sprouts
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Apple or Balsamic Vinegar

To shave the brussel sprouts place them in a food processor and pulse or cut thinly with a knife.  

In a pan put 1 tsp olive oil and pancetta until pancetta starts to render its fat. Then add shallots and brussel sprouts.  Cook until just start to soften. Add olive oil and vinegar stirring until brussel sprouts are slightly limp. 

*Based on a Wegman's Recipe for brussel sprouts* 

Hams O' Rotten (AKA Yams Au Gratin)

C absolutely is obsessed with this and is the one who gave it  this awesome name.
He helps make it and always gives it a 10!

2 cups of heavy cream

3 lbs peeled yams

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere

Fresh nutmeg

Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer 1/3 yams in baking dish and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layer with 1/3 yams and rest of cheese. Top with remaining yams

In a bowel mix heavy cream, pinch of salt, and some fresh ground nutmeg. Pour cream mixture over top of yams.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes then using a spatula press against top layer to let liquid flow over crust. Bake 30 minutes and repeat. Bake 45 minutes.

*This dish is quite heavy and delicious (and fattening) so I usually serve it with just grilled chicken to balance it out. It also freezes well so double up and freeze some for dinner another night since it takes awhile to cook*

Sweet Potatoes and Applesauce

6 medium sweet potatoes or yams (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
1.5 cups applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Place sweet potatoes in crock pot. Cover with remaining ingredients and stir. Cook for 6-8 hours on low. 

*Freezes and reheats great so double up and freeze*

Porky the Pig Part 2

Everyone loves pasta--kids, adults, even my Batman.  They love it more when the sauce is homemade. Homemade pasta sauce is great for a few reasons:

1. The sauce can be made ahead, freezes well, and is easy to reheat on week nights.
2. It is a meal that doesn't require a ton of planning--so when you get home from soccer practice and realize you forgot to thaw that chicken you were going to make you don't have to get take out. 
3. It is delicious and hearty.
4. If you follow my instructions then there are enough veggies in your dish that if you kids don't eat the salad or broccoli or whatever vegetable you make it doesn't matter.

This sauce can be made on the weekend in a large batch and frozen or because the meat is already cooked can be made on a week night.  Remember that pasta sauce gets better the longer you cook it so don't stress too much about cooking times.  I used pappardelle for this because I was having a craving but you can use which ever boxed pasta you have around.  

Pork and Pappardelle
**This makes about 12-15 servings. So enough for dinner tonight plus two frozen batches in the freezer**

2 cups slow cooker pork, chopped
3- 4 oz cans of sliced carrots
2 onions chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2- 28 oz cans of kitchen cut tomatoes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1/2-1 cup red wine or beef stock

In a large pot, heat olive oil then add onions and garlic and cook until translucent.  If using a slow cooker, transfer contents to slow cooker. De glaze the pan with red wine or stock then pour into crock pot. If doing on the stove stop just add in wine or stock and simmer. Add carrots, pork, cinnamon, and all spice. Cover and cook for 30 minutes to a few hours (longer you cook better the flavor will be) on the stove on medium heat or in the crock pot on high.  Add in fresh chopped basil leaves and serve over pasta. 


A few adaptations:

• Pappardelle is best with a hearty sauce so I left it very chunky. If you or your children prefer a smoother sauce--finely chop onions and carrots and allow to cook for at least 2 hours.  
• Red wine always adds a nice flavor to a dish. I like to cook with it then drink the rest with dinner :) Its fine to leave it out. 
• Canned carrots are one of my cooking short cuts. It shortens the time the sauce needs to cook because the carrots are pre-cooked. Remember if you use canned carrots and tomatoes don't add extra salt because they are canned with salt so your sauce will be nicely flavored. If you use fresh carrots and tomatoes you will need extra salt. 
• If you have a hard time getting veggies into your kids this sauce and all pasta sauce is great place to hide veggies. Adding a container of baby food carrots or dried baby food will add extra servings of veggies without changing the flavor.

Adding one of these containers of carrots adds an extra serving of veggies

Another way to add veggies

Why is poop in the title?

