Cheeseburgers

I totally forgot to take a pic of tonight's dinner, guess I was really hungry. It was nothing earth shattering so you can use your imagination. For the burgers I do a typical mix of ground beef, some panko, chopped onion and garlic, couple eggs, and several seasonings, including dried basil, garlic and onion powders, thyme, and Mrs Dash's burger seasoning. For toppings (which mostly only Steve and I eat, save for Gigi loading up on tomato): tomato, sautéed mushrooms, avocado slices. Pepper jack cheese melted on top.

Our BBQ isn't yet connected outside yet so I have to cook them on the griddle. Not ideal but it gets the job done.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's dinner -- a new recipe I've been excited to try and uses some of the leftover fake rotisserie chicken from the other night. I've also been simmering a large pot of chicken broth all day today from that same carcass so the house is smelling gooood.

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken and Artichokes

We had a busy afternoon today with an across-town orthodontist appointment for Owen after school, so I knew dinner would be a rush. I pulled out the crock pot and made this recipe, which I have been making for years in one form or another. Usually I make it "beer butt" style, roasting in the oven on a stand over a can of beer or soda, but since we weren't going to be home I tossed it in the crockpot all day instead. I do season it the night before and let it marinade in the fridge overnight. I also stuff the bird with lemon and onion halves. It's just as good in the crockpot as roasted in the oven; the only difference is the skin doesn't get as golden crisp.

For the artichokes, I did my standby default "recipe" which is to steam them in the double boiler with bay leaves, lemon, and garlic in the water underneath. Our favorite dip for the leaves (besides melted butter) is mayo with a good dose of balsamic vinegar mixed in. Yum!

Lemon Cilantro Avocado Pasta Salad... and Pierogis

So tonight is Steve's big birthday, which we mostly celebrated on our trip last weekend, but he still requested his annual cake for tonight (chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, topped with some vanilla ice cream). Dinner itself was sort of secondary, especially since he's on call this week and there's always the chance he'll be called in and miss dinner altogether. So I definitely didn't plan anything fancy.

A few months ago, he bought a couple boxes of frozen potato and cheese pierogis, totally forgetting I can't eat them anymore since the sodium content is ridiculous. I wish I could, they are so good. The last few times I made them (pre- ear issues), the kids were losing their love for them too, just being finicky. So I was in no hurry this time to make them, but figured tonight was the perfect time to use up those boxes. Since I can't chow down on them, I tried a new recipe for myself, which also will make great lunches for the next few days: Lemon Cilantro Avocado Pasta Salad.

It was delicious! Even better than I anticipated! Very summer-y and one I will make again.

(That's the one pierogi I let myself partake in. Better 1 than 10!)

Whole Wheat Cheese Blintz Pancakes

And I'm back in the cooking saddle after a wonderful long weekend away from troop feeding responsibilities... easing back in...

Tonight I tried making Whole Wheat Cheese Blintz Pancakes for the first time. I've made "breakfast for dinner" for years, as often as monthly or even more frequently. Always easy, always a hit. Leftovers always great to freeze for our rushed (real) breakfasts. I usually stick with regular whole grain pancakes, maybe I'll throw in bananas or berries if I'm feeling crazy and have them on hand. I thought we'd try something new tonight, these blintz-inspired pancakes, since 4/5 of us also really like blintzes.

And they were.... ok. I saw right away that even though the recipe said it served 4-5, I needed to double it. Owen alone has been known to put away 7-8-9 regular pancakes for dinner. We do have a handful leftover for the freezer but not nearly like my normal recipe. No one disliked them, but I think everyone prefers "regular" pancakes better. Steve in particular said they had a funny taste but it didn't stop him from eating them. The kids all ate them. All in all, a nice experiment but probably not being added to the regular rotation.

Vacation edition, part 2

Day two of our trip... Forgot to take a pic of breakfast (Mexican eggs of some sort for Steve, French toast for me).

Our lunch (we both got the same thing):

Fish tacos! As they say, when in Rome... (I had a craving for sushi which we saw a ton of at the marina before our whale watch but Steve convinced me that might not be a great idea... The tacos were good though)

And dinner, again we ordered the same thing (perhaps we are turning 80 not 40):

Grilled tuna with sweet potato purée and other roast veg's. And of course dessert,chocolate  mousse pie:

Special vacation edition

So Steve surprised me with a weekend trip to Cabo for our birthdays this weekend. I knew we were travelling but didn't know where til we got to the check in line at the airport.

This means... No cooking or meal planning for me for the next few days (not shedding a tear) but in the interest of keeping the blog lively and making you wish you were here with us, I'll show off what we had for dinner, just at the hotel restaurant...

Steve's shrimp bisque:

His sea bass stuffed with octopus, shrimp, and a cheese sauce:

My coconut shrimp with sweet potato purée and a mango dipping sauce (those shrimp were huuuuge... We don't see them that big in Colorado!):

It all tasted as good as it looked.

Turkey Piccata and The. Best. Brussels. Sprouts. Recipe. Ever. (really!)

Here was tonight's dinner:

The turkey piccata recipe was recently sent as a suggestion from an old friend in Maryland (shout out, Suzanne!) and the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Agave and Spicy Mustard is the recipe that one of Steve's coworkers brought to a potluck we hosted last month. Seriously, there were people huddled over my stove eating those brussels sprouts like they were candy. One guy from down the block had stayed home from our party, but his wife and kid came, but had to leave early for a prior commitment. The husband showed up about an hour later, saying, "My wife said I HAD to come, just to try these brussels sprouts!" It kick started my brussels sprouts obsession. It took this long for Mr. Coworker to send me what recipe they used, but boy was it worth the wait. And surprisingly simple!

For the turkey piccata, I actually bought fresh turkey breast (quite possibly a first for me) and didn't use a chicken substitute.

The turkey piccata was really good (I thought). I served the sauce on the side, as a "dip" that the kids had to try -- neither Owen nor Genevieve were a fan of it but ate the turkey plain. Steve liked the dish but said he'd prefer a more straightforward Thanksgiving-like gravy; this one was a bit "tangy" for his taste. I thought it was delicious!

The brussels sprouts had a slightly different taste from the ones that were brought to our party, even though I followed the recipe exactly. Must be a matter of what kind of agave or mustard we each used. Still really good, just not quite the same caliber.

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Parmigiana Sandwiches

Folks, we have another winner with 5/5* Newtons liking this dish:

I followed the recipe almost exactly, though I didn't use quite as much tomato sauce as it called for, because I didn't want it quite so runny. Toasting the sliced rolls on a buttered skillet really pushed the recipe from "good" to "great" -- I often skip steps like that as we're in a rush but it made it so much better. Oh I did stick the open faced sandwiches (without top bun) under the broiler for just a minute or two to really melt the cheese.

The fact that it made twice the amount of sauce/chicken filling that we needed is NOT a bad thing -- I am throwing the leftover filling in the freezer and it'll be an instant meal on a busy night where I just need to buy new rolls.

Owen really liked it, way more than I expected (this was crock pot, after all). He even had seconds. His Olympic score for it is 78.42. Gigi said it was good (though wasn't raving about it, but liked it plenty to eat it again). Camden ate his "deconstructed", as they were super messy and hard for a toddler to eat. He had his filling in a bowl with a fork, and some bread on the side. Steve said the meal is definitely a "do over" (that's a good thing in our family -- we'll do it again...)

*5/5 Newtons plus one guest

"Homemade" Toasted Ravioli

So Owen's favorite meal of all-time is some freezer toasted ravioli that Hyvee (the grocery store in Iowa) carried, generic store brand. When we moved to Boston, I never found an imitation there in any of the stores, nor have I seen them yet here in Colorado. I've been promising for months that I'd try to make them "homemade" (super strong quotes here -- using store-bought regular ravioli and breading them). Tonight was the night, because Owen did a good job all week managing to eat a bunch of not-favorite meals. ("Meatloaf.... pot roast... greek chicken... what are you DOING to me Mommy?!").

Here's how they looked, basically following this recipe:

That's actually one of the two pans... I made a TON, especially considering I was only eating one or two since the sodium is sky high between the raviolis, the seasoned breadcrumbs, and the parmesan. The kids absolutely loved them. Steve was not a big fan; he said the Parmesan was not needed. I thought they were really dry and maybe had I used store-bought ravioli that were plumper with more cheese inside they'd be better. I just realized when I was linking to the recipe now that I forgot the step to spray them with cooking spray... maybe that would cut some of the dryness.

