Better Late Than Never

So when Paula first posted to put on "sure fire" winning recipes in your home I completely drew a blank! But then I made a meal last night that my whole family absolutely loves and in the words of Gru "light...bulb." So here it is.

Fried Rice
1 pound bacon
1 egg per person
1 bag frozen mixed veggies (I prefer the mix with corn, peas, carrots, etc.)
Rice (how much you would normally make to feed your family. I made 2 cups dry last night and we still had leftovers...with me and two toddlers)
Soy Sauce

Get the rice cooking. In the meantime, chop the bacon into little pieces and cook in frying pan. Just before the bacon is cooked as desired (we like crispy) throw the veggies in the microwave until cooked. After bacon is cooked, depending on how much grease there is you may want to drain some. But not all of it. You need it for the "frying". Scoot all the bacon to one side of the pan and fry the eggs in the bacon oil. Then add all the rice and veggies and stir fry adding a few dashes of soy sauce.

Serve hot with soy sauce.

This isn't the healthiest recipe out there, but it's got protein, grain, and veggies in it!! My family will eat mounds of this any day. And the greatest part is it is great as warmed up leftovers! (And that is saying something because I do not love leftovers.\"/)

There is another variation that I have made before when I didn't have bacon. I just used oil. It was vegetable oil, but we have recently switched to olive oil in our family so I don't know how it tastes with olive oil. I heat up the oil in a pan, and then follow all the same steps starting at frying the eggs. This way of cooking it even won my brother in law over, and he is the pickiest eater I have ever met or heard of in my entire life!!

Fun Food

Hello all. This doesn't quite go with the topic this week, mostly because I don't do this myself, but I thought it might be fun to share some inspiration with the rest of you that have kids old enough to eat this kind of food. I stumbled across this blog called Meet the Dubiens today & immediately loved her Fun Food Friday posts. She does some of the most creative things with food, making it fun for her kids to eat it. Here is a sample of one of her creations! Once Sharon is bigger & can eat more foods, I think I might have to try out some of these fun things for her lunches!

My favorite recipes

When it comes to cooking, I am all about as easy & fast as possible. I love quick breads, I've canned my own pinto beans so that when I get a craving for chili, I can have it as quickly as it takes to heat everything through, and I love to use an easy recipe that I can change out ingredients to mix up the meal. One of my favorites that I'm sure will become a kid favorite is Spiral Pepperoni Pizza Bake. It is tasty, filling, and makes great leftovers.

1 package (16 ounces) spiral pasta
2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) pizza sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onion, salt and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the pizza sauce, garlic salt and Italian seasoning; remove from the heat and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk and Parmesan cheese. Drain pasta; toss with egg mixture. Transfer to a greased 3-qt. baking dish. Top with beef mixture, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until golden brown. Yield: 12 servings.

Another favorite meal that we eat frequently, basically whenever I don't feel like cooking, is Chicken Tacos. These tacos are so simple, but they are our favorite meal because they are exactly like the ones we can get while in Mexico.

Corn tortillas
Cooked, shredded chicken (I use my home canned chicken breasts, but you could use store-bought canned chicken, or just cook your own & then cut it in small pieces)
Finely chopped sweet onion
Finely chopped cilantro
Green salsa

Chop your onion & cilantro & combine them in a small bowl. Heat up your tortillas inside a hand towel for about 20 seconds in the microwave. Top a tortilla with chicken, onion, cilantro & a bit of salsa & gobble it down. You can also add beans (black, pinto, white, whatever you happen to have, or use whatever salsa you want, these are pretty versatile).

Swedish Meatballs :-)

My oldest has her days. Some, she eats 3 meals, maybe a snack, and she’s a happy camper. Other days…well, nothing I offer is what she wants. But when she hears I’m making “Meatballs and noodles”…she is ready to go to town when dinner is ready. And her sister is just as big of a fan. Good thing it’s also one of Daddy’s favorite dishes as well J

Swedish Meatballs

-          1 pkg. ground turkey

(but not Extra Lean…unless you enjoy the taste of cardboard)

-          Italian Breadcrumbs

-          Salt, pepper, dried onions, and nutmeg

-          Egg noodles

-          1 can cream of chicken soup

-          1 cup of sour cream

Using a fork (or clean hands)and a big bowl, combine the ground turkey with dashes of salt, pepper, and dried onion, with a pinch of nutmeg. (All to your tastes) Add approx. 1 cup of breadcrumbs and mix together all ingredients until proper consistency to make meatballs. (add more crumbs if needed) Form small meatballs and cook over medium heat in a skillet until browned.

Cook Egg Noodles as directed.

When meatballs are done cooking, add cream of chicken soup and sour cream and cook until heated, stirring with the meatballs. Serve over noodles.

Topic: Nov. 7 week

So... not as much response for last week as I would've hope. Thanks Amy for your post. I'm sure other newer moms wonder that too. 

(And the reason I didn't post? I don't think anyone could help me with my current dilemma...judging by the age of the kids of those of you who actually have participated so far. And it's also on the up and up due to some new ideas of my own. J)

OK MOMS... Everyone has an answer to this:

What dinner/meal do you make that is a sure fire

 winner 

in your home every time?

(Please share the recipes J)

I will also post this on Facebook… feel free to do the same.