Pumpkin Pancakes and a glass of Shiraz: the best dinner I've ever had.

So, it's been a while, but I think you'll find it has been worth the wait.  I came home from work late last night and the hubby had fixed the kids pancakes for dinner.  I saw my bottle of red wine from earlier that week on the counter, and that's when it hit me.  My most brilliant idea to date.

Pumpkin Pancakes are quite simple, really.  This time of year, I keep canned pumpkin in the house.  I just like having it on hand to add to anything that needs it.  Pumpkin anything instantly makes me happy.  Used the Bisquick mix recipe on the box for "Ultimate Pancakes" and added about 1/4 cup of pumpkin and some Apple Pie Spice.  If I'm feeling fancy, I put in cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg, but this was after work, not before.  Mommy was tired.

Put a bit of butter in the pan, cook them slow and low.  Enjoy warm with a glass of Shiraz.  Happy Fall! 

Broccoli Cheese... Cinnamon Roll?

So last night, before trick or treating, I wanted Aidan to get some veggies into his system.  Since I'm 38 weeks pregnant, I'm not doing much cooking, cleaning or anything these days.  There's been a lot of prepared meals (we try to get the healthiest frozen food we can), a lot of daddy cooking (thank goodness!), canned and boxed soups, and a lot of breakfast for dinner lately.  Fresh from my beloved freezer, I microwaved one of those frozen steam bag packets of broccoli and cheese.  Thank you, Sams Club.  Aidan helped me make the minute rice.  Stir them together, and voila!  A makeshift broccoli cheese casserole.  Gourmet, no.  Convenient, yes.  Poured a little extra shredded cheddar on top.  Add salt and pepper.  Done in about 15 minutes.  I told Aidan, we are having broccoli cheese casserole tonight!  He called it "broccoli cheese cinnamon roll".  Not quite accurate, but he DID devour it about as quickly as he eats cinnamon rolls.  He couldn't shove it into his mouth fast enough.  Even the stalks of the broccoli.  Wow.  Pretty impressive, Green Giant.  I hope it helps him fight off his cold before his baby sister arrives!  

Lasagna for a long while...

Expecting baby #2 any minute here, so I thought I'd go ahead and post.  I've been meaning to post this recipe for a while.  Maybe I'm e-nesting...  Anyway, here's a great recipe for lasagna that I like to make at times when I know I won't be able to/want to cook for several days.  Works for the first week back at school, feeding visiting family, expecting a baby, etc...  With the whole grain noodles, I feel like a little goes a long way.  Alex, Aidan and I can eat this for about 3 days with a side salad -- sometimes 4 days, depending on appetites.  It's a modified version of what's on the Ronzoni lasagna noodle box.  My modifications include the ground chicken rather than ground beef, more fresh herbs, more sauce (or at least more water in the sauce to stretch it further), and other cheeses include with the parmesan.  No need to boil the noodles first.  Easy!  Fair warning:  the whole grain noodles might make your family a bit gassy.  :)  Enjoy! 

Angie’s “Even Healthier” Harvest Easy Lasagna

1 lb ground chicken

You can use turkey for even less fat, but chicken is a bit sweeter.   

3 cups (26 oz jar) spaghetti sauce

I use Barilla’s Marinara or we’ve recently started using their Roasted Garlic and Mushroom…  They used to have the “Best Life” sticker on them, which meant Oprah’s trainer gives it his stamp of approval.    Don't know why it's not on there anymore, but they are still good sauces. 

1 ½ cups water

I often just fill the spaghetti sauce jar with water and use that much.  You don’t want to run short on the liquids in this recipe or the noodles get tough. 