Here's the ones from good ole Hyvee. We miss them.

Mary's Meatloaf, Baked Balsamic Asparagus, and Mashed Potatoes

Aaaaaaaaand just like that, we have returned to the '50s to eat again. I don't know Mary, but I've been making her meatloaf for years. We hadn't had it in quite a long time, and Steve put in the request last weekend when I was planning out this week's meals. I let him do that, every once in a while.

I sub in a cup of oatmeal in place of half of the bread it calls for, and use Nu Salt, my latest Whole Foods discovery, in place of the regular salt.

This asparagus recipe  is seriously the only way I make asparagus. It is AMAZING. Like the meatloaf recipe, I've been making this one for many years. Per some Allrecipe reviewers, I flip the amounts for the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar -- 1 t. of the former and 1 T. of the latter. Also, it's key to brown the butter before adding those two ingredients (not just melt it).

As seems to be the trend lately, Steve, Gigi and I enjoyed the comfort food meal. The kids had peas and corn in place of the asparagus. Camden mostly just ate mashed potatoes (finally! A toddler who likes mashed potatoes! I will give him a pass on not eating much meat or veggies this time). Owen's still in the kitchen working on eating the minimum so I'll make his favorite meal of all-time tomorrow night, from scratch for the first time (foreshadowing...)

Greek Marinated Chicken

Tonight's dinner was Greek Marinated Chicken:

I used a super size family pack of all drumsticks. Steve, Gigi, and I thought it was good. Really moist, and pretty flavorful. Owen hated it but ate it. Camden only ate the cous-cous.

Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast

Tonight we ate in the 1950s:

You're looking at Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast.

Every time I use my crock pot, I think, why don't I do this every day? It's so nice to throw a few things in there, in the morning and then have dinner magically appear all done at dinner time. Definitely makes the after-school crazy time go a bit smoother. Plus it makes the house smell good all day.

This recipe was pretty good. I might have been a bit over zealous with the orange zest but it was decent. Steve thought it was really good. Genevieve loved the meat and said it was "great". She had two huge servings of meat (but hated the potatoes, which she said were too "orange-y" which is a little weird since they cooked in the same pot as the meat but whatever). Owen didn't totally dislike it, as he's prone to do with anything coming out of the crock pot. He said if it were the Olympics, he gives the meat a 37.61 out of 100. The potatoes were a 17.42. Camden disqualified himself by not eating any of it and going with a toddler pouch and fruit.

Spicy Shrimp Tacos with a Southwest Avocado Sauce... and a Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Tonight I tried a new recipe, Spicy Shrimp Tacos with a Southwest Avocado Sauce. For some reason I thought it still needed something just from looking at the recipe, so I also made 15 Minute Black Bean and Corn Salsa as an additional topping.

Here's the salsa:

And here is the finished product -- shrimp tacos:

Steve loved the tacos. I thought they were really good, though the avocado sauce didn't have the bright green color and was more brownish. Aside from the color, I think a regular guacamole would have been better. I will be making this again though. Now I am bummed I'm out of salt-free tortilla chips; looks like I have to hit Whole Foods tomorrow to get through that big bowl! (Steve's not a huge salsa person to begin with so it's alllll for meeeeee.)

The kids had... peas and hot dogs tonight ;) This was SUPER spicy, not only was the shrimp marinade hot, but the avocado sauce had a lot of spice as well. I kicked up the salsa too, adding a diced jalapeno and cumin and chili powder. Definitely needed the sour cream to tone things down a bit.

Baked Scallops

I love this baked scallops recipe; it's a staple around here. So easy. Tastes great over Parmesan noodles with some broccoli on the side.

As always the kids had to try the scallops... I had fish sticks on hand for back-up after they tried it.

Mindy Sandwiches

So what are Mindy Sandwiches?

These are Mindy Sandwiches:

...and everyone in our family LOVES them.

