Feed Your Kids – Page 44 – The leading authority on basketball cupcakes and Basil-Lime martinis…

Laundry

All week (since the kids were gone), I’ve been astounded at how little laundry there was to be done. Well, I’ve found it all! In case you’re wondering what I’ll be doing today…. Of course, Boy did me a favor by only actually wearing about 1/3 of the clothes that he packed for camp, so … Continue reading “Laundry”

All week (since the kids were gone), I’ve been astounded at how little laundry there was to be done. Well, I’ve found it all! In case you’re wondering what I’ll be doing today….

Of course, Boy did me a favor by only actually wearing about 1/3 of the clothes that he packed for camp, so a lot of what he brought home was clean. He packed one outfit per day, so it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to be glad that we weren’t sharing space with him this week. Peee-yew.

Taco Night

We had a fun dinner last night to celebrate the kids coming home. I tried 2 different taco seasoning mix recipes to see which I liked better – I don’t like the pre-mixed seasoning “packets” because they have too much salt for my taste and also sometimes have MSG. I prefer to mix my own … Continue reading “Taco Night”

So, we tried these two recipes:

Taco Seasoning Mix from Cooks.com

Lawry’s Taco Seasonings Clone from TopSecretRecipes.com

On balance, we liked the Top Secret Recipes version better; it was moister and had better flavor. All of us except Boy found the Cooks.com version WAY too salty.

I also would probably prefer to use my own fresh onion and garlic, since I always have those on hand, instead of garlic powder and dried minced onion.

Here’s my suggestion, untested as of yet, but I’ll give it a try the next time that I make tacos. I think that it will take the best qualities of each recipe.

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

1 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves

1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh white onion

1 pound ground beef
2/3 cup water

Combine all of the dried spices in a small bowl (can be placed in a tightly sealed plastic container or zipper bag until needed).

Brown ground beef with onions until no more pink is visible and meat is crumbly. Add garlic and cook about 1 more minute. Drain fat (I usually also pour very hot water over it in the colander, to remove residual grease). Return meat to pan. Add spices and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until water is almost all absorbed and a thick “sauce” has formed.

If you prefer to use dried onion and garlic, you may use 1 tsp dried minced onion and 1/4 tsp garlic powder, instead of the fresh.

Sausage and Peppers with Polenta

Well…we’ve had some schedule changes this week. Our dinner plans for tonight were postponed because my grandfather wasn’t feeling well (I hope you are better soon, Pappaw – I love you!) and so I decided to go ahead and cook Sunday’s menu for us tonight, since I already had all of the ingredients on hand. I’m glad that I did, because the sausage was a little spicier than I thought it would be and I think it might have been a little bit much for Girl and Boy. Also, the matinee show that we were going to see on Sunday is sold out, so we’re going to see it Monday night, instead, which probably means that I won’t cook Monday night, so we’ll be shifting a bit this week, anyway.

So, this recipe was my “inspiration”, but I adapted it A LOT.

Here’s my version:

Sausage and Peppers with Polenta

NOTE: Advance preparation (one day ahead) required.

3 1/3 cups polenta
1 box chicken stock (4 1/2 cups?)
1/4 tsp salt
about 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 packages chicken sausage (I used one Chicken-Mushroom and one Chicken-Spinach-Feta), sliced on a slight diagonal, into “rounds”
2 red bell peppers, sliced into medium strips (1/2 inch thick?)
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
3 – 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
approximately 1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
olive oil

Pour 2/3 cup of the chicken stock into a small container and set aside. Lightly grease a bread pan (I think mine is 9 X 5?). Bring the rest of the stock to a simmer in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the salt and then pour in the polenta, in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and cook until the polenta is thickened and is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Gently stir in 3 Tbsp of the Parmesan cheese and then pour the polenta into the bread pan. Refrigerate until solid (overnight?).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove the polenta from the refrigerator and unmold it onto a cutting board. Cut the polenta crosswise into slices about 3/4 inch thick and then cut each slice in half from top to bottom, forming small “planks”.

