Easiest. Lunch. Ever.

I'm not kidding. Really. This is the easiest lunch ever. A child could do it (mostly)! And a child did make most of this!

What You'll Need
2 English muffins, halved
pizza sauce or marinara sauce you like
grated cheese

a baking sheet
oven pre-heated to 375


Place your English muffins on the baking sheet. Then. spoon your sauce on the top of the muffins. Next, add your grated cheese.

Now, I would say, this is the point when you could add any other toppings to your little pizzas. You could add pepperoni, mushrooms, roasted red bell pepper... really, whatever you want.
We stayed with the plain cheese, because it was all we had & I was going for quick and simple!


If you have a little mini-Chef in the kitchen with you, now would be the perfect time for a photo-op!


Cook the pizzas in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Then, crank the oven over to Broil. Broil them for a minute or two- watch them & make sure they don't burn!

Pull them out & let them rest for a minute or two.


Serve!

See? Easiest lunch!
With the added bonus of a happy/proud little boy who made his own lunch!

Salmon on Sunday

I've been trying to shake things up a bit with our dinner time menu... and, honestly, find meals that don't take 900 years to make. Since Jacob HAS to be in bed at a certain time every night because of school, dinner HAS to be on the table by 6:30pm.

Heh.

Yeah, I've been KINDA punctual about that. (please read: not really & it's a nightly panic for me)

I made this salmon this past week and it was tasty, easy & fast. The perfect weeknight trifecta. Give it whorl and see what you think!

Smokey-Sweet Salmon

salmon fillets (defrosted, if they happened to have entered your house frozen)

For the Rub:
brown sugar
salt
pepper
chili powder
cumin





I'm not going to tell you how much to use of  rub ingredients. I know.... Use the brown sugar as the base for the other ingredients and taste test as you go. What we found as the perfect balance might not fly in your house. Trust your taste buds!

Set your oven to 425.



Mix the rub ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. 

Spray an oven approved dish with oil and place the salmon in the dish. Sprinkle the rub all over the salmon- rub it into both sides.



Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Cook for 10-15 minutes.
Watch it carefully! 
Take it out of the oven and let it rest of 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Stuffed Potato Yummy-ness

I'm really not over reaching when I tell you that I made the greatest stuffed potatoes EVER last night. I am absolutely my biggest critic when it comes to food I prepare. I'm always and a day making something & then (3 bites in) deciding that I could have done it better- and making a plan.

But not these babies. Oh, no. They are perfection. (I sound so full of myself, don't I?!)
And... they used up some left overs that were taking up shelf space in my Frigidaire. Score! And, I made them using ingredients I scrounged the pantry for. Double Score! Also, these potatoes are huge & super filling, so they totally rock the show as the main entree. Triple Score!

Anyway, allow me to share.

First, spend about 900 hours caramelizing some onions over the stove while you watch the Big Bang Theory on your laptop.

Actually, it's more like 30-45 minutes. But whatever. Seems longer.

And I stand by my statement on the BBT.

When they start to caramelize and get beautiful, hit them with a couple of shots of Worcestershire sauce & a pinch of sugar.

AFTER you're done with the onions, start on the potatoes.

Why?

Because you're about to crank your oven up to 450 degrees for about 60 minutes.

That puppy gets hot!

And, I don't know about you, but I try and flee the kitchen when the oven is that hot. 

Moving along.

Place a cookie sheet, lined with foil on the bottom rung.

Wash your potatoes. 

Then oil those babies up. I used extra-virgin.

And then salt them up. Use kosher/sea salt/Morton's. Whatever.

Just salt the heck out of them. 

I mean it. Use more that you think you'll need. 

Then put them directly on the oven rack. Cook them for 50-60 minutes, flipping them over every 20 or so.

By the way, this is totally the way I make regular old baked potatoes. 

Now comes the fun part.  When you take the potatoes out of the oven set them out to cool for a bit & make sure you turn the oven OFF for a while. It's hot enough as it is in North Texas with out added to the heat! 

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle (and you've turned the oven back on to your broiler setting!!!), slice them open and scoop out the flesh, making sure to keep the shells intact. You're going to need 'em later. To be honest, I'm really not sure what the best way to do this is. I just made a slit in the top, smooshed up the flesh & started scooping. 

Now.

Take that left over roasted chicken from the end of last week (what, you don't have that in your fridge? ... hmm.) and mix it with the scooped out potato flesh, some sour cream & a bit of shredded cheese. Add some fresh ground pepper, some garlic powder & a wee pinch of salt. Mix it all up.