Mindy Sandwiches came into my life thanks to my dear old college roommate, Mindy of course. This was from the days when six of us shared a 4-bedroom apartment in Madison. It was... cozy. None of us ate all that well and "real" meals were few and far between. But these sandwiches were soooo yum.

There's not really a recipe, per se, you just do the following:

For the meat, brown a hunk of ground beef (or turkey if that floats your boat). I use about 1.5 lbs for our family of 5, which also usually gives us leftovers. These sandwiches are great the next day or two reheated in the toaster oven. After the meat is browned, drain it and then stir in about 3/4 c. water and part of one of those Beef Stroganoff seasoning packets, like this one:

Now back in the day, I would use almost the whole packet. Nowadays I can't because of the high sodium content (bad ears). I maybe use 1/3 of a packet and then supplement with some onion and garlic powders. After that's mixed in well and heated through, turn off the heat and stir in about 3/4 c. of sour cream.

The best thing to use for the bread (not sodium wise, but delicious wise) is those Take-n-Bake type french baguettes you can usually get in your grocery store bakery. The kind that are 90% done but meant to be put in an oven for 10-15 mins to finish and brown up. I've had a hard time finding them in stores here in Colorado, so regular baguettes will work too, they just get a lot crispier since they're already fully baked. Slice the baguette lengthwise (I use 1.5 or 2 whole ones for our family) and then cut into whatever manageable size sandwiches for your people.

Spread the meat mixture onto both open sides of the baguette, open-faced sandwich style. Top with your favorite sliced-up veggies -- I use tomatoes and bell peppers. Then on top of that, sprinkle a bunch of shredded cheese -- mozzarella, colby-jack, cheddar, provolone, whatever you like. Bake in the oven at 375 or so (or whatever temp the directions ask on the Take n Bake baguettes) for 10-15 mins til the cheese is melted and the bread is toasty.

Fresh Summer Spring Rolls with Basil, Avocado, Kale + Spicy Garlic Peanut Sauce

When the kids are off school because it's too cold to go, what else do you think of for dinner? How about Fresh Summer Spring Rolls with Basil, Avocado, Kale + Spicy Garlic Peanut Sauce.

I bet that's what you were thinking of, too.

Never mind that it is always dicey to find fresh basil at this time of year at the grocery store. But I was determined!

Here's the various elements of the "filling", before I assembled them:

Utterly delicious, and sooo easy -- just a little chopping to do in advance. The husband is back at Vail tonight for the second part of his "meeting" so all those spring rolls are for ME -- I've got lunches covered for the next few days. The kids? Well, they eat most of the veggie filling parts plain on the side of their nasty chicken nuggets. Can't win 'em all.

"Perfect 10" Baked Cod

New (to me) recipe from Allrecipes.com. Totally not worth its "Perfect 10" name... in fact, it was borderline gross. All of us ate it but none of it liked it too much. I added italian seasonings and it still was the blandest thing ever. Can't believe it gets nearly 5 stars on Allrecipes from multiple reviewers. Who are these people?!?!? Posting here for posterity, but this recipe is NOT a keeper.

Chicken Penne Alfredo

Tonight's dinner was Chicken Penne Alfredo using this recipe except with penne pasta instead of fettuccine since it's easier for the toddler to eat. I've made it once before, and Genevieve says it's "just as good as those samples at Costco!" and Owen grins and bears it but really is not a fan, no big surprise -- too many ingredients conspicuously mixed.  We found tonight it's a great meal for Camden to practice his fork skills, which seems to make him forget any pickiness he copies from big brother.

Beware, this makes a BIG POT of it -- good for the freezer but I could have easily cut it in half for our family of five.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Layered taco dip and puppy chow. What do you mean that's not dinner? It is when it's Super Bowl Sunday. The sad part is, I still doubled the taco dip recipe to fill a 9x13 pan, the same amount I Bring To A Party. Steve's coming home late from a Vail "meeting" and if Gigi and I polished off an 8x8 I knew he'd be.... sad. I haven't made either of these things in ages. This was my first time making taco dip with my own homemade taco seasoning in the base (no salty pouch) and it was just as good! Used black beans as the bottom layer instead of refried.

Side view

Gigi's 2 cents:
It was a very perfect meal. Just the right amount of seasoning. Just the right amount of healthiness -- lettuce and tomato!