Saute the sausage coins in a large saute pan with a little olive oil, turning once to brown evenly on both sides. When all of the sausage slices are lightly browned, remove them from the pan (reserving the oil in the pan) and place them in a large ovenproof dish (something that would hold about the same amount as a 9 X 13 pan – shape doesn’t matter – whatever you’ve got that’s about that size is fine) and set aside. Saute the onions over medium-low heat in the same pan that you cooked the sausage in until they’re thoroughly softened and started to lightly brown/caramelize. Pour them in the baking dish over the sausage, still reserving the oil in the saute pan and adding more olive oil, if necessary. Saute the peppers in the pan until they’re lightly softened (cook them to your desired doneness – some people like them to still be a little crunchy, but some people like them completely soft and starting to brown) and then add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, until the garlic is softened but not browning. Add the peppers and garlic to the baking dish. Sprinkle the sausage mixture with the thyme and then pour over the reserved chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary (the sausage that I used had a LOT of both salt and pepper, so it didn’t need any additional seasoning). Place in the oven to re-warm/meld.

While the sausage mixture bakes, heat some more olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan) to medium-high heat and saute the polenta planks, turning once, until they are warmed through and lightly browned on both sides.

When the polenta is all cooked, remove the sausage from the oven and serve in wide, shallow bowls. Spoon a bit of the pan drippings over each serving and add a few polenta planks to the size. Sprinkle each portion with some of the reserved Parmesan cheese.

This is definitely “make your guy happy” food.

Future Rock Star

Photos of my VERY handsome (and talented) nephew (in the black shirt), playing guitar at a concert last night: http://picasaweb.google.com/jebmershon/2008_06_26?authkey=ld4zakSc50s

Photos of my VERY handsome (and talented) nephew (in the black shirt), playing guitar at a concert last night:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jebmershon/2008_06_26?authkey=ld4zakSc50s

Lunch

Grilled Rotisserie Chicken and Horseradish Cheddar Sandwich with Zucchini Sticks and ranch dip

Weekly Menus

I’m not always organized enough to have a week’s worth of menus planned out in advance, but after going through my recipes yesterday, I came across so many that I wanted to try (or try AGAIN), that I’ve had to put them down on a schedule. If you want to play along at home, here’s … Continue reading “Weekly Menus”

Saturday
(the first night that Boy and Girl will be home from camp, so I wanted something fun and kid-friendly):
Make-Your-Own-Taco Night
I will be trying out 2 different homemade taco seasoning versions and will let the family taste test to see which one is best. The winner will be blogged at a later date. We’ll have all the accompanying “fixins”: cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, beans, etc. Maybe even guacamole, if I get inspired. We prefer soft tacos around here, but sometimes I’ll fry up some corn tortillas for make-your-own tostadas. Since I’ll be preparing 2 pounds of ground beef, I’ll freeze the leftovers for a silly taco “ring” that the kids saw in one of my old cookbooks recently and asked me to make. Refrigerated crescent roll dough? ….(shudder)… I was the one that had to ask them to help plan the menus, right?

Sunday:
Sausage and Peppers with Crispy Polenta
I’ll start out with this recipe from February’s Real Simple magazine, but I already know that I’m going to adapt it significantly, using some chicken sausage that I have in the freezer and probably making homemade polenta.

Monday:
Make-Your-Own-Pizza/Calzones/Stromboli
We’re even going to make our own dough, using a hybrid of this recipe from Family Fun magazine from a million years ago and a version from the April/May Fine Cooking magazine that I can’t link to for you, because Fine Cooking makes you pay for their website. Grrrr…. Actually, if anyone is pondering subscribing, I will begrudgingly admit that it’s worth it. If you subscribe to the magazine, the website only costs an additional $10 per year and has much more, additional content that is not in the magazine. The Grilled Tandoori-style Chicken thighs and Corn Saute with Ginger, Garlic and & Fresh Cilantro recipes ALONE are worth 10 bucks! Anyway, the dough can be made ahead of time and chilled until ready to use and I’ll have lots of different topping options so that everyone can make their own dough into whatever configuration they choose.

Tuesday:
Creamy Chicken Curry in a Hurry, also from Family Fun magazine. Speaking of Family Fun – look at these cute cookies that they have on their main page – too cute and perfect for the 4th. Of course, they might stain your tongue blue…

Wednesday:
Marinated London Broil from Cooking Light magazine. Not sure what I’ll serve with this, but I’ll try to keep it on the “light” side, because we’re already having more beef this week than we usually do. Also, my in-laws’ farm is open on Wednesdays, so I may truck on over there to pick up some fresh veggies to accompany this (and round out the rest of this week’s meals).

