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).  

Butter Chicken

"This isn't as disgusting as I thought it would be!" Food Critic CB

Ok so first disclaimer--butter chicken is not fried chicken smothered in butter as CB wished it was.  Instead, it is a delicious Indian chicken curry. Second disclaimer--this is Indian food for children and very easy to make so the taste is not going to be as strong as you may have at a restaurant. If you want to know how to make it just like take out, message me and I can tell you.  This recipe is for the slow cooker and yes you can make it on the stove top if you don't have a slow cooker.  However, a slow cooker is $20 at target and is an amazing tool for any busy mom. Buy one.

Next, I know many of you are going to say you don't have the ingredients. If you like Indian food you should have the following in your house:

• Tandoori Masala
• Garam Masala
• Tandoori Paste
• Curry Paste
• Curry Powder
• Cardamom Pods
• Coriander Seed

Most international food aisles will have them or you can order them online.  I buy my spices from amazon in big bags. It is cheaper, easier, and then you can just refill the containers. They last forever and trust me when I say you will love the Indian recipes on here.

From Amazon.com

Butter Chicken
4 boneless chicken thighs cut in half (thighs will be more authentic, breasts more healthy but a little dry)
**can also make with chick peas and sweet potatoes or paneer**
2 onions finely chopped if your kids hate onions (mine call them chokes) or coarsely chopped for adults and non-onion haters
4 cloves garlic minced 
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp butter

Stir fry chicken, onion, ginger, and garlic in pan on medium heat.  The chicken needs to only be a little browned not cooked thoroughly but the onion should be translucent. Strain any excess liquid and place everything into slow cooker. Then directly on top of the chicken add: 

10-15 green cardamom pods (place in cheese cloth or string together) or can use 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp mild curry paste (use only 1 tsp if your family is very sensitive to spice. Can use hot curry paste if you like it very spicy)
2 tsp tandoori masala
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp curry powder
1 can coconut milk (dont use the light stuff it will make it runny)
1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste 

*1 cup plain yogurt (best with greek yogurt)* save for the end. 
Mix gently and cook on low heat 7-8 hours.  You can cook on high heat for 5-6 hours but I always recommend cooking everything on low for two reasons 1) it is easier to leave on all day 2) it tastes better.  Mix in the 1 cup of plain yogurt right before serving and remove the cardamom pods. 

Serve over warm rice 

After it is done you can make changes if it isn't right for your family: 

• If too hot: Add 1/4 cup of yogurt at a time until desired spiciness
• If not hot enough: Add 1 tsp of cayenne powder

A few other tips about this recipe:
1. To double the recipe double all the ingredients except the following:

20 green cardamom pods

3 tsp curry powder

1.5 tbsp curry paste (like Patak’s mild curry paste**)

4 tsp tandoori masala*

2 tsp garam masala*

2 can coconut milk

1.5 cup plain yogurt

1.5  cans of tomato paste

2. This freezes great for either lunches or dinners. If you are freezing for lunches place rice in a tupperware container with one serving of chicken on top--then reheat 3-4 minutes at work. For dinner place number of servings of your family in a freezer ziplock bag (make sure to always label) or a larger tupperware contained.  It just needs to be microwaved up and served with fresh rice and yogurt.  

3. If you are like me and hate to make a vegetable too, throw some chopped up sweet potatoes in here and you are all set. Other idea is to put in some frozen peas for the last 30 minutes of cooking. I also keep baby food carrots in my house at all times. Throw two jars in here and it will make is slightly sweeter but you can barely taste it. It is a great way to get some extra veggies in for your kids. 

4. If you like the sauce very creamy, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream right before serving.  

This recipe is based on a wonderful blog called meal planning 101. I highly recommend it. http://www.mealplanning101.com/2008/09/slow-cooker-butter-chicken.html

How it will work

So to make this blog most helpful I want to give you a few tips about how to use it to its full potential.

1. Almost all these recipes are originally someone else's that I fine tuned to make easier, more kid friendly, or just better. Whenever possible I will give credit to the original creator so you can go back and see the original recipe if you so decide.

2. I will use labels to organize the recipes like:
-freeze
-slow cooker
-week night
To help you pick what to make when.

3.  I will put in the recipe tips on making it more or less spicy, more or less kid friendly, and how to double or triple so you always have easy to reheat meals in the freezer

4. Any changes or variations to the recipe to make it fit your family better will be posted in blue. 

5.  Lastly, this is not about making any Mommy feel bad for not cooking, ordering take out, or serving something out of a box.  Instead its a place to recognize that being a mom is shit hard so take some pressure off yourself and definitely drink some wine while you cook.

Welcome to Poop Town

Below are the facts of my life:

1. Being a Mommy of three young boys is exhausting
2. Making sure dinner is on the table every night is very exhausting
3. Doing all this while working 80 hours a week as a pediatric resident is insane

I know I am not alone in the craziness of working, taking care of the kids, and trying to have some type of relationship with my spouse.  In the past few months, many a Mommy has asked me for my recipes so I decided that it would be easier to have them all in one place--enter Poop, Pasta, and Pediatrics. This is not a gourmet food blog (as I am sure you figured out since Poop is in the title) or a food blog at all actually.  Instead, this is a place to share delicious, easy to make, family friendly recipes as well as funny stories about the craziness of my life. I hope you enjoy and I promise to keep the poop talk to a minimum.