lara – Page 57 – Feed Your Kids

Puppy Chow

I made this once before, MANY years ago and kind of forgot about it, but I had a bunch of leftover Chex cereal in the house from making the “Texas Trash” and decided to give this another go. The last time I made it, the recipe on the back of the Chex box called it “Puppy Chow” (I think that they could get away with this because I think Ralston Purina owned Chex?), but now they are calling it “Muddy Buddies” (recipe here). I think Puppy Chow sounds cuter (and it does LOOK like Puppy Chow), but I know, I know….copyright this, trademark that, registered name, blah, blah…..

This was a SUPER huge hit with Boy (who helped make it) and Hubby, but Girl (who detests peanut butter) would only give it a tiny little taste before gagging and spitting it out (oh, well….more for us).

Polenta Tamale Pie

I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much when I first saw this recipe: I thought it would be kid-friendly and easy, but wasn’t expecting it to be terribly tasty or sophisticated. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The funny thing is that this ACTUALLY TASTED a bit like tamales. It was sort … Continue reading “Polenta Tamale Pie”

We served it with the leftover green beans from last night.

This was a big hit with all four of us. If I do it again, I might break up the polenta and make it into more of a “paste” so that I can spread it into two layers, rather than having the “rounds” of polenta, which made the dish a little difficult to cut/portion/serve.

Chicken Lasagna Florentine, Green Beans with Browned Butter and “Jailhouse” Rolls

A friend gave me this recipe a ZILLION years ago, but I’ve never tried it, because, although it was delicious when I had it at her house, the recipe was four pages long and I was a bit intimidated. Recently, however, I was going through my recipe files, doing some culling and came across the recipe. As I re-read it, I realized it was just that long because it was handwritten in large (but lovely) script and wasn’t really as complicated as I was originally afraid that it would be, so I decided to give it a try. We all like spinach (and pasta), so I figured it would be a “go”.

Here goes:
Chicken Lasagna Florentine
(from Cindy Zraik)

Ingredients:
– 5 chicken breast halves, cooked, skinned and boned then chopped coarsely or 3 cups cooked chicken meat
– juice of 1/2 lemon
– 1 10 oz package frozen spinach
– 3 Tbsp. butter
– 1/2 lb. mushrooms
– 1 1/4 lbs. fresh lasagna noodles or 1 package dried
– 1 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
– 1 lb. imported ricotta cheese
– 3/4 lb. imported parmesan cheese, grated

For the Balsamella Sauce (Bechamel?):
– 1 stick lightly salted butter
– 1/2 cup flour
– 4 cups whole milk
– pinch of nutmeg and salt to taste

For the sauce:
Melt butter in large saucepan until bubbly. Add flour, stirring well over moderate heat. Cook the roux (that is the flour-butter mixture) until bubbly and it begins to brown slightly, approximately 5 minutes. Add milk to roux while stirring with a wire whisk until well incorporated. Keeping heat on medium, stir often until sauce comes to a boil. When thickened, turn heat off, add nutmeg and salt to taste. Set aside.

Set chopped chicken meat aside and sprinkle with lemon juice and pepper.

Cook spinach according to package directions; drain excess water then add spinach to balsamella sauce.

Slice and saute mushrooms in 3 Tbsp. butter over high heat 4 – 5 minutes then add to balsamella sauce.

In large pot, boil fresh lasagna noodles 2 minutes then remove from water and set aside on a towel. You will have to do this in 4 consecutive batches. If using dry lasagna, cook according to package directions.

Assembling the dish:

– Place a thin layer of sauce mixture on bottom of a 9 X 13″ baking dish.
– Put one layer of noodles.
– Spread 1/2 of the ricotta cheese in a thin layer.
– Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese.
– a thin layer of sauce.
– Put one layer of noodles.
– Place all chicken meat.
– Over chicken, spread a moderate amount of sauce, reserving some for very top layer.
– Put one layer of lasagna.
– Spread the remaining ricotta.
– Sprinkle remaining mozzarella.
– More lasagna noodles.
– The remaining sauce.
– Finally, sprinkle all parmesan cheese on top.
– Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

OK, now let me tell you how I fiddled with it (not much, actually):

I sprinkled the chicken with Baby Bam before cooking (I grilled the chicken).