1 ¾ cups (15 oz container) part skim ricotta cheese (or sm curd cottage cheese)

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese, divided

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

I usually use the Kraft shredded parmesan that is in the refrigerated section with the rest of the cheeses.  There is a Parmesan, Asiago, Romano mix that is really good.  That grated, crumbled stuff that you don’t refrigerate just freaks me out.  Doesn’t seem right…   

2 eggs

¼ cup chopped parsley 

I use Italian flat leaf parsley, or I’ll throw in fresh rosemary from my herb garden, thyme, basil… whatever you have and throw in as much as you want.  The more flavors, the better.  You might even try sneaking in some chopped spinach!  I’m going to try that soon! 

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

9 pieces (or more, depending on your pan) RONZONI HEALTHY HARVEST lasagna, uncooked

Generic brand whole wheat lasagna noodles work fine, too. 

Heat oven to 350.  In 3 quart saucepan over medium high heat, brown meat, and drain if needed.  (When using chicken or turkey, it won’t “brown” as dark as beef, and you won’t really have to drain fat since there is barely any in it.)  Add spaghetti sauce and water; simmer 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir together ricotta, half of the mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, parsley/greens, salt, and pepper. 

Pour about 1 cup sauce on bottom of 13x9 in baking dish.  Arrange 3 uncooked past pieces lengthwise over sauce; cover with 1 cup sauce.  (Each time you cover noodles with sauce in this process, make sure to get sauce on all of the noodles or else you end up with bits of dry, hard noodles.)  Spread half of the cheese filling over sauce.  Repeat layers of lasagna, sauce, and cheese filling.  Top with layer of lasagna and remaining sauce; sprinkle top with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil.  Bake 45 minutes.  Remove foil; bake additional 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.  Makes 12 servings. 

Beef and Broccoli for Babes

As my son and I watched segments of our neighbor's fallen tree being chewed up and spit out of a wood chipper, we had deep conversations about what we were observing (as deep as it gets with a 2 year old at least).  I likened the ravenous wood chipper to my son and his manners when he eats broccoli.  Not kidding.  He eats broccoli like the cookie monster eats cookies, but most often he eats it with enhanced vigor when it is cooked in some type of Asian dish.  Beef and broccoli, chicken and broccoli...  He sometimes eats broccoli florets right off of the stalk that grows in our garden, but I'm pretty sure he thinks he's getting away with something when he does that...  He likes to eat dirt, mulch, sand...  pretty much anything to test my patience.  Sometimes it works to my advantage, I guess.  As he is officially 2 years old now, I hope this trend toward eating broccoli and other nutrient-rich veggies continues.  I know hunger strikes often occur in the years we are approaching.  I hope to head them off with recipes like this one.  What follows is the recipe that he and my husband have come to love.  It is from Parents Magazine's February 2010 issue.  I can't seem to find the original recipe on their site, so I present it here with a few of my own suggestions.  It is so easy!  You can easily do this once a week to get some cruciferous veggies into your family! 

Crispy Beef With Broccoli 


Beef Marinade: 
1 1/2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce 
1 tsp cornstarch 
Fresh ground black pepper to taste for seasoning the beef 


Stir-Fry Sauce: 
3 Tbs. oyster sauce (you'll find it in the aisle with the other Asian sauces) 
2 tsp water 
2 tsp balsamic vinegar 


Stir-Fry Ingredients: 
1 lb beef top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8" thick strips 
1 1/2 lbs broccoli cut into bite size florets (about 4 cups), or you can use a bag of frozen broccoli
1 Tbs canola oil 
1 Tbs minced garlic (6 cloves), I buy the big container of garlic at Sam's club so I always have it on hand, and I lay it on thick! 


Whisk together ingredients for the marinade.  Add to the beef and let marinate for 10 minutes at room temp or refrigerate for a couple of hours. 


Whisk together the stir-fry sauce in a small bowl.  Set aside.  


In a wok or large pan, boil 1 inch of water (about 5 cups).  Add broccoli and cover for 3 minutes.  Broccoli will be bright green and slightly tender.  Strain broccoli and let it dry.  


