Pasta Sauce for the Kids!

If our kids would only eat one meal for the rest of their childhood, it would be pasta and sauce. So, we experiment a lot. We've gradually moved up from a very plain tomato sauce to a better and better sauce that has more flavor and more depth. My husband can't wait until it has a little more spice and maybe a little kick!

And since this was Tuesday's dinner, it was crock pot time(I work Monday and Tuesday, so those days end up being crock pot or very easy).

Kid Friendly Crock Pot Pasta Sauce

2 Cans Tomato Sauce

1 Can Tomato Chopped

1 Can Tomato Paste (6 ounce)

1 Medium Yellow Onion, diced

1 Green Bell Pepper, diced

2 T Balsamic Vinegar

2 Bay Leaves

2 T Basil

1 T Oregano

© Katy Weatherley

1 Pound Italian Sausage or Ground Beef, Optional

Combine all ingredients, except meat, in your favorite crock pot on low for 8 hours. Saute ground beef or sausage separately and then add. Serve with your favorite pasta. Enjoy!

Menu Monday - June 25th, 2012

Welcome to our first Menu Monday!

Monday-

Leftover Shredded Beef Sliders

Tuesday-

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

Wednesday-

Homemade Burgers, Pasta Salad, Green Salad (homegrown lettuce should be ready for our first harvest!)

Thursday-

Clean out the Fridge Leftover Night

Friday- 

Girl's and Kid's Night at a friends - We are celebrating our husbands being out of town for Man Camp. I'm taking food for build your own brownie sundaes!

Saturday- 

I'm on my own. Jay will be camping with the guys and the kids will be at Grandma and Papa's since I work early Sunday. I will probably end up with a Morningstar Veggie Burger and Avocado.

Sunday-

Depending on weather - I will either throw something in the crock pot before work or we will be grilling steaks! 

Who is still waiting on summer weather? We have two days of nice weather in the forecast, the rest is chilly and raining. That's why we still have crock pot and winter friendly food on the menu!

Mediterranean Chicken

Need a new chicken dish? Look no further!

This dish is great with a chilled glass of white wine on a warm summer day but can withstand a nice, robust red on a chilly winter's eve. 

We created this dish when we did a lower carbohydrate diet last year to help lose that extra baby weight. I was starting to get tired of the chicken, fish, veggies routine and needed a pick me up with lots of flavor. This dish delivers! You will enjoy it!

Mediterranean Chicken

4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Feel free to use tenders, or a thin sliced breast

Drizzle of Olive Oil

4 slices of bacon, sliced into thin slivers

1/2 red onion, sliced into thin slivers

4 garlic cloves, minced and divided in half

1 pint mushrooms, sliced - we prefer baby portobellas

1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or 3 Roma tomatoes diced

4 packed cups of baby spinach

1/8 C Balsamic vinegar

Feta Cheese

This dish is pretty easy on substitutions so if you have yellow onion instead of red or want to use pre-chopped garlic because it's convenient, go for it!

Start by drizzling olive oil in a saute pan, add your chopped garlic and chicken breasts. Cook over a low heat until done to 165 degrees. Time will vary depending on thickness of chicken. 

In a separate pan, cook bacon and red onion over medium heat until about 3/4 of the way done. You shouldn't need to add any olive oil to the pan as your bacon will provide the cooking fat.

Add your mushrooms to the pan and let cook for just a minute or two. Add your spinach and tomatoes.

 We like our spinach to *just* be cooked, so we only let it go for a couple of minutes but if you prefer a more wilted and done spinach - keep cooking. As the spinach is wilting, add the balsamic vinegar. Stir together vinegar, bacon and veggie mixture. Remove from heat.

Portion veggies on plate and top with chicken. I like to slice my chicken up after it rests and then mix everything together chopped salad style.

Top with Feta cheese and enjoy. 

If I want a bit more oomph, I'll add a dollop of hummus or two! If I don't want to mess with chicken, Ill leave it out completely and just use the hummus. These leftovers also make a nice egg scramble for breakfast the next day!

Mister's Favorite Mac and Cheese

I don't know about all of you but here in the PacNW it was 53 and raining all day. Even though it's June that puts us in mood of winter comfort food. After throwing out some ideas to my husband, he choose Mac and Cheese. The Mister loves Mac and Cheese and we have been perfecting it since before we had kids. We started with a plain ole cheddar version and then moved on to this very grown up version. When the kids came along, we needed to make it just a little more kid friendly. This is what I came up with...

Mister's Favorite Mac and Cheese

1/2 Medium Sweet Onion, diced

1/2 Pound Bacon, sliced thin

2 T Butter

1/4 C Flour

2 C Milk

1/2 Pound Monterey Jack, shredded

1/4 C Stella Parmesan Romano Blend

1/4 Ounce Container Blue Cheese, we prefer Salemville Amish

1 Box of Pasta, pick your favorite shape, cook according to direction.

Topping

1 Sourdough Roll, or a thick slice of Sourdough bread

1/4 C Basil

1/4 C Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 375.

Using Pam, spray a baking pan well.

Saute your onion and bacon. 

While that cooks, start on your topping using these ingredients...

 Combine in a food processor and process until everything is finely chopped and mixed well. Set aside.

 Put your husband to work shredding cheese while you make sure your onions and bacon are cooking and not burning. You should get your pasta started now as well.

 Don't worry you won't use all that cheese, half the shredded is in a baggie for whatever else we need it for. 

 Melt your butter in a deep saute pan.

 Once melted, whisk in your flour. Let it cook for just a couple of minutes.

 I forgot to buy milk at the store today(we don't drink cow's milk), so I substituted 1 C heavy cream and 1 C water. Add that to your roux and let it come to a slow simmer. Turn off your heat and add your cheeses one at a time. We like the mix that we use because you grown ups will get the hint of blue cheese, the kids will love the mildness of the Monterey Jack and the Parmesan/Romano will give it enough flavor that you won't need to add salt. Once your pasta is done (we use Barilla and the kids pick the shape), mix your pasta, bacon and onion mix, along with your cheese sauce and stir it up will. You can do all that mixing right in your baking dish.

 Top with your sourdough, basil, cheese mix.

 Bake for 25 minutes and Devour! Be careful it will be HOT! We like to serve it with a simple green salad and fruit!

Eat Your Veggies Meatloaf

I don't know about your kids but mine like their veggies covered in ranch. Not always the healthiest but I usually figure the pros outweigh the cons, especially considering their little brains need fat to run. If I get a chance to sneak my kids veggies, then I take it. 

Fred Meyer had a great deal on 4 pound packs of ground beef. Since I work two nights a week, I like to have some very easy dinner options for my husband. So, I packed that 4 pounds of ground beef with a ton of veggies and made one meatloaf. I froze enough meatloaf mixture for 3 more whenever it suits us to pull them out. 

We topped this with the traditional ketchup and brown sugar mixture. To get some extra bonus points from my husband, I also make sure there is bacon on the meatloaf. 

This recipe works best with a food processor but you could spend some time finely mincing your veggies. If your kids wont mind them being a little more visible, you don't have to work so hard to get them small.

EAT YOUR VEGGIES MEATLOAF

4 pounds ground beef

1 C Oats

1 Sweet Onion, minced

1 Green Bell Pepper, minced

2 Zucchini, minced

4 Carrots, minced

1 Bag Spinach, minced

1/2 C Ketchup

2 T Garlic, minced

1 T Black Pepper

1/4 C Brown Sugar, packed

4 Eggs

Topping

1/2 C Ketchup

1/4 C Brown Sugar, packed

2 T Mustard

 (Mix Well)

Preheat oven to 350.

Start by processing or mincing all your veggies. Add all your ingredients except for the ground beef to a very large bowl and mix well.

Everything but the ground beef mixed up, sort of like a veggie salsa! Add your ground beef and mix well! Take off your rings and use your hands. Mixing by hand is the best way to get everything mixed in well. 

Line a loaf pan with foil, it will make lifting it out after cooking easier. If you want to serve straight from the pan, don't worry about the foil. Add a 1/4 of your mixture and freeze the rest. Freeze enough for one loaf in three separate bags. That way you only pull out what you need.

Smooth topping over the loaf, use the extra to dip if you like. Top with bacon!

Drizzle a little more topping over the bacon!

 Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees and then broil for about 10 minutes to get the bacon crispy or done to your liking. Check your loaf to make sure the internal temperature is 155 degrees. Pull out and let your meatloaf rest for 10-15 minutes. Serve with your favorite potato side dish or salad!

Serve and Devour!