Someone's in the Kitchen with... Erin: Hidden Veggie/Kid-friendly Tacos

There are no pictures for this one... I didn't even think about it once. It never crossed my mind. But here's a picture of what mine would have looked like had I taken one.

someone else's Soft Shell Taco

But... I had a pound-ish (I buy 9+ pounds tubes at Sam's Club, and then I break them down into 8 meals, combining 2 portions for a meatloaf, so my portions are almost 1.25 pounds) of ground beef defrosting in the fridge. And I had a 4 yr old crying that he was hungry. I asked what he wanted to eat and got the dreaded answer, "I don't know."

The reason I hate this answer? Because he won't be able to make up his mind. Or after saying "No" to everything, he'll want a Corn Dog. And there is nothing wrong with corn dogs... unless it's all he eats. Weston is like a walking school lunch. His favorite meal consists of corn dogs or hot dogs with cottage cheese and carrots with or without Cheetos depending on his mood. I feel like he needs a real protein, or just a change in his meals.

So, last night, I started throwing ideas out there... Spaghetti ('I don't like Spaghetti!' since when?), Surprise Sandwiches (what we call Sloppy Joes), Tacos like you have at school... he asks about the sandwiches and then actually surprises me with a request for Tacos!!! (I almost did a happy dance for the sheer fact that he would let me cook him a real meal.)

I got him settled with a drink to hold him over and proceeded to make dinner. "Tacos at School" are just ground beef with enough taco seasoning to change the color to orange-ish in a soft shell flour tortilla with Cheese. I had to ask this once to guarantee a similar appearance. Apparently its a shock that every child at our daycare loves these tacos. Woo-hoo for us parents!

So here's the rundown of my Tacos:

Brown a pound or so of lean (we use 90%) ground beef. While it cooked, I finely grated some carrots and added them to the pan. And I would have done the same with some onion if I'd had any. Then I followed the directions on my package of taco seasoning. (Yes, I know that you can make your own taco seasoning. I want to. I'm just not that organized yet.) Now, here's where things get awesome: My sister adds 1 small can V-8 Spicy in place of the water. I never have V-8 on hand. So, I add 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes in addition to the 3/4 cup of water. So, we now have tomatoes and carrots (and possibly onions) hiding in the taco meat. I take a pair of kitchen shears and cut all of the large pieces of tomato into much smaller pieces. And then I let the whole thing simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, you're pretty much done. Warm up some flour tortillas in the microwave. I put some Mexi-blend cheese onto the warm tortilla and add the meat mixture for Weston. fold up the bottom and sides, and call it good. This was an entirely impromptu meal. So we had chips and salsa as a side. I add sour cream and salsa to mine... I didn't have any fresh lettuce or tomatoes. Impromptu, remember?

Weston ate everything. And he only picked 3 tomatoes out of his taco... leaving about 30 in there. :) A big hit at our house. And it microwaves really well.

Someone's in the Kitchen: a new start

A friend has suggested that I start blogging my recipes. I use Instagram to post pictures of my homemade food and pretty much all other fun food. So, this is my first official recipe post - and I'm also trying so new products! (Also... this is my first post from the Blogger App on my iPhone!!!)

So, the husband went to Hy-Vee Sunday and took advantage of their $1 sale of Split Chicken Breasts at $1/pound. And Prego sauces were 3 for $5. 

Now, I'm not a fan of Prego, I think it's too acidic. But- it was a good deal. So I picked up some new and unusual flavors. One of which was a Creamy Vodka sauce. I LOVE Vodka Sauce. But let's be honest, I rarely have the time on a week night to make a good one. The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, has one of my favorite recipes, and Bella Italia in Pleasant Hill (Iowa) has my favorite restaurant sauce. Anyway, in my opinion, Vodka Sauce needs a thick al dente noodle to really shine. So I actually decided to try a new-to-me noodle - Barilla's Gemelli - it's a think twisted noodle cut a little shorter than penne.