I added two extra layers of noodles (one of chicken, one of cheese), for a total of 18 noodles in the dish (6 layers of 3 noodles) and spread the ingredients a little thinner to accomplish this. This made the lasagna dizzyingly tall, but not a drop of it bubbled over in the oven – I was amazed.

I used unsalted butter and 2% milk, because that’s what I had on hand.

I cut the amount of Parmesan a little bit, because using 3/4 of a lb was just obscene – it was over 3 cups worth and I just couldn’t do it.

The verdict:
Both kids really liked this and Hubby LOVED it. I will make it without the mushrooms next time, because both kids balked at them a little, although they did try them. A huge hit all-around. One caveat: with all of that meat and cheese (and extra noodles), the completed lasagna was incredibly heavy. Hubby said that he almost broke his wrist trying to pull it out of the fridge (I had pre-assembled it early in day, because we had afternoon plans, so it was in the fridge until time to bake it) with one hand. It was a little “solid” (not very saucy and/or gooey), maybe because of the extra noodles, or maybe because I made the sauce a little too thick, but it was still yummy.

Green Beans with Browned Butter

This recipe is from one of those Betty Crocker recipe magazines at the grocery checkstand. Sometimes those are great, other times not so much, but this was really good. The kids both picked up the lemon flavor and may have liked the beans better without the lemon peel, but still really good.

I used frozen green beans (cooked in chicken broth) and toasted the pine nuts separately in the toaster, rather than in the butter.

3/4 lb. green beans
2 Tbsp. butter (no substitutions)
2 Tbsp. pine nuts
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Place beans in 1 inch water in a 2 1/2 quart saucepan. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt butter in 1-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in pine nuts. Heat, stirring constantly, until butter is golden brown. Immediately remove from heat. Pour butter mixture over beans; toss to coat. Sprinkle with lemon peel. 6 servings (1/2 cup each).

The Jailhouse Roll recipe can be found here (time-consuming, but very yummy).

Crisp Pork Medallions with Creamy Caper Sauce

I saw this recipe in an issue of Gourmet and set it aside (since March), but thought I’d pull it out and give it a try tonight. We will definitely be making this again. Super easy and VERY delicious. The pork cooking technique is not revolutionary or innovative (I do this same breading and frying … Continue reading “Crisp Pork Medallions with Creamy Caper Sauce”

I saw this recipe in an issue of Gourmet and set it aside (since March), but thought I’d pull it out and give it a try tonight. We will definitely be making this again. Super easy and VERY delicious. The pork cooking technique is not revolutionary or innovative (I do this same breading and frying technique with chicken pretty frequently), but I don’t usually do this with pork. I usually cook my pork tenderloins whole, so that part was new for me.

I did, as usual, make a few adaptations:
-I used a mixture of plain and panko breadcrumbs (I LOVE panko).
-I used a mixture of canola and olive oil, with a little bit of butter, to fry the medallions.
-I added some salt, pepper and Italian herb seasoning blend to the breadcrumbs.
-I added a little squeeze of lemon juice (1 teaspoon, maybe?) to the caper sauce.
-I pounded the tenderloin medallions a little bit with a mallet to make them more like cutlets.
-I didn’t bother with a meat thermometer, but just pushed down on each medallion to see how done it was by how much resistance it gave (if it feels “firm”, it’s done).

These were absolutely wonderful and I was pleased with how much I enjoyed the sauce; I wasn’t too sure about the yogurt, so I was withholding judgment. It would be really good with a little mustard added to it, too, but was quiet yummy, as it was. When I make these again, I will sprinkle a little salt and pepper (or Baby Bam) on the pork medallions before I bread them. Tonight’s leftovers will probably find their way onto to salad for lunch tomorrow, with the sauce mixed into some sort of a dressing.