Thursday:
Pork Loin Roast.
Not sure which recipe I’m going to use, either Garlic-and-Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin Roast from January 2008 Food & Wine or Roasted Pork Loin with Maple-Mustard Crust from January 2008 Fine Cooking (which I can’t show you, of course….grrrr), but I know, for sure, that I will freeze the leftovers to use to make Cubano sandwiches at another time. There is a great recipe for them in the May 2008 Food & Wine (can’t find the link – may not be on their website yet), but there’s also another great one over at, you guessed it, Fine Cooking. I SWEAR they’re not paying me…it is a great site, though.

Friday:
Not sure exactly what Friday will hold for us – our families tend to announce get-togethers at the last moment, so we don’t have extended family plans yet. If the day finds us at home, just with our immediate family, we will certainly be grilling burgers and/or dogs. We used to have a MAMMOTH (seriously – with rented tents, tables and commercial grills and 150 – 200 people) party every year on the 4th when we lived in the Washington D.C. area (you could see our city’s fireworks display from our back yard), but have adjusted nicely to a more toned-down, quiet patriotic celebration. I do have an easy and phenomenal potato salad recipe, though – start with deli potato salad (when we lived in Virginia, I would buy it at Red, Hot and Blue) and add prepared pesto, toasted pine nuts and chopped fresh red bell pepper. Too delicious for words. It was an absolute MUST at our party. Anyway, Friday is relatively unscripted – maybe some star-shaped cookies?

Now for the disclaimers…plans subject to change. I am frequently guilty of planning a week’s worth of menus and then finding that we’re inundated with leftovers and I’ll decide not to cook on one or two nights. Or something, like maybe a car wreck, will get in my way and we’ll end up getting take out on a night when I had planned to cook. So, if I don’t end up blogging every single one of these meals next week – don’t hold it against me!

So, have fun with “Feed Your Kids”, the home game…

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What does it mean, you ask? What is it? It’s this. I don’t know why I think that’s so cool, but I do. On a related note, I’m also always noticing geeky things like when a product label has been blanked out on a TV show: changing a “Tide” label, for example, to “Tie”, when the production team hasn’t gotten the proper legal clearances. I also noticed last night, for the first time (while watching some REALLY old episodes from the DVR) that lots of episodes of “Desperate Housewives” are named after Stephen Sondheim songs.

Another cool thing from the internet today:

The 50 best cookie recipes on the Internet
(I will be trying the Sweet Ravioli cookies VERY soon.)

And a bonus story about Boy:

The kids are at a Drama/Theatre (sleepaway, but local) camp this week, but Girl needs medicine that must be administered by us, nightly, so we are stopping by the camp every night at bedtime, to give Girl her medicine. I know, it’s not exactly “sleepaway” camp that way, but I’m OK with that…

Anyway, every year (Girl went to this camp last year), this camp packs up the kids and takes them to see a show on one of the camp evenings. Last night, they went to see a dress rehearsal for “Beauty and the Beast” that will be playing at Zilker Park this weekend (usually, the camp “packing list” says to pack one “dressy” outfit, but they didn’t this year, because the show was outdoors and only a dress rehearsal). So, we had to go give Girl her medicine a bit early (before the show) and we caught the kids at dinner. While Hubby gave Girl the medicine, I went to say hello to Boy. The first thing that Boy said to me was that he was dressed up and ready for the show (and I did notice notice that his roommate, J., was wearing a collared shirt and khakis). I thought this was odd, since I knew that Boy hadn’t packed any “dress” clothes, so I decided to take a better look at what he had on. That’s when I noticed: brown Gap T-shirt (rapidly becoming covered with drips from the beans that boy was eating with gusto), olive green cargo shorts, paired with…..black socks and his black “dress” tennis shoes.

Well, at least we can give him credit for trying, right?

Chai-Spiced Crumb Coffeecake

OK….I know that I said I wasn’t going to be cooking this week, but I was craaaaaaaving this…. Adapted from this recipe in Food & Wine magazine. I’ve made this before, but wanted to try to make a smaller version, since it will just be the two of us eating it this week. When I’ve … Continue reading “Chai-Spiced Crumb Coffeecake”

OK….I know that I said I wasn’t going to be cooking this week, but I was craaaaaaaving this….

Adapted from this recipe in Food & Wine magazine.