First things first - preheat the oven to 350°. Rinse and pat dry your chicken breasts. Rub each breast with Olive Oil, sprinkle with Salt, Spanish Paprika, and Italian Seasoning - back first, then the top. I roasted these for 50 mins on a broiler pan. Then I broiled on a low broil for 4 mins to get everything crispy. *Watch while you broil to avoid burning!*

While roasting your chicken, put a pot of salted water onto boil. This pasta took about 13 mins to cook al dente, so time it to be done about 8 mins before the chicken is done. Before dumping the pasta, reserve about a cup of the pasta water.

Turn the stove top down to medium-low. Pour the jar of Prego Creamy Vodka sauce into the pan - Use a little of the pasta water swirled into the jar to get all the sauce into the pan. Warm gently, stirring often.

Take out the chicken when done. Let it rest.

Add a green veggie - I chose broccoli. My favorite is the Steam-in-bag from Sam's Club - it's 4 bags for under $6, and each single bag seems about 25% larger than the Steam Fresh bags from my local grocery. A delicious deal.

Once the sauce is warm, add one Tablespoon of real butter. Let it melt in. This will add a richness to the jarred sauce. I read this somewhere. And let's whisper the truth between us - butter makes everything better - Paula Deen says so. :)

Now a lesson about Vodka Sauce - it always tastes slightly bitter to me when I do a taste test. But once I add the noodles and let them reheat in the sauce and marry all together - I find that the sauce is perfect. No added salt or anything. And I really thought that Prego's was one of the best I've had.

Ok - so portion each onto the plate and add a little Parmesan to the pasta.

And enjoy!

Complete dinner! I debone my chicken breast before sitting down (it's just easier)
and truthfully, I could have split the chicken in half.

***

I thought that the chicken was ok - I think I'd try to get the flavors more into the meat, but really - it wasn't even necessary, the pasta and broccoli were delicious on their own.

Total meal was $7.34 + seasonings for 4 servings.
That's $1.84 per serving, with my lunch not having any chicken.
(The breasts were large enough to cut into 4 servings, but I didn't want any.)

That's a Happy Homemaker win.

Ok, well let me know if you like this post, if you have any suggestions for form or flow.

Thanks for reading!

num num num

It's been suggested that I write a Food Blog on the recipes that I use for my family.

I'm mulling the idea over. It might be fun. It won't be consistent, but it might be fun. :)

Thinking about it....

dinner

So... you'd think that on Labor Day of all days, I would take a break from cooking. It makes sense, right? Not so much really. I saw this as an opportunity to make some big things that i normally wouldn't try on a weeknight. First up, Lasagna Rolls. These fabulous mini lasagnas come from the Back to School section on Betty Crocker (.com) Since I volunteered to try to have 3 meals frozen for my sister (the Grad Student) per week, I have been on the search for freezable meals. Some time when I get time (second weekend in October I think) I am going to make nothing but freezable meals for all of us. I also made Laura Grotelueschen's Stuffed Shells; I froze 4 meals of the shells.

I decided on the fly that we were having the lasagna rolls for dinner tonight. They were fabulous! Get the recipe here. I froze 2 meals of 2 rolls each. One for Shannon, one for me. Each with sauce on the side. So simple. But, I did run out of filling. So, I made Laura's Florentine filling for the shells and used it on the Rolls. Granted, I got less stuffed shells, but I still had dinner for the family. There are currently no pictures of the shells... because they are obviously frozen and uneaten. I'll try to take some pictures before those are devoured.

Below you will find Shannon's dinner. 2  Lasagna Rollups, one traditional with red sauce, the larger one is the Florentine from Laura's filling recipe - also with red sauce. I think Alfredo would also be delicious. I had the same as Shannon.

Scott and Weston had the version below. Everything is the same as the traditional Betty recipe, except that the boys had a meat sauce instead. But Scott loved it!

Shannon left tonight with 5 meals: Goulash, Lemon-Basil Chicken with Mushroom Rice Pilaf, Lasagna Rolls, and 2 meals of the Stuffed Shells. One more to go and I'll have her covered for 2 full weeks! Pretty good haul for a Monday.