I VERY highly recommend this recipe.

Sophie Currier

In case any of you haven’t heard about this case, I would like to bring it to your attention and weigh in on some of the misconceptions and knee-jerk reactions that are traveling around the internet. I apologize, in advance, for the length of this post, but this issue has me FIRED UP. Sophie Currier … Continue reading “Sophie Currier”

Sophie Currier is a 33-year old student at Harvard Medical School (she has also studied at MIT and also already has a PhD) who is taking her medical board exams AS I TYPE THIS. Sophie has two children: an almost 2-year old son and a 4-month old daughter. She is currently nursing her young daughter (as is recommended by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics) and requested extra break time between sections of the exams to use a breast pump during the 8+ hours long exam. The National Board of Medical Examiners (the organization that does the testing) denied her request. They told her that she could only have the amount of time that is available in the existing testing schedule; an amount of time that is really only sufficient for eating and using the bathroom.

Sophie has a prestigious, but grueling residency waiting for her at Massachusetts General Hospital after she passes her board exams. Sophie intentionally planned to have her two children very close together so that she would not be pregnant during her residency, which, with the long hours and physical demands required, could be harmful to her and to her baby. To wait to have children until AFTER her residency would have put her in her late 30s, when she would be at greater risk of infertility problems or complications with the baby, not to mention the fact that it would be difficult for her to have children later, when her post-school career would just be beginning.

Complicating this issue, for some people, is the fact that Sophie has Attention Deficit Disorder dyslexia and has also received a testing accommodation (as legally allowed under the Americans with Disabilities Act) to take the test over a two-day period, rather than the usual one day. To me, this is a completely separate and irrelevant issue. That accommodation is mandated by law and is something that thousands of people have access to every day. To say that any one person is only allowed to have one condition requiring special accommodation is asinine. My dedicated sister-in-law is a special education teacher and works with many children that have multiple “conditions”, for example: learning differences AND a physical condition necessitating a wheelchair or a learning difference AND a visual impairment.

Sophie sued the NBME to be granted some extra break time and, initially lost, but then the judgment was voided on appeal and Sophie WAS, in the end, granted the right to begin the testing yesterday, without worrying about engorgement or premature weaning. In case my opinion on this matter isn’t already clear, let me address a few of the arguments that I’ve seen floating around:

Q: Why can’t she just pump milk ahead of time and have someone else use it to feed her baby that day? Why can’t she just have someone feed her daughter formula while she’s taking the test?

When you are nursing (as I know from personal experience), your body responds to the demands that are placed upon it: the more than your baby nurses (or the more that you pump), the more milk you will produce. If that milk is not pumped out (or nursed out by the baby), then your breasts will become engorged, hardened and VERY painful. A 4-month old child typically nurses every few hours, so to go without nursing for the 9-hour testing day would be excruciating and the inevitable leaking would be very distracting. It would also put her at risk for infection or having an interruption in her future milk supply. Yes, there are ways to work out the milk supply situation for the baby, that is not the issue; the issue is the discomfort that Sophie would feel during the testing if she could not relieve the need to release the milk.

Q: Won’t this extra time give her an advantage over the other candidates taking the exam?

The extra break time would NOT, in any way, constitute an unfair advantage, but would merely put her on an equal footing. She would be at a disadvantage if she had to put up with engorgement, pain, leaking, etc.. The breaks would occur between sections of the test, so she would not be able to look at the questions and then go think about them over a break. She would also not be allowed to change any of her previously-completed answers after a break.

Q: How have other breast-feeding candidates handled this exam?

There have been other women that have had to deal with this situation. Many of them have written letters of support to Sophie, describing the difficulties that they had in the testing procedure, that have been used to bolster her legal battle. Some of them said that the pain of engorgement was so great that it actually caused them to vomit. Can you imagine taking an important career-influencing exam under those conditions? Sophie is not the only women that has been impacted by this difficulty; she is just the first one to come forward and ask for accommodation.