Stuff it all back into the potato shells. Don't worry about getting too much stuffing, just go for it, I say. If you're like me and the chicken is a bit on the chilly side, pop them back in the oven for a few minutes while the broiler is heating up. That should do the trick.

And remember those tasty onions from earlier? 

Top the potatoes with those.

Top the onions with some more cheese.

Then into the oven, under the broiler, for 2-3 minutes. Until they look like this:

The hand you see in the picture below is my husband's. He's almost done eating his 1st potato & was about 60 seconds away from diving into his 2nd. 

Happy Eating!

Another Monday, Another Meal Plan

It's that time of the week again! When I try and organize our family meal times! Last week was hit and miss on the plan- most nights were spot on. A couple of other times... not so much. And, that meant, I ended up going to the grocery store more than I should/wanted.

But, I'm determined that we will have a meal plan every week & it will be stuck to! It's one way I can make the most out of all the ingredients in my house & save money.

Back in the saddle, I go!

MONDAY- Chick-fil-A Monday (a new tradition around here)

TUESDAY- Salmon, Salad & green veggies

WEDNESDAY- Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake & Salad

THURSDAY- Hard Tacos, Queso/Chips, and Tomato/Cucumber Salad

FRIDAY- Apricot Chicken, Salad & green veggie

SATURDAY- Pizza :-)

SUNDAY- leftovers!!!! :-)

But the best part of meal planning and making?

It's seeing these guys across the table from me every night.

Meal Planning Monday

So, I've fallen off the whole 'plan your meals every week and shop the sales' plan I was working there for a while.

Why?

Because I'm lazy really busy.

So, in an effort to be more organized/planned/money managed- I'm committing to planning out my family's meals every week & posting the plan every Monday. Here we go!

Monday- Lemon Chicken, baked potatoes & green beans

Tuesday- Baked Tilapia, salad & fruit

Wednesday- Grilled Cheese & soup

Thursday- Jacob's 5th Birthday (yikes!). We're working on that plan!

Friday- left overs

Saturday- Taco Night w/the Mintons


What are y'all having for dinner this week?

It's Almost a Recipe

So, yesterday was a big day around here. My little baby boy graduated pre-K. Sniffle. He looked so big and so darn grown up. I don't know if my heart can take this. The child had a cap (as in cap and gown) and it came home with us. And a little diploma. Sigh.

The other big event was- I went to the grocery store. Why was it a big event? Cause I looked around my cabinets last night and realized that unless I could convince my people that A) ramen was a good meal or B) grilled cheese and soup would be an excellent dinner (again)... I had to brave the grocery store & soon.

As luck would have it, I had E & Jacob with me. No, neither one of my males came into the store with me. Oy. Both would have been whining, but for totally different reasons! No. The men-folk stayed in the car while I ran in. 30 minutes later, I'm happy to say that I had a cart full of tasty food & ingredients! I'm also happy to say that having those two around when it's time to unload the car makes shopping much more enjoyable!

To make a long story even longer- I wasn't really in the mood to make a full-on dinner. Really. The less pots and pans the better. I pulled together some salmon, couscous & a salad.

(isn't it pretty?)

The star of the dinner was the salmon. It was so super easy to make. And good. Did I mention good? In fact, both the husband and the 4 year old have requested that I make it again. Sweet!

This is what I did: I looked at the trusty Internet for 20 minutes looking everywhere for a suitable salmon recipe. And I found nothing. Fantastic. So, I raided my spice cabinet. And made a rub for the salmon.

Salmon Rub:

brown sugar

onion powder

garlic powder

salt

pepper

rub the rub (ha!) all over the fish. front and back.

put in a PAM'd dish.

375 degree oven- 10 minutes... ish. 

Serve to a grateful family.

Delicious. Especially on the youngling's Star Wars plate.

I will say that I'm planning on playing with this a bit. Next time I think I'll add some spicy spices- chili powder, cumin, something like that. 

Dinner, Dinner, Chicken- oh wait...

There's no meat in this dinner.

I made soup last night. Yes, soup. That wonderful creation that requires I throw in a bunch of ingredients, stir every few minutes and then be rewarded with plenty of food to feed a house dominated by males (2-1).

And, as a bonus, my brother-from-a-different-mother was over last night having dinner with us. Did I also mention that E worked late last night? Till 8pm? So a typical, sit down dinner was not going to cut it?

So, the Soup.

I found the recipe for 3-Bean Soup in one of my 900 hundred cooking magazines. (really, it's a sickness) I didn't have everything that the recipe called for (shocking!) but I decided that (as usual) I could play fast and loose with the ingredient list and I was right.