Dry the pan/wok and place over high heat.  When hot, add oil, swirling to coat.  Add the garlic and let it fry for 30 seconds. Add steak strips.  (Now, the original recipe says to keep the strips in one layer, fry for 30 seconds, then turn them over to fry for 1-2 minutes, but I can never keep them in one layer nor do they seem to be done enough when I try to do that.  Just cook them until they are done to your liking.  STIR AND FRY, STIR AND FRY... 


Pour in stir fry sauce and stir.  Add the broccoli and toss to combine.  


ENJOY!  

I usually serve this with rice and it is a huge hit with my family.  I have added edamame, snap peas...  Anything green that I want my family to eat.  Since it's zucchini season, I may try that next.  Just throw it in and see what happens! 

Zucchini Bread! It's that time of year...

Why do I do this every year?  It gets hot outside and I get the urge to bake.  Last year I got on a homemade bread kick.  Oh yeah.  Let's heat up the whole house.  Great idea!  That way I can make sure that my air conditioner gets its workout.  I exercise myself, my dog, my kid...  why not the A/C?  Environment be damned! 

As you may or may not know, when it gets hot, you'd better pick your zucchini fast or it will take over your garden and your life.  Plus, they get mealy when they are too large.  If they do go Incredible Hulk on you, they won't make nice fixings for your salad or stir fry.  All you can do is bake bread.  That's where I am now.  The ritual has begun.  My mother was a zucchini bread factory during the summers when I was a kid, and that's exactly what I seem to be becoming now that I'm growing zucchini of my own.  

It's not all bad.  It's work, but at least I get some rocking zucchini bread out of the deal.  Here's my adaptation on the New Good Housekeeping Cookbook's Zucchini Bread.  Generally, this is my go-to cookbook.  I love that the recipe makes 2 loaves per batch!  I add more zucchini, because I think it's too dry with the 2 cups in the original recipe, and I lay it on thick with the lemon zest.  I say, the more the merrier.  Plus, I made it with whole wheat flour instead of all purpose white.  Made it twice without walnuts, and it was nice and light.  With walnuts it was like a meal.  Both are wonderful and received compliments from food-savvy friends and toddlers alike.

Angie's Scrumptious Summertime Zucchini Bread
3 cups flour (I use wheat or white whole wheat) 
1 1/2 cups sugar 
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
4 ounces chopped walnuts (1 cup), optional 
4 large eggs 
2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used canola) 
3 cups shredded zucchini (at least, could possibly safely go up to 4, but that might be pushing it) 
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel (at least 2 tsp -- I use zest of a whole lemon, lay it on thick!) 

1.  First, make sure it is a heat advisory outside.  Just kidding!  But really...  no matter what the weather, preheat oven to 350.  Grease 2 9x5 loaf pans.  


2.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and walnuts in large bowl.  In medium bowl, beat eggs.  Stir in oil, zucchini, and lemon zest.  Stir into flour mixture just until moistened.  Don't over mix.  


3.  Pour batter evenly into pans.  Bake about 1 hour.  Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and continue cooling on racks.  Serve cool, or warm with a touch of butter.

So easy and delicious!  Makes a great dessert or a breakfast!  My son and I enjoyed it this morning with some fresh strawberries and a glass of milk.  Yummy summer foods!

I can stock the freezer.

Having a deep freeze has changed my shopping, my budget, my cooking, my LIFE.

My husband came home from a garage sale one day so proud of himself you'd have thought he shot a deer from which we could subsist for the rest of the year.  That romantic man of mine bought me a deep freezer.  For merely $40, I have freedom.  Freedom to buy as much of what's on sale as I please.  Freedom to stock up on the ingredients for our favorite meals.  Freedom to have convenience foods on hand for those nights when I just can't muster up the energy to really cook but don't have the energy (or money) to go out to eat either.   Freedom from having to stop at the grocery store every couple of days to get just one or two things. 

Before we had this freezer, we jammed frozen produce, meat, and the very occasional pizza in various arrangements in our refrigerator/freezer on a semi-weekly basis it seemed.  It inevitably ended in failure.  I would open it, and food would fly out like projectile missiles on a mission to kill.  One of my favorite things about our Sam's Club membership is that we can stock up on things (like frozen blueberries and strawberries for smoothies, snacks, desserts, cereal, or oatmeal) and not run out for quite a while.  But that does you no good without the luxury of the space to store those items.  And when I was breastfeeding, forget it.  That thing was stocked with those little bags of b-milk, and space for the liquid gold took precedence over anything else that could enter the precious, chilly real estate. 

Now, things are different.  I won't have to call Alex to check if we have room in the freezer for the 4 pounds of ground chicken that are on sale for $1.29/lb (what a steal!).  I won't be dodging flying frozen loaves of bread from the Oops We Baked Too Much section at the Kroger.  I can calmly open my freezer door and know that it will not result in death or injury to any nearby toddler, adult, or dog toes.  I have fewer random craving trips to the fast food chains to get a burger or ice cream, since I can keep MorningStar Farms Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers and generic frozen dairy treats (in more appropriate serving sizes than in the restaurants) on hand.  Hey, maybe this freezer will help me lose the baby weight faster this time around!  It hasn't solved all of my problems...  I mean, it isn't Jesus or anything....  but it sure is nice to have. 

July is a month to celebrate our freedoms.  This year, I celebrate with my freezer.  If you are a Mom and you don't have one, but you have the space for one, start cruising the garage sale ads for one.  You will be so very glad you did.

I can impress my husband with a meal for less than $5.

I just received the best, most unexpected compliment from my husband.  He LOVES the new recipe I came up with.  It is super simple, I think it's fairly nutritious, AND it's cheap.  I came up with it while I was at the grocery store, trying to find creative ways to feed my family well on the cheap.  I recently told  him that I was working on my budget, and he replied saying that was the sexiest thing a woman could say to a man.  Complimenting me unprovoked while gobbling from the baking dish had that same affect on me.  Clearly, we are in need of some excitement in our house...  Regardless, here is the illustrious recipe, with ideas for modification:

Angie's Chicken Pasta Salad 
1 package Ronzoni Garden Delight Vegetable Rotini Pasta
1 can of chunk chicken (or 2 if you like more meat)
Kraft Ranch Dressing to taste 


Boil the noodles as directed.  Drain noodles and rinse in cold water.  Drain the can of chicken.  I like to break up the pieces of chicken into smaller pieces.  Toss noodles, chicken and ranch dressing in a bowl.  Serve room temperature or chilled.  Probably tastes even better the next day if you can keep it in the fridge that long before people eat it all.  

I LOVE that the noodles are made from veggies and that they don't taste like dirt.  You get a veggie serving and a protein serving all together with this dish.  And my toddler likes to stab the rotini noodles with his fork.  It's a challenge, but an achievable one for his little hands.

I have also thrown in diced seasonal veggies from time to time:  tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, avocado, baby carrots...  Do what you want to add more flavor and texture from your garden.  Oh...  some fresh herbs from the garden might be nice too if you happen to have them. 

We are trying to cut fat calories lately, so we may be switching to low-fat or no-fat ranch dressing.  Obviously, this will alter the taste (let's not kid ourselves), so we'll see how that pans out.  A better option might be to try substituting with Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing.  I may go that route first.  

Alex was convinced that I had put parmesan cheese in it as well.  For the record, NO I DID NOT PUT PARMESAN CHEESE IN IT (that's just some strings of the chicken with ranch dressing on it), but it might be a good idea to try putting some parmesan, romano, or asiago (or all three!) in there.  Mozarella is always a hit, too.  Salt and pepper may also prove useful, although I find that there is usually more than enough of that in the store bought dressings. 

This is a quick, cheap, easy summertime recipe that my lazy, 24 weeks pregnant butt can pull off.  You can do it, too.  Don't go out for pizza tonight.  Impress someone you love.  Make this instead.