I’ve made this before, but wanted to try to make a smaller version, since it will just be the two of us eating it this week. When I’ve made the full 9 X 13 pan version of this before, it was delicious, but it took 5 kids and 4 adults 3 breakfasts to polish it off. I also felt that the original recipe was a bit too rich and could use some more spice flavor, in addition to the cardamom, so I used skim milk and added a few more spices. The next time that I make this, I may try to incorporate a cinnamon “swirl” layer into the cake itself. That could be really good. This might also be good baked as muffins, instead of as a cake. Drat – just might have to test this recipe some more. Mmmm….

Chai-Spiced Crumb Coffeecake

Crumb topping:
1 cup pecans
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
6 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp Chai Spice Seasoning Blend
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup skim milk
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Chai Spice Seasoning Blend

Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 to 5 tsp skim milk
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
small sprinkle of Chai Spice Seasoning Blend

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Butter an 8 X 8 inch baking pan.

Make the crumb topping:
Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes, or until fragrant and lightly browned. Let coat, then coarsely chop the nuts. In a medium bowl, stir the melted butter with both sugars, the spice blend and salt. Add the flour and stir until clumpy. Stir in the chopped nuts.

Make the cake:
In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder, spice blend and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan, smoothing the surface (the batter will be very thick). Scatter the crumbs in large clumps over the cake; the crumb layer will be quite deep. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the crumbs are golden and firm and a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. If the crumbs brown before the cake is done, cover the cake loosely with foil. Transfer to a rack to cool before pouring glaze.

Make the glaze:
In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, spice blend and 2 tsp. of the milk until smooth. Add more milk, if necessary, to reach desired “drizzling” consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cake; let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be kept, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Serves 9.

NB: You can use Cinnamon Spice Blend, instead of the Chai Spice Seasoning Blend, if you’re not a big fan of cardamom, or if you just want a simpler flavor.

Pasta Carbonara with Peas (for 2)

OK, so I lied. In the course of going through all of my cooking magazines and recipes, I got inspired and made dinner tonight, after all. It was simple, though, and super fast. We will definitely have this again, when the kids are home. I didn’t do a great job of tossing the pasta quickly … Continue reading “Pasta Carbonara with Peas (for 2)”

OK, so I lied. In the course of going through all of my cooking magazines and recipes, I got inspired and made dinner tonight, after all. It was simple, though, and super fast. We will definitely have this again, when the kids are home. I didn’t do a great job of tossing the pasta quickly enough when I added the eggs, so I did get a little bit of egg “curdling”, but this was still quite a success.

Pasta Carbonara with Peas
adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine

2 very generous servings

1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut into small shreds
1/2 cup minced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 large eggs
8 ounces (1/2 lb) spaghetti noodles, uncooked
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen green peas
small pinch of dried oregano leaves, optional
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook peas in a small microwaveable container, covered with water, in the microwave, for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until completely thawed but not hot. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until bacon is golden and starting to crispen (about 5 minutes). Lower the heat slightly, if necessary. While the bacon is cooking, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until just barely underdone. Add the onion and cook about 5 more minutes, until the onion is softened and the bacon is starting to crisp. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove pan from heat and set aside until spaghetti is done.

When spaghetti is almost al dente, drain it, reserving at least 1 cup of the cooking water. Do not rinse it. Add the spaghetti to the onion/bacon mixture in the skillet. Cook pasta mixture over medium heat, tossing with tons to coat the pasta with the bacon fat and finish cooking the pasta, adding a little of the cooking liquid, if necessary, to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan. After cooking for about 1 minute, remove the pan from heat. Add a little more cooking water and then add the eggs to the pan, tossing immediately and frequently to coat the hot pasta with the eggs. It’s really important to move FAST here, or you will end up with scrambled eggs in your pasta. Toss for about 1 minute, until the eggs have thickened and coated the pasta. Add a little more pasta water, if necessary. Toss in 1/2 cup of the cheese, oregano and peas. Season generously with pepper to taste. Season with salt, if necessary (it may not be, depending upon how salty your bacon is). Serve immediately, sprinkling each portion with 1 Tbsp. of the remaining Parmesan.

Summer Camp

Boy and Girl, with all of their camp gear (pillows, towels, swimsuits, yoga mats, and of course, teen magazines and M & Ms), when we dropped them off Sunday.