3-Bean Soup 
(honestly.... it's a meatless chili)
(adapted from Taste of Home magazine)

1 large onion (just chop it)
1 can spinach (rinsed & drained as best as you can)
garlic (so, I just measured out a teaspoon and a 1/2)
1 can (16-oz) kidney beans; rinse & drain
2 cans (16-oz) black beans; rinse & drain
1 can (16-oz) refried beans (no, I'm not kidding.)
14 oz of chicken broth (meh. eye ball it.)
1 can stewed tomatoes (sort of mash 'em up with you toss them in the pot)
salsa (again. eye ball it. I used somewhere between 3/4-1 cup. I used mild, cause it's what I had in the fridge)
chili powder (to taste)
cumin (ditto)
2 bay leaves (why? cause it's soup! and soup needs- it begs for bay leaves!)


Get a big 'ol pot and put it on your stove. Throw down some olive oil and the onions. Let them the onions get all nice and cooked. Then toss in the spinach. I tried to get the spinach to crisp and brown a little. It kinda worked! When that was nice and cooked, I added the garlic.
Then, I just dumped the rest of the ingredients in.
Easy, Peasy.

Let it cook for 30 minutes or so.
Taste it.
Adjust seasonings for taste.

Done.

(I served with shredded cheese and sour cream.)

The next time I make it, I will probably get fancy with the some added ingredients. But, honestly. If you're looking for a super fast, low-key way to feed your people some good food.... well, make this soup.

Dining at Disney

Good golly, what can I say about the food at Disney World? 

Oh, yeah.

Yum.

and.....

really freaking spendy.

When I was planning and researching for the trip way back in June and July I went back and forth on the Meal Plan option. Sigh. Back and forth. Back and forth. There were opinions a plenty on both sides of the issue, but I finally decided to go with the Disney Dining Plan. It just seemed like the better option, especially after I took a look at the price points on the majority of the fine (and not so)dining establishments around Mickey's extra special playground. 

It turned out to be a GREAT decision. 

The Dining Plan takes a few minutes to get the hang of (quick serve vs table serve.... and just what the heck constitutes a "snack"...) but once you sit down and figure it out.. yeah, total breeze. And, you can go ahead and not worry about what you're going to eat because you've already made your reservations for the table side dining (you did that right? as soon or maybe even before you made your hotel reservations??... yeah, not kidding. dining fills up before hotels. way. way before.) before you even left for the trip! And, (bonus) it's all paid for. (well. almost.)

I can say that keeping up with the 'snacks' was a pain. I could never remember how many we had left.

With 4 people (well, 3 adults), it just became a little much. 

However, because I had planned the table side dining out (literally) months before the trip, that was a cinch & the quick serve was easy-peasy too. 

(I know I'm speaking Greek to some of you. Sorry. If you decide to go to Disney & check out the Dining Plan, all will be made clear! I promise!)

Anyway.

A few places we ate yummy food......

Teppan Edo at Epcot.

So. Very. Very. Good.

And, lot's of fun. Even the short one enjoyed watching our food being prepared!

 ****

Hollywood & Vine at Hollywood Studios

It's a breakfast & lunch buffet and a character meal!

We ate breakfast there one morning. Really good.

And the character interactions were great too. They came to each table a couple of times & when Jacob (some how) missed June, they made sure he saw her before we left. Very sweet.

(yup. not one picture of the food. too busy eating & meeting the characters!)

 ****

Two mornings we ate breakfast at our hotel. 

Behold.... the famous 'Mickey Waffles'

Yes. You should go just so you can have these. 

 ****

Lunch in the Magic Kingdom from a quick serve that I cannot remember the name of for the life of me & I am far to lazy right now to go look it up.

But! Look! It's a lobster roll! 

 ****

We ate at Chef Mickey's our last night.

Yes. Whatever you do. Wherever else you eat.

Go. Here.

It's at the Contemporary Resort (right next to Magic Kingdom)

we sat at the little bar area to the left while we were waiting for our

reservations (9pm!) and were HIGHLY entertained by the bartender/magician. 

He was awesome.

and he made the ice in Jacob's water glow.

and got Jacob on a kick of saying "Abracadabra!"

Chef Mickey's is another buffet and a character dining.

And we all loved it.

Because our reservations were so stinking late, I think that actually ended up working in our favor.

The characters ended up being able to spend a little more time with the people there. Goofy and Donald came by several times and horsed around quite a bit. The rest of the staff was very sweet as well.