Cream Puffs!!!

So, tonight is my husband Scott's 41st birthday. I generally try to make it special. I try to make all birthdays special. I think birthdays are a gift, and should be celebrated as such (Remind me of this when I hit 40.) Anyway, I had planned to cook him his favorite dinner tonight (spaghetti), go to an I-Cubs baseball game tomorrow and Adventureland on Saturday. But that wasn't meant to be. We have a party to attend in Sioux City on Saturday, and I am afraid tomorrow's baseball game is going to be a downpour. So, my birthday plans kind of road on tonight. I decided a week ago that I wasn't going to do a traditional birthday cake. I wanted something special. So I broke out a recipe for my Grandma Stahl's homemade Cream Puffs. (And by homemade, I mean that she got it from a very old Betty Crocker Cookbook.)

So... as I leave work, Scott calls to say that the power is out in the neighborhood. Hmmm... no cooking, no a/c. I ask him to make a choice, and we ate out. It was ok. But I think that's because I had my heart set on making him Spaghetti.

Obviously by the title of the post, I came home and made Scott the Grandma's Cream Puffs. My friend Sue suggested that I blog the process, so here you go:

Grandma Stahl's Homemade Cream Puffs
You will need:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

1 cup Water
1 stick Butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup flour
4 eggs beaten

4 oz. Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (I use sugar-free) (that's 4 small boxes!)
1 cup Milk
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream.

ok... here we go:

Step 1: Bring the water and butter to a rolling boil in a medium sauce pan.
Turn the heat down to low.

Gently blend in the one cup of flour until the mixture is smooth.

Add all 4 beaten eggs and mix together until the mixture is very smooth, slightly shiny, and almost ball-like.

Drop the warm dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 3" apart.

They are best left free form. Imperfection is perfect. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Check at 30 minutes, because mine were a little darker than usual, new oven though. Golden brown is the ideal. Remove from the oven and let them cool on their pan in a cool, dry room with no breezes. Think souffle, they will collapse if too much air moves around. your goal is a solid outside with a soft, air-like pastry on the inside.

The ingredients for the filling. Couldn't be more easy. Except you'll need 4 of the small puddings.

Beat the pudding and the milk until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the half and half. Beat for another 2 minutes until soft peaks form. Refrigerate immediately if not eating right away.

The finished cream puff!
Assembly: Using a serrated knife, cut the top 3rd of the puff off. Remove it. Spoon the filling on the bottom, replace the cap of the puff. dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Store the cream in the refrigerator. Store the puffs in an air-tight container, also in the fridge. Should last a few days if they aren't gobbled up by then! :)

new recipe

Apricot Chicken with Baked Sweet Potato and Ginger-Garlic Fresh Green Beans

So... My last blog was about being sick. And I am still sick. Actually, I feel worse than I did on Friday. But I hope I do look better... though I doubt it. Anyway, on Thursday I made this Apricot Chicken. I found the recipe on Taste of Home (.com) and I tweaked it a bit, and will probably tweak it more the next time.

But I liked it. As a meal it was very pretty. But since I was starting to get sick... I couldn't finish the chicken.

Apricot Chicken (original recipe)

Bone in Chicken Breasts with Skin

Glaze (Per piece of Chicken):

• 1tbsp of Apricot Preserves
• 1 tbsp French or Russian Dressing (I used Western Dressing)
• pinch of Ginger

