Kids sit still for free food-maybe?

So, I usually try to post an amazing or simple recipe on Saturdays. But, since life happens-affordable ways to eat out are good to know, too. It turns out, the more kids that come along, the less you eat out. Forget getting all of them to sit still for an entire meal, just paying for them to eat is tricky-ridiculous. We used to stuff them full of cheese and apples and then just let them eat french fries. Which sort of worked. It is clearly not the healthiest option. However, my wonderful husband came across an amazing list today. This post has a list of where kids can eat free or for $1 on different days of the week. Some are local restaurants, but others are nationwide chains, like Applebees and Red Robin! It is worth checking out!

Or check out this site which allows you to search according to your zipcode and the day of the week. :)

So, once you make it to the restaurant, you are still stuck with keeping children still. A great way to do this-keep a magna doodle or two in the diaper bag! Go to family friendly restaurants where they have coloring books and crayons. After those run out, here are a few other ideas from Parenting Magazine's Melody Warnick:

• Something's Missing: Dump out a few objects from your purse and let your kids study them for a a minute or two. Ask him to close his eyes, then remove on the the objects. See if he can figure out what disappeared. Then let him have a turn stumping you.
• Food Mystery: Play "What did I eat today?" by giving your child one clue at a time: "I ate something green. I at something round. I at something that comes in a bunch." Once you guesses that you noshed on grapes, its his turn.
• Rock the Vote: Have your kid give a thumbs-up or -down as you name different food, TV shows, or activities. You may be surprised to learn what he loves (and hates).

Of course, if you are really brave, you could pull out phonics flash cards or something educational. Or bring that chapter book you keep trying to get through with the kiddos. (We just got Charlotte's Web from Paperbackswap! I am soo excited to read it.)

Recipes From Wonderful Kitchens

I have to confess, new and wonderful food are not very high on my priority list right now. In fact, my biggest goal is to feed my family healthy meals regularly without trashing the kitchen or getting frustrated with the children for being needy while I am trying to make dinner. I can only feed, hm, no I take that back. The kids would eat foods they love day after day, I think. Gabe and I would get grumpy though. Lucy, well, Lucy is in her own particular food world. Here are a few places to get wonderful and healthy meal ideas.

• Passionate Homemaking: Lindsay has some amazing recipes on here. When I am looking for a new recipe to try, I end up here more often than not. We love the waffles, chicken curry, and the grilled veggie sandwiches are incredible!
• Nourishing Gourmet: I recently rediscovered this one, and have only had a little time to look around, but I am very excited to try the recipes, and Kimi knows her stuff. Also a good place to link to other health minded mommies and their recipes.
• Cooking Light: Um, some delicious recipes, but you have to be saavy. Although they are starting to change, they are still trendy healthy-meaning that they follow the latest health trends. So be aware and ready to substitute as necessary.
  

Roasted Brussll Sprouts-Yum!

Oddly, this is my family's favorite vegetable. It disappears quickly off the table before any other food is touched, regardless of the food it accompanies. Yes, it is a battle between all four of us at the table, including the 2 and 3 year old. Usually Mommy and Daddy let the 2 and 3 year old get dibs, because really, what parent is going to prevent vegetable eating? I do not remember eating this growing up, but my husband's family enjoys it and wonderful Betsy came and taught us a new way to prepare it-easy and yummy!

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cut brussel sprouts in half (trim if necessary)
   
3. Toss with butter, salt and pepper (approx. 2T butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper/lb of sprouts)
4. Bake for 15 minutes (maybe a little less? Sometimes they come out a little crispy around the edges if we are not paying attention)

Did I mention easy?? :)

Hotch Potch

This is one of my favorite recipes! My wonderful mother-in-law gave it to us when we got married with a handy little book full of their favorite recipes. The pilgrims brought it with them to the NEw World from Leyden, Holland. It is oh so versatile!! I can make it the day before, during nap time, it really does not matter. It does not freeze so well because of the potato, but could be done if necessary. The potatoes are just a little extra mushy, I think. I have frozen it.


Serves: 6-8

1 chopped onion
4 chopped carrots
4 chopped potatoes
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
2 c cubed cooked chicked
2 tsp salt
2 cubes chicken bouillion
1/2 tsp black pepper

• Chop vegetables-put in saucepan. Add herbs, chicken and broth.
  
• Cook until vegetables are tender.
• Boil then turn down to simmer.
  

Another wonderful point, the ingredient list is pretty flexible. I have added (very deliciously) mustard greens or kale to sneak in some extra yummy nutrients, I like to add celery, and we definitely prefer fresh parsley, but like I said, it is flexible. I also use broth/stock instead of bouillion. I think I followed the directions carefully the first time or two, but now I mostly just wing it, as long as I have the necessary ingredients.

Drumroll Please: Saturday's Post! (On Saturday!)

Since the past few weeks have been a little busy, I have not been playing around with new recipes, a luxury for those with both mental and physical energy. ;) So, I thought I would share something I have been slowly learning this year. We have an open door night. Which, is a lot of fun, but it is also difficult to plan for, as the crowd may or may not know ahead of time if they will be showing up. A large chunk of them are guys.