The food was good, for the most part. We didn't love the meats.... but the sides, the pastas and the salads were AMAZING. I went back twice. 

 ****

On the night we went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (another blog of it's own, I think), we ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Again, we had reservations. We had to have them & we still had to wait about 20 minutes to get our table. But, it was well worth it.

Cause, the food was fabulous.

(especially my birthday fudge cupcake)

the salad... and the dressing. so crazy good.

Hey look, the mug! It's cute!

I was going to snap a picture before we started eating.... yeah, not so much. The food was served (family-style), we served our plates & then ate like we hadn't eaten in a week.

and... there was dessert. 

there you go....

Long winded, but with such an important subject, I just couldn't leave the details to chance!

So, I Made Lunch One Day

Every once in a great while, I like to exercise my cooking skills around lunch time. Usually around the same time I'm thinking about trying out a new recipe & I'm having doubts or questions about it. What better time, than lunch time? When it's usually just me & the wingman around to flex the culinary muscles?

I thought so.

Behold, today ... I give you a lunch time recipe. In pictures.

This first step is Important. Go to the store. Get a 6-pack of Zevia Natural Sodas. Go! Go, now! They are super yummy. And, no. I haven't been asked to say that. I just really love them. This pretty pink can is filled with tasty Strawberry (!).

Anyway. On with the show- or lunch. Whatever.

I had a recipe that I found. Somewhere. I had most of the ingredients. (yeah, whoops. always check your recipe Before you start cooking, kids!) But I had a few ideas to tweak it, so to speak.

Chop some onion. I used what I had leftover in the FridgAdair. That would be 3/4 of a white onion & about 1/4 of a purple.

Heat up a nice, large skillet with some olive oil. (net time, though, I'm thinking of chopping up some Bacon & then adding the onion once the bacon cooks up. Everything is better with bacon.) Add some garlic. How much? Hmmm.... I used one of my regular old spoons I set the table with with- one scoop. (I'm so precise.)

While the onions & garlic are cooking (and the garlic is hopefully not burning!) chop up one zucchini. Really. I just used one. I thought I might need more than that. Nope. Just one.

Throw it in the pan. And if a short one who's seen "Ratatouille" one too many times comes wandering into the kitchen begging to be a cooker like Remy & "Please, Mommy! I want to help!" I say, hold the pan and left him stir.... and, you know. Take a picture.

Keep stirring.
Let the zucchini get nice and browned and tender and yummy.

Throw in some frozen corn. (Because the 4 year old will usually eat anything with corn.)

Drain a can of beans and dump the beans in. I used red kidney beans, but I think just about any kind of bean would work. Pick one you like.

Next, open a can of diced tomatoes and pour the whole can in. Stir, please.

Add some water and bring to a simmer. Now. Add some spices. I went with some basil, oregano, bay, thyme... you know, my spice palate love language. But I say, play around. Here's where this dish can be spun around to taste Mexican-y. Or whatever you're feeling like. The point is, just add whatever you want to flavor the dish. Here.

Then let it cook for about 10 minutes or so.

Add a cup of rice. Turn the heat down and let the rice soak up all the liquid. It will. I promise.

When it's done, it looks like this. Check your seasoning. (I added just a pinch of salt and pepper after it was all said and done.)

Oh, and then it looks like this on you're plate. Because you added some cheese. :-)

I liked this one. And even the Oh-so-too-picky-for-his-own-good little Mister liked it too.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

His birthday dinner

Well, we went to Buca di Beppo for Jacob's birthday dinner. He's my little pasta eater- so it was a no brainer. This child can eat triple his weight in pasta. Any pasta.
(though, I do admit he has a certain fondness for spaghetti and meatballs at Buca and *my* own red sauce and rigatoni)

And, we always have good food & a good time at Buca di Beppo. 

I do think that it was a hit.
We branched out a wee bit from the traditional 'red sauced' pastas.
Chicken Carbonara
and
Penne San Remo
....
Yum.

Above: On the top, Jacob giving his approval.
Bottom left: The birthday boy and his Mom-Mom (his grandmother)
Bottom right: Me and 'Mamer' (aka: *my* grandmother Winnie)


I've said it before. I'll say it again. This boy is an Olympic champ at pasta eating. Is that a competitive game? It should be. And I've got the Gold Medal winner right here.



And why, yes! We did have them come out and sing 'Happy Birthday', Buca style to the young lad. I didn't get a video of that.... but I did get pictures of him enjoying his tasty chocolate cake.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone