Sauteed Crusted Tilapia

I haven't been updating this blog a lot because I've been using a lot of "repeat" meals with the boys. I'm going to update every time I cook something *new*. Two days ago, I worked with Tilapia for the first time. I love that word...til-a-pi-a...besides being really cool to say, it's surprisingly fast and easy to cook.

Sauteed Crusted Tilapia

It starts with a a flour and spices mixture and a water and egg bath. Similar to the chicken cutlets, you first bathe the fish in the egg bath and coat it with the flour mixture on each side. For an especially thick crust, you can repeat that step a second time. Heat up some oil in a pan and sautee on both sides until the fish is flaky (about 5 minutes). Both the Daisy Picker and Anakin ate this meal without complaint but I think next time I will kick it up a notch with more spices.

Knuffle Bunny Pork Chops

The Daisy Picker LOVES the book Knuffle Bunny and even has his own stuffed version of the rabbit. Knuffle Bunny made a cameo at the dinner table last night so, naturally, he had to have the meal named after him.

Knuffle Bunny Pork Chops

This was another tasty delight for both of the little ones. A boneless pork chop seasoned with sage, black pepper, and salt seared on both sides. In a separate sauce pan, I dissolved some beef bouillon in water and then added it to the skillet after about 10 minutes of searing the chops. Then it all simmered for about 45 minutes before it was finished. Here is a shot of it as it midway through the process:
And here is the pork chop with the mixed vegetables and sweet potato fries (Anakin Skywalker had a FANTASTIC day at school, according to his teachers, which merited a couple extra fries):
I wasn't sure that the boys would enjoy this recipe because it's packed with flavor and reminds me of something well suited to a more mature palette. But they did!

**I'm really excited about the prospect of creating my own baby food in 2 months!**

Honey Mustard Baked Chicken

I've pretty much dropped the Star Wars names from my recipes. Finding out what to name my meals was taking up a lot of planning time and I'd rather be playing with the kids (or, let's get real, taking a break from the mayhem). I knew that the boys didn't enjoy mustard coming in to this recipe but I've found that if you don't always tell them the ingredients, they are more likely to try it. And it worked! I'm not sure they loved it, but they certainly ate it without complaint. The glaze was yellow mustard mixed with honey (about 1/4 cup each) and 1/2 tablespoons of basil, parsley, and paprika. It was a tiny bit spicy with the paprika but not overwhelmingly so.

Honey Mustard Baked Chicken

Homemade Lasagna

This is where I really start to feel accomplised. What average 22 year old female can boast making a lasagna from scratch. Granted, I did not make my own noodles, nor did I make my own tomato sauce but the rest was my creation. Even the ricotta and herbs mixture was of my own doing. WOOT!

Homemade Lasagna

Both of my boys immediately chowed down! I thought they would because I've previously served them take-out lasagna (I am ashamed to say it) and they really liked that version. I started with a layer of meat sauce, then a layer of noodles, then the ricotta mixture [which included basil and oregano] and finally a layer of mozerella. I repeated that step two more times until the final layer of meat sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven covered for 35 minutes and enjoooooy! [Here it is in all of it's 9 x 2 x 13inch glory but with horrible lighting]

Salmon and Sloppy Joe (Not All at Once)

Where did I leave off? Oh yes, a week ago today. Sorry for the hold up! Christmas and a blizzard kept me from blogging, but now I am back on track. I only have 2 meals for you until this evening (last Wednesday and Thursday) because last Friday was pizza and yesterday some family friends came over for a dinner party. Here is the first:

Maple Glazed Salmon with Broccoli and a Biscuit

An oldie but goodie. Anakin dug in but my little Daisy Picker told me he didn't like it without even tasting it. Of course when he was told he couldn't have a cookie unless he ate his dinner, he changed his story :P

Turkey Sloppy Joe's and Sweet Potato Fries

There were more fries than that but I ate them before I remembered to take a picture. Both boys really liked this one from the start and I think the reason is that it was on a hamburger roll. Both boys LOVE bread and I have to make sure I keep an eye on the Daisy Picker or he's liable to eat just the bread and tell me that he's full. Whenever we have rolls or biscuits (like the one above) DP has to now wait until the end to have one.

Yoda Pie

The last nanny for the boys promised to make them Chicken Pot Pie inside of a pumpkin because one of her best friends had done it. For one reason or another, she never got around to it, and the boys have been begging for chicken pot pie ever since. I've only ever had store-bought chicken pot pie and am never impressed with it. With the time restraints that I mentioned, there was no way that I could tackle a pie from scratch–an intricate (and time consuming task). What with the baking of the crust, the cooking of the meat and filling, and then finally baking the concoction all together, I would've had to start cooking last night. So I found a recipe for "2-Step Inside Out Chicken Pot Pie". So much simpler: bake some biscuits (I chose Pillsbury's Buttermilk Grands Biscuits), cook the chicken thoroughly, add a bag of mixed frozen vegetables and condensed Cream of Chicken Soup. Serve the filling over the biscuits and you have "Yoda Pie". Anakin decided that since Yoda's speech pattern is backwards (or inside out) that this was the perfect name for our meal.

Yoda Pie

Both boys really liked this meal EXCEPT that the Daisy Picker is now becoming my "It's disgusting, I don't like it before I've even tried it" eater. When I actually get him to eat it, he changes his mind :P Sometimes I think I should revert back to the chicken nugget/frozen meatball menu. Dinner without a fight would be much nicer than the struggle of getting little ones to try new things. But the cooking is too much fun and serving the same microwavable meals over and over gets dull.

Make-Your-Own-Pizza Night

Hooray for making dinner a fun activity for the boys! The next 2.5 weeks are going to be a little hectic because I have all three kids. Anakin is going to a sports camp for the day tomorrow (as he did today) so the Daisy Picker/Pepperoni/Mom and I are going to get to spend some quality time together.

I can't really take much credit for tonight's dinner since the boys did all the work! Betty Crocker makes some wonderful instant dough (a shortcut, I know, but there is just no time to make homemade when the boys and the baby are underfoot) where you just add hot water. Boboli makes pizza specific tomato sauce, and we decided to use cheese and pepperoni (in honor of our baby girl) as toppings.

Personal Pan Pizzas

The Pizza on the left is Anakin's [he loved both the activity AND the food]. I know it's his because he did the pizza by the book, exactly how I would have done it. The Daisy Picker insisted on no tomato sauce so his pizza is bread, cheese, and pepperoni (add that to the 10-15 pepperonis I let him eat as an appetizer and he ended up being stuffed). To me, that sounds kind of bland but he loved it. It only needed to go into the oven for about 10 minutes so it ended up being a "quick-fix dinner" [the dough didn't have to rise, or anything].

"What are the charred bits on the pan?" you ask. The kids couldn't help but get some cheese and tomato sauce on the cookie sheet but that wasn't a problem because I coated the cookie sheet in a thin layer of olive oil. Hooray for ingenuity and easy clean-up!