Q: Isn’t there too much litigation going on in our country today? Couldn’t this have been handled without a lawsuit?

Yes, it would definitely have been preferably for the NBME to have given Sophie the accommodations that she needed without it being necessary for her to seek legal counsel. Her attorneys believed so strongly in her legal rights that they are working on her case free of charge.

Q: So how is this woman going to care for her children once she starts to work? Why doesn’t she just stay home and take care of her kids?

I wouldn’t presume to guess what Sophie’s future breastfeeding plans are, but her residency doesn’t start until November, when her daughter will be over 6 months old. She may choose to wean her daughter before that time; she may not. Many employers provide workplace accommodations for nursing mothers to pump and refrigerate their breast milk so that it may be carried home for future use. I don’t know whether or not Massachusetts General Hospital has these facilities or not. I hope so.

As for the suggestion that Sophie should delay the test for a year or give up her residency or even her whole career and be a stay-at-home mom: I’m really tired of the whole “us vs. them” mentality regarding working moms and stay-at-home moms and also regarding nursing moms vs. non-nursing moms, too, for that matter. Some moms work because they love their careers and feel driven to give something to society as a whole through their work (but also love their families and are able to be good moms at the same time); some moms work because they have to for economic reasons. Some moms breastfeed because they’ve heard it’s best and are able to do it; some moms try and try and just aren’t able to breastfeed (it happens, and it’s nobody’s fault), some moms choose not to breastfeed for personal reasons (or they’re just not comfortable with it, and that’s OK, too). I am glad that we live in a society where women can be moms AND have a career. I choose to be a stay-at-home mom, but I grew up with a working mom who managed career and kid admirably well. Everyone has to do what’s right for their own life. I wouldn’t want anyone telling me that I couldn’t have a career because I was a mom, just as I wouldn’t want anyone telling me that I couldn’t have children because I had a career. Just as importantly, I wouldn’t want anyone else forcing either of these opinions on my daughter when she is old enough to be pondering careers and children. Can you imagine anyone suggesting to a man that he give up his career (or delay it a year) because he has a child? Sorry, guys – I don’t want to make this a “men vs. women” thing, either, but making that point does illustrate the absurdity of the argument.

Q: How is she going to handle her responsibilities with her ADD and dyslexia?

Sophie has been able to make it through MIT undergrad and Harvard Medical School with only the same accommodations that are afforded any other students with ADD and dyslexia (there are lots of others). Just to be admitted into MIT and Harvard is an accomplishment that most people can only dream of. I, for one, have no concerns about her intelligence. I personally know three individuals that have ADD and they are among the most competent people that I know. There are medications and other things that can be done to help them focus on their tasks and they are all able to perform very successfully in their careers. Sophie is planning on becoming a research pathologist and is not planning to work face-to-face with patients, but, if she were, I would be the first to line up to be one of her patients. That being said, the fact that she has ADD and dyslexia still has NO bearing on the breastfeeding issue.

Q: What about other people that have special medical conditions, for example, someone with diabetes that needed to test their blood sugar level and/or administer insulin or someone that needed to empty a colostomy bag? Would they be given extra break time during the exam?

Those conditions (a colostomy, diabetes and other similar conditions) would fall under the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the testing centers would be required to make the necessary accommodations, without legal action. Certain complication of pregnancy even fall under this category. For example: if a pregnant woman was having circulation problems (a common condition during pregnancy) and needed to get up every hour or so during the test and walk around, to prevent dangerous blood clots in her legs, she would have to be allowed to do so. Breastfeeding is not given this same protection under the law.

I realize that people have very strong opinions about this issue and not everyone will agree with me, but I did feel that I had to weigh in. There are so many people spouting off on other blogs and in discussion forums that clearly have no idea what breastfeeding entails. If you’d like to read more about this, here are some links to news stories and other opinions:
The Boston Globe

The New York Times

Lone Star Times blog

The Lactivist blog

Fox News

Sixth Grade

Girl’s school choir performed at morning chapel services earlier this week. She told us, beforehand, that she didn’t want us to come, but, of course, we went anyway (we did slink quietly into the balcony to watch, so as not to embarrass her with our, I don’t know….breathing). They sang beautifully, breathtakingly, inspiringly…most of the parents were in tears. Afterwards, Hubby and I melted into the crowd (we didn’t want to embarrass Miss “I-Don’t-Want-You-to-Come”) and were walking back to the car when we heard, “Mom! Dad!”. You guessed it: Miss “I-Don’t-Want-You-to-Come” had turned into Miss “Don’t-Leave-Without-Saying-Goodbye”. We told her how well she did and we got a nice goodbye (in front of her friends, even!) When they’re in Sixth Grade, you’ve got to take the lovin’ when it comes. You never know when it will come, but it’s awfully nice when it does.

“Texas Trash” Snack Mix

10 cups of cereal, your choice of type and amounts (I usually use a blend of Cracklin’ Oat Bran, Cheerios, Golden Graham and Chex: Wheat, Rice and/or Corn) 2 cups small (bite-sized) pretzels 1 10-oz can of your favorite nuts (peanuts, cashews, mixed – whatever you like) 1/2 cup canola oil 1 stick (1/2 cup) … Continue reading ““Texas Trash” Snack Mix”

10 cups of cereal, your choice of type and amounts
(I usually use a blend of Cracklin’ Oat Bran, Cheerios, Golden Graham and Chex: Wheat, Rice and/or Corn)
2 cups small (bite-sized) pretzels
1 10-oz can of your favorite nuts (peanuts, cashews, mixed – whatever you like)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 tsp. Tabasco
1/2 tsp. red cayenne pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. onion salt
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Combine cereals, nuts and pretzels in a LARGE bowl – set aside. Combine oil, butter and remaining ingredients. Pour over cereal mixture and mix gently to coat evenly. Pour onto cookie sheets and spread out to space pieces out. Bake for 2 hours, stirring and turning every 15 minutes. Allow to cool and then store in an airtight container.

Bake Sale, Over the Top version

Girl’s class at school had a bake sale today to raise money for Dollars for Darfur (please read up and consider contributing). Well, saying the words “bake sale” to me is like saying….well….let’s just put it this way, Internet….what’s your favorite thing to do when you have free time on your hands? Maybe you’re a football fiend? Maybe you love reading or jogging? You always look so well-accessorized, Internet, so maybe your love is shopping? Well, for me, it’s cooking and baking, so…..an excuse to do it for charity? That’s just letting loose the floodgates!

Bake Sale Booty (homemade baked goods and also some little Halloween candy containers that I had leftover from last year – filled with fresh candy, of course!):

A batch of my grandmother’s fudge:

A double batch of Pumpkin-Pecan muffins
(Krusteaz Pumpkin Bread mix from Costco, made into muffins, add about 1/2 cup chopped pecans per batch of mix, plus a sprinkle of cinnamon and cloves and a dash of McCormick’s Vanilla Butter & Nut extract and sprinkle coarse sanding sugar on top of the batter before baking):

A batch of my “Texas Trash” snack mix (I’ll post the recipe soon):

and a triple batch of Swedish Spice Cookies:

Boy and Girl were very helpful, with making the Swedish Spice cookies and packaging and labeling everything else. Ironically, Girl had a Dr’s appt today, so she couldn’t be there for the sale (Hubby dropped the food off at school for her), but I hope that it was a great success!

Chicken with Polenta

I saw this recipe while doing a recipe search recently and decided I had to try it. I combined the polenta with this recipe (scroll down to the “Elegant Weeknight Dinner Menu”, kind of making a hybrid of the two. We all liked it a lot, but I didn’t prepare the garnish for it, which was a mistake (it just looked very, um….yellow). From a flavor standpoint, it was great, it just looked naked without a little touch of green. Another option would be to add some chopped fresh spinach to the final stages of the corn relish to add a little color. I also made the polenta a little too thin, but it was still very yummy.

Here’s my slightly edited version:

Chicken with Polenta and Corn Relish, serves 4
(or serves 2 adults and 2 kids for dinner, with leftovers for Hubby’s lunch the next day)

For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
about 1 tsp. Baby Bam seasoning

For the corn topping:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 of a large Vidalia onion, diced
1/2 of a large red bell pepper, diced (you could also sub. peeled, seeded, diced tomatoes for this, if you can find nice, ripe ones)
1 and 1/2 cups corn kernels (I used frozen, but this would have been DELICIOUS with fresh)
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. of your favorite dried green herb (marjoram, basil, oregano or tarragon would all be good, but I used marjoram this time)

For the polenta:
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
3 cups chicken stock (you might not need it all)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. of whatever herb you used in the corn (above)
2/3 cup polenta (coarse ground yellow cornmeal)
1/2 cup grated cheese, preferably fontina or parmesan (I found some smoked fontina and it was YUMMY)
1/4 cup half-and-half or milk

Garnish:
4 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh Italian parsley or chives or thinly sliced fresh basil

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 2 and 1/2 cups of the chicken stock, the garlic, the 1/4 tsp salt and the 1/8 tsp black pepper to a boil. While this is heating up, pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel and then sprinkle them on both sides with the Baby Bam seasoning. Grill them until they are cooked through and nicely seared on the outside. Set them aside to rest. Keep an eye on the stock while the chicken cooks, and when it has come to a boil, stir in the cornmeal. Bring the heat down to a simmer and continue to cook it for about 30 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and polenta is tender and not “grainy” (you will need to taste it to be sure – add more chicken stock, if necessary). Continue to stir it occasionally as it cooks, to keep it from sticking to the bottom or forming lumps.

As the polenta cooks, start to prepare the corn relish:
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a medium saute pan. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the corn and saute about 5 more minutes. Stir in the wine and simmer 5 more minutes. Add the juice, 1/4 cup chicken broth, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp ground red pepper, and the herb/s; simmer 10 more minutes or until slightly thickened and most of liquid has cooked off.

The polenta should be done by now – remove it from the heat and stir in the half-and-half, herb and cheese. Thinly slice each chicken breast.

To serve the dish:
Scoop some of the polenta on each plate (or you could serve it in a shallow bowl). Fan out a chicken breast on top of each portion. Top with some of the corn relish and sprinkle with the parsley or chives.

Serve this with a green vegetable or salad, served on a separate plate.

Cooking Light Multigrain Pilaf

Today was Hubby’s birthday. It also happened to be the craziest night we have this week (doctor’s appt for Boy, piano lesson for Girl), so I needed something that I could get on the table quickly, since I knew I wouldn’t even be home until 6:30. When we were at Costco this weekend, Hubby saw … Continue reading “Cooking Light Multigrain Pilaf”

Today was Hubby’s birthday. It also happened to be the craziest night we have this week (doctor’s appt for Boy, piano lesson for Girl), so I needed something that I could get on the table quickly, since I knew I wouldn’t even be home until 6:30. When we were at Costco this weekend, Hubby saw these pre-made Chicken Cordon Bleu and wanted to get them, so I decided to make them for his birthday. Not something that I would ordinarily buy, but he loved them.

To go with, I just steamed some frozen (organic, from Costco) green beans and this multigrain pilaf recipe from this month’s Cooking Light magazine. One of Hubby’s co-workers gave us some special, imported buckwheat groats (kasha) recently and I’ve been wanting to try it. The pilaf was surprisingly good. I expected it to taste more “healthy”, if you know what I mean, but it was actually pretty good. Of course, I was famished at dinner tonight, so that could have had something to do with it.

Getting ready to make the pilaf. From left to right: buckwheat, barley, bulghur.

Hubby’s not a big fan of conventional cakes and detests icing, but he LOVES these cookies, especially straight out of the oven. So….we decided this would be the perfect birthday dessert.