How do you make a meal for a crowd of unknown size? A few early attempts left me eating the same food for the rest of the week. Some other attempts left the guys hitting McDonalds after I had gone to bed. Here are a few tips that I have been learning:

• Make a lot of food. You would think that's a given. But just before Lucy was born, I failed this one, regularly. If you keep popcorn on hand, you can make some up for munchies later. (Or I usually have stuff for a crisp on hand, too.)
• Choose a food that you can freeze whatever is leftover (soup, spaghetti, chili, chicken curry.)
• Didn't make enough? Throw in a few sides. Some green beans from the freezer. A quick biscuit or roll. A salad. A fruit salad. Some rice. Side dishes can fill in a lot of holes. I think my mother-in-law uses this trick to use less meat at dinner to feed her family. She is a very clever lady. This is a trick to get a flank steak to stretch a little further, allowing for a nice meal without going broke on a steak for a lot of people.

Obviously, meals that don't revolve around meat as the main course help. Soup, stirfry, taco or grilled chicken salad. Use your imagination. I know I still have a lot to learn when it comes to hospitality for a lot, any tips to share?

Sneaky Spinach

I am not an advocate of sneaking veggies in with dessert, or other sneaky ways of getting kids to eat veggies. I think veggies are great and that it is possible to make them in ways that the kids will enjoy, and I also think it can be another area to disobey mommy. Yippee.

That being said, I am not opposed to cutting my daughter's broccoli into teeny, tiny pieces in her stir fry, or making dinners with the vegetable tastefully mixed into the main dish. I am very much a fan of eating dinner in peace every now and then. . . or maybe every night? To share a peaceful meal opportunity with you, I thought I might pass along these wonderful recipes with spinach in them.



This one is more frugal than my other macaroni and cheese recipe, I think. Well, if you make a few changes. :) Cooking Light's Penne with Pancetta, Spinach, and Buttery Crumb Topping (aka: fancy smancy mac'n'cheese) is very yummy! It has 6 cups of chopped, fresh spinach in it! I hear pancetta is pretty pricey, and I had bacon on hand, so I just used bacon, although, you might be able to try sausage? I am not sure. And of course, healthy substitutes of brown rice pasta and soaked grain bread crumbs would help. We all liked this one tonight! I am excited to try it out on some guests.

Joe helped me make the bread crumbs in the food processor, and I think it would be fairly easy to encorporate helpers. Prep time seemed pretty minimal (I'll try to start timing these things) and clean up was pretty decent as well.



My mom has made this one for as long as I can remember, and there are several varieties, but this one is my favorite. I loved it growing up, and am so happy to see my children enjoy it. They usually ask for more. One morning, we were in a hurry to get out the door, so I heated mine up while buckling the kids in the care. I handed the kids cereal bars (a special treat left over from a road trip) and grabbed my bowl of spinach souffle. Joe threw a fit when he saw what I was eating and wanted some too! It is more like a quiche, but we always called it spinach souffle; I am not sure why. IT IS REALLY EASY!

6 eggs
16 oz cottage cheese
1 8-10 oz pkg of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (or fresh works, too!)
8 oz cheese, cubed
1 stick butter, cubed
6 Tbs flour

Mix all together, bake at 350 degrees in a greased 9"x13" pan (or slightly smaller.)

There is a lot of flexibility with this recipe. I've seen my mom put all sorts of cheese in it. She has even used cream cheese, although, I'm pretty sure it was with another cheese. I have used all sorts of grains to substitute for wheat, and it has turned out fine. Lately, I have been throwing in Bob's Red Mill gluten free hot cereal mix, because it is in my pantry. This can work for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is best eaten warm.
Make in the morning tip: cube everything the night before. :)

Recipe: Puffed Oven Pancakes

I tried a great new recipe this morning! It was so easy and quick to prepare-and here's the best part-clean up was a breeze! I think it would be very easy to have little helpers, too. (Just watch out for the hot skillet!) This is a big struggle in my kitchen lately. The kids want to help cook and wash dishes. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, it could be. It will be, once I get them trained and figure out the best strategies. Maybe I'll do a post on this later. Any suggestions? Anyway, this recipe from Better Homes and Garden's Cook Book recommends to serve it with orange marmalade and fresh fruit. The fruit sounds great, but it works without it. I used the powdered sugar I had on hand, but they also suggest whipped cream. Fruit syrup was an easy low-prep addition, but it would be easy to use too much. My brother put lemon zest on his.
This makes 6 servings (I think I would make two, maybe three to feed the 6 people at my table, but some of them can be big eaters.)

2 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

1. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet in the oven at 400 degrees (takes about 3-5 minutes.)
2. While the butter is melting, use a whisk or rotary beater to beat the eggs until combined.
3. Add flour, milk and salt-mix until smoot.
4. Immediately pour into the skillet.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and well browned.
6. Serve and top as desired!

Wheat Allergy

Josiah cannot eat wheat. Hopefully, he'll be able to eat it when he's two. Until then, I've been getting creative in the kitchen so the rest of us can keep eating things like pizza and sandwiches! Trader Joe's is wonderful with reasonably priced brown rice bread, pasta, and tortillas (although, its possible to find tortillas with mostly corn and no wheat.) Here's some of my favorite shortcuts:

• pizza: put sauce, toppings and cheese on top of a piece of brown rice bread-microwave or broil in oven. :) = very happy Josiah
• macaroni and cheese: we make our own with brown rice pasta and we all enjoy it. Plus, you can sneak in cauliflower or broccoli and it tastes really yummy! it does assume that you can have dairy products. . .
• quesadillas with brown rice tortillas
  
• waffles made with kamut and oats (Sue Gregg's blender waffle recipe-yum!) (Oats have gluten in them, and the Doctor just told me to take him off gluten, so I might try rice or quinoa flour.)

I have to say, if he had to have an allergy I am glad it is wheat and not dairy. At least he can still have cheese sticks :)