This semester (from August to December) has crazy, jam packed Wednesdays. I'm in class until 5 and Kaylee goes to practice at 5. Here's the Wednesday schedule.
6:30 -- Wake up the kids
7:30 -- Leave for the bus stop
7:40 -- Kaylee gets on the bus
8:20 -- Mo gets on the bus
8:30 -- Drop Sunny off at school
8:45 -- Get to the gym
9:45 -- Leave the gym
10:00 -- Wake up Ken
10:30 -- Leave for Class
11-5 -- Class
12:30 -- Ken picks up Sunny
4:30 -- Ken picks up kids at the bus stop
4:45 -- Ken drops Kaylee off at swim
5:00 -- Ken picks up Katie
5:15 -- back to Kaylee's swim
6:30 -- Finally home.
6:45 -- Start dinner
Crazy, right??!?? And originally Mo had gymnastics from 6:30 to 7:30. We wouldn't have gotten home until close to 8. But, I changed her practice from Wednesday to Thursday.
These are the types of days that warrent breaking out the crockpot. I love my crockpot. It is a very under loved appliance in my kitchen.
I'm always looking for newand unique recipes. Kaylee is a baked bean freak. She could eat a whole BJ's can by herself. So, when I found this baked bean recipe on 100 Days of Real Food, I knew that I had to try it. Plus, I had all the ingredients in my pantry. I substituted black eyed peas for the navy beans that the recipe calls for because I didn't have any.
Slow Cooker Baked Beans
adapted from 100 Days of Real Food: Slow Cooker Baked Beans
Calories: 153
Fat 1.2
Sodium: 882
Carbs:38
Sugar 7.5
Protein: 5
Ingredients
1 lb dried black eyed peas (soak in water overnight)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
15 oz can tomato sauce
.75 cup sugar free maple syrup
3 T mustard
3 T apple cider vinegar
3.5 c water
Directions
- Whisk together tomato sauce, syrup, mustard and vinegar. (I did this the nite before so I could dump it in the crockpot in the morning)
- In the bowl of your crockpoot put beans, bell peppers, onions, and water.
- Dump in tomato sauce mixture and stir.
- Turn crockpot on High for 10-12 hours.
These were super delicious. They were great as a stand alone dinner. Sweet but I made simple baked potatoes to go with it. They would also be great over rice. The best part? They were done when we got back from practice.
I really wish that I had gotten a picture. These will definitely be a reoccurring dish in our house. What crockpot dishes do you like?
**Warning: If you are here from Vegan Mofo then you need to realize that I am not normally a vegan. I have some vegan recipes posted on my blog but, many contain meat or dairy. **
Ever had one of those days when you don't feel like cooking? All you want to do is make a hearty dish for the family that doesn't take much time. That was how I felt today. I love simple dishes. More specifically I love simple one-pot dishes. This is one of those "throw everything into a dish and bake" dishes. You don't have to do anything more than open a can and do a little mixing. The kids loved it. The hubbard squash that I used actually came out of my garden. This is the second thing, besides the green onions and chives, that I have been able to use. I'm actually quite proud of using food that I've grown myself. This dish was the first time I tasted hubbard squash. I'm not a fan of it. It will not be making it into my garden next year.
The nice thing about this dish is that you could totally throw some meat in it if you wanted to. A bit of ground beef or cubed poultry would make a nice addition.
Sage and Garlic Vegetable Bake
Taken From: Betty Crocker Casseroles Recipe Cards book
Servings: 4
{I entered the recipe into my calorie calculator and got a different number from the book. I will give you both numbers. The first one is from the book, the second one is the number I got}
Calories: 280 / 148
Fat: 1g / 1.1g
Carbs: 61g / 32g
Protein: 6g / 5.6g
Ingredients
3 cups of squash, cut in 1 inch pieces (I used hubbard and the recipe calls for butternut)
2 cups of carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 (14 oz) cans of stewed tomatoes (do not drain)
2 cups of frozen green beans
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup quick-cooking barley
1/2 cup water
2 T minced garlic
Directions
- Heat oven to 375
- Mixed all the ingredients in a large casserole dish
- Cover and bake for 60-75 minutes
How do you feel about one pot dishes?
While Ken and I were on our trip in January we came up with the idea of having an Iron Chef style cooking contest. Yesterday we finally did it.
We had the girls pick a protein, and 2 vegetables out of a hat. The possible proteins were; tilapia, salmon, veggie crumbles, shrimp and eggs. The vegetable list included; mushrooms, parsnips, greens, radish, okra, winter squash, summer squash, bean sprouts, eggplant, and artichoke. The "mystery ingredients" ended up being tilapia, greens and mushrooms.
The rules were really simple
- All the ingredients had to be used
- It had to be 1 or 2 dishes. A main or a main and a side.
- There was no time limit
We also had a dessert round. The rules were a little bit stricter for this round.
- It had to contain a fruit
- You could only spend $10 on ingredients (I spent only like $2 on a bunch of bananas)
- It had to adhere to my dietary restrictions
We were judged on tast, presnetation, and creativity.
Here's Ken's dinner.
Wonton wrappers filled with sauteed mushrooms, onion, spinach, garlic and tilapia with mozzarella cheese.
My dinner:
A spicy fish sandwich on a homemade slider bun with chive mayo, onions and sauteed spinach.
The mushrooms are stuffed with spinach, feta, onions and garlic.
Ken's dessert...
Sponge shells filled with mixed berries that are coated in jam. He ended up topping it with Cool Whip also.
My dessert (the one in front)...
Baked bananas topped with broiled marshmallows and a dollop of Cool Whip
(I will post the recipe for the bananas in the future)
I am proud of myself that I beat Ken!! Don't know how I did it but, I did.
The girls had a blast judging. Next time THEY get to cook. I'm actually considering making this a monthly thing since it was such a success.
What ingredients would you include as your mystery ingredients? Would you add any other rules?
Happy Easter! Yesterday was the community Easter egg hunt and the girls had a blast! They came away with a ton of candy! Here are all my Easter recipes for today. I was hoping to have these up before today so y'all would have ideas. But, due to school and kids being so time consuming I couldn't.
Oven Poached Salmon
2 lb salmon
2 cups water
any herbs and spices you like
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400
- Grease baking dish
- Place salmon in baking dish and season
- Pour water around salmon
- Poach for 12-15 minutes until done
Peas w/onions and mushrooms
16 oz bag of peas
1 bag pearl onions
16 oz mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 shallot
1 T minced garlic
Directions
- Diced onions, and shallots
- Slice mushrooms
- Sautee mushrooms, onions, garlic and shallots until slightly brown
- Boil peas and onions according to package directions, drain
- Mix together peas, pearl onions, and your mushroom mixture
Asparagus
Directions
- Steam for approximately 15 minutes until done to your liking
Banana Dream Mousse
2 envelopes Dream Whip
2.75 cups skim milk, divided
1 tsp vanilla
2 small packages Fat Free Sugar Free Banana Cream Jello Pudding mix (you honestly can you whatever flavor jello you'd like. I've made chocolate,vanilla, and cookies and cream before
2 bananas, sliced
Instructions
- Beat together Dream Whip, 1 cup milk and vanilla until soft peaks form
- Add remaining milk and pudding mixes. Beat on low until combined then beat on high for about 2 minutes (make sure to scrape your bowl occasionally)
- Pour filling ontop of bananas and refrigerate for 4 hours.
And here's a link to last year's recipes: Easter Recipes 2012