My least favorite question ever is "What's for dinner?", especially because it is usually asked around 6 PM as I am walking in the door. So my answer to that is always, "Poop" to which the boys use to laugh.   More recently PJ told me, "That is an immature answer to a reasonable question mom".

However, he is wrong:

1. It is funny not immature
2. It is an unreasonable question. 

If it is 6 PM and it is the first time you are thinking about dinner the meal often ends up being late and shitty (aka poop). So in order to decrease the likelihood of that be sure to double up and freeze dishes, have delicious homemade pasta sauce in your freezer, and remember serving grilled turkey and cheese, breakfast for dinner, or fancy cereal (aka cereal with fresh fruit in it) is always ok and acceptable. 

My adorable boys after R's first day of school. It's hard to keep these giant boys  well fed. 

Call it a burger and kids will eat it: Moroccan Burgers

"On a scale of 1-10 its an 8ish Mom" ~PJ

Anything that ends in the word burger is acceptable at my house. It doesn't matter if they would never normally eat it--if it ends in the word burger suddenly they are scarfing it down. Because of this you will see many burgers on here. They are one of my favorite week night meals because they are quick and easy.   They are also a great way to introduce your kids to new flavor combinations in a way that's familiar and yummy.

Most recently I found these Flat Out Fold It  Flat breads at the grocery store which I thought would be awesome for doing a middle eastern flavored burger with this as the "bun".

Moroccan Burgers (makes 4-6 burgers)

1 lb ground beef, lamb, turkey, or chicken

1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (feel free to also use Gourmet Garden or frozen cubes from Trader Joe's)

1 minced garlic clove

1 teaspoons ground cumin

1 minced shallot or small onion (onions help keep burgers moist so if you or your family doesn't like the taste, just grind up in food processor to paste like consistency and it will add moisture with minimum flavor)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 jalapeno seeded (if you want it spicy. I leave this out)

1 egg

1/4 cup of panko or other unflavored bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Form into flat round patties and grill or cook on the stove top about 8-10 minutes each side. Be sure chicken and turkey burgers are cooked thoroughly. 

Serve on pitas or flat breads with cucumber, tomato, and onion. I made a yogurt sauce to go with mine that the kids loved but just ketchup for the kids is fine too. Also would be good with garlic mayo or a Dijon mustard. 

Yogurt Sauce

2 cups Greek plain yogurt

1/4 cucumber grated

1 minced garlic clove

2 tablespoons fresh dill (feel free to also use Gourmet Garden or frozen cubes from Trader Joe's)

Mix all together and serve on top of the burger. Super quick and yummy.  

An easy Greek salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and oregano would go great with this or you could be lazy like me and pile high with veggies so you don't have to make a side dish. 

Porky the Pig Part 1

This will be the first of my pork installments.  One of my favorite things to do is to make one main meat which then can be used for multiple different dishes. It saves time and money. My favorite example of this is my pulled pork.  I use one large pork shoulder which then can be used for dinner that night--usually pork sandwiches and then frozen into multiple containers for various other dishes which also use the same pulled pork. This is the basic pulled pork and for the next few weeks I will give you various uses for this one meat.

Pulled Pork

1 tablespoon butter
1 pork shoulder (make sure it will fit in your crock pot)

Cajun seasoning

1 large onion or 2 med onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic crushed

2 bottles of beer (any beer will do, yes even Coors lite)

2 tablespoon liquid smoke

Season shoulder generously with Cajun seasoning and rub in. Melt butter in pan. Brown pork on all sides. Move pork to slow cooker. Add onion and garlic to pan and cook until tender. Move to slow cooker. De glaze the pan with one bottle of beer and place in slow cooker. Add second beer and liquid smoke to slow cooker. If the liquid doesn't almost or completely cover the pork then add beef stock or more beer. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Around hour 10 remove bone and shred pork. Before serving remove fat.
**This dinner gets better the longer it cooks so if you are busy and it cooks longer no worries**

I serve this on Kaiser rolls with BBQ sauce (Wegman's Brown Sugar BBQ is a personal favorite) usually with sweet potatoes on the side (recipe to come).