*************************************

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix glaze together. I let it sit in the fridge and combine while I prepped my chicken. I cleaned and patted them dry. Salt and Pepper both sides. I pulled the skin from the meat to create a pocket. I then spooned in some of the glaze. Then I brushed the breasts liberally on both sides. I placed them on a foil lined (next time I will also "Pam" the foil!) sheet, breast down. I baked breast-side down for 25 minutes on 350 degrees. Then I flipped them and re-glazed the top with the last bit of apricot glaze. I baked them breast-side up for 35 more minutes. (my oven sucks in this apartment. I am 50 degrees too cold. So... general cooking time for chicken breasts with the bone is 50-55 minutes at 350.)
• My alterations:
  Besides the Western Dressing, I would make some other changes. For one... there wasn't enough flavor. I think I would use Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts. I would poke holes and let them sit in the glaze before I baked them. I also think I would add a bit of Soy Sauce and more ginger, maybe some garlic. Maybe turn the whole thing into a stir fry? I liked the ease of this dish, so I will experiment some more and see what I come up with.
• I baked the smallish Sweet Potatoes with the Chicken. Next time, I will pop them into the microwave for about 3-4 minutes on high before I put them into the oven. (which is what I usually do. But in my defense, they were small and I thought they would cook in an hour.) Either way, they were fabulous with butter and a little brown sugar.

Green Beans

• I used about 2 pounds fresh Green beans. It was too many beans. And I underestimated the effort to clean them and the time to cook them. So... frozen or more time.
• Anyway, all I did was stir-fry them in minced garlic, ginger, and a 2:1 ratio of butter to olive oil.
• Done. I did this with snap peas a few weeks ago and they were delicious. These were too. I am trying to eat more fresh or frozen veggies that are not corn or broccoli. Trying to expand my horizons. And Weston's too.

weekend, recipe

We are taking a break this weekend. Friday, Scott and I are both on unpaid furloughs. Well, sort of. I am working from 8-10:30 to help cover for my time spent with Mom last Wednesday. Anyway, we plan to be on the road by 11:30, on our way to Sioux City.
We're going to be taking Weston to see the Muskateers (Hockey) games on Friday and Saturday night with Scott's Aunt Linda and Uncle Byron. I even heard a rumor that Scott's cousins will be joining us Saturday and that we may be sitting in the box seats with little living rooms and kitchens. I love sitting up there.
Scott's mom Lila is coming to visit Saturday afternoon. Weston should be sufficiently spoiled this weekend. And, as always, my goal is to leave by noon on Sunday so we can keep working on packing up the garage.
A thought for the diligent readers: I am thinking of blogging about Music ADD... I have it. I don't think it's a real condition, but it's real in my life. And I have some thoughts on it. Do you?


Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. I used to celebrate the holiday. I mean, my name is Erin and I have a sister named Shannon. Hello? It only makes sense. Even if Shannon looks Irish, but we're not Irish. :) Sometime I will have to tell you all about my favorite St. Patrick's Days. Both in Chicago. Anousha was at both of them. but they were 5/6 (?) years apart. So much fun.
Anyway, with a child, especially a little one, there isn't a whole lot you can do except dress them in green and try to give them some Irish culture. Last year we had Potato Soup. This year I thought we would try Shepherd's Pie.
So... I took this recipe for Easy Shepherd's Pies from Real Simple. And then I doctored it, based on the other recipes I'd looked at. And it turned out pretty good.
So, if you want it, here goes:
Print the recipe here.
I would up the ground beef to 1 1/2 pounds.
I sauteed half a red onion in White Cooking Wine.
Once soft, I added 1 can of Carrots & Peas (together in the can) and 1 can of Whole Kernel Sweet Corn, both cans of veggies rinsed in a colander and drained. (I also wanted to add Mushrooms, but I was out.)
I added 1 1/2 cloves of Minced Garlic to veggies.
Added these spices: 1/2 tsp each of sage, thyme, and paprika.
I upped the ketchup to just over a 1/2 cup, and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce.
I gently mixed all these together and put them into a casserole dish. Then I topped them with the potatoes and yes, I used the optional cheese (Weston threw it in for me.)

I cooked 17 minutes instead of 10... . It was great. Even better for lunch today. I will make again.

Next time changes: More garlic, salt and pepper; mushrooms; and my dad said that he adds 1/2 a small pkg of brown gravy mix (powder only) to the hamburger. While it's baking, the mix thickens the sauce and makes it creamy. Sounds like a plan. But I will definitely do this again.