Pasta Salad

This recipe came with my kid's lunchbox. It's nice and easy enough to set aside things like cooked pasta and chopped broccoli the night before.

You'll need:
cooked pasta. I generally use some sort of small, kid-friendly shape. (and you'll want about a cup...)
some chopped veggies: red or green peppers, sugar snap peas (those are nicer left whole), thinly chopped cabbage...
a bit of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
some grated or chopped raw carrot
a handful of bean sprouts

The dressing is:
1 clove minced garlic
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame seeds (I normally use flax seeds instead, since I am No Fun.)
and some chopped cilantro. (just a tablespoon or so.)
Mix the dressing ingredients together and then toss it with the salad ingredients. Ta da.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This is not really a recipe. I bake sweet potatoes - and at what temperature? I dunno, I generally just throw them in the oven while I'm making something else and let them stay there until they're done - and once they're squishy AND WHILE I AM WEARING OVEN MITTS (this is important. Believe me), I cut them in half and squash them out of their skins into a heatproof bowl. Then I mash them and add some butter and nutmeg. Ta da!

Maybe your kids wouldn't love these, but my kids, God bless 'em, actually get EXCITED. I obviously am a wonderful mother or my poor kids are just really deprived. One or the other.

Pumpkin Bread

This is a lower-fat recipe and still tastes REALLY good. I make it FREQUENTLY. It's from Healthy Cooking magazine, which is a dandy publication. It makes 2 loaves - I generally halve the recipe and freeze the other half of the canned pumpkin for the next time, but maybe you need a LOT of pumpkin bread. I dunno.

2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups flour (you can use all-purpose, although I've subbed half of it with whole wheat and it's still been tasty)
1 1/3 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin. NOT pumpkin pie filling!
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup canola oil

Combine the first nine ingredients in a large bowl. In yet another bowl, mix together the eggs, pumpkin, buttermilk, applesauce and oil. Stir into dry ingredients until just mixed.

Transfer to two oiled loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes.

Makes 2 loaves.

This is what we're gonna eat

Last week turned out to be uninspiring - two meals were so markedly horrible that I've actually crossed them out below, thus erasing them from the official record. And this week we're sick AND the kids are home for March Break, which means that I'm trying to strike the right note of foods that are comforting and also fun for the ungrateful monsters.

Sunday
Supper - Pasta with Rainbow Veggies. And an alfredo sauce, just to balance things out.

Monday
Breakfast.... Oooh! I forgot to plan something for breakfast. Perhaps someone else will make it. That would be lovely.

Lunch - This marshmallow fluff/strawberry fruit dip and a fruit tray.

Supper - Beef and Bean Burrito Bake (which obviously has a thuddingly prosaic name, but is quite nice AND really high in iron.) and a coleslaw made with lots of different vegetables, so we don't get scurvy on top of what we already have.

Tuesday - St. Patrick's Day
Breakfast - Irish Oatmeal and some baked breakfast fruits.

Lunch - Zucchini Pancakes with sour cream and applesauce.

Supper - Corned Beef and Cabbage with mashed potatoes, Irish Soda Bread and a key lime pie for dessert.

Wednesday
Breakfast - French Toast
Lunch - Stuffed Tuna Buns, raw veggie tray
Supper - Pasta Puttancesca

Thursday
Breakfast - Heavenly Hots
Lunch - Egg Salad Sandwiches and once again, the raw veggie tray of virtue.
Supper - Pork Satay, Vaguely Chinese Veggies and Brown Rice

Friday
Breakfast - Cheese Omelets
Lunch - Baked Beans and Peppers on Toast
Supper - Pizza Rustica

This Week In Food At My House

Good GRIEF, I haven't posted here in four MONTHS. I am so lazy.

So here's what we're eating this week, and let me know if you're interested in anything - I'll post the recipes IF they turn out.



Sunday:
Supper
We WILL be eating before supper on Sunday, but not at home. When we are, we're having a lemon roast chicken, mashed sweet potatoes and some cauliflower and cheese, along with a green salad with a homemade buttermilk dressing.


Monday- The 40 Martyrs of Sebaste
On my actual worksheet, you can see my scrawled notes to myself. Apparently, on Monday I'll be getting up early to make banana bread. Oh, hooRAY.
Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs and Toast, Berries


Snack (my kids have that horrible "balanced school day" thing)
Banana bread with cream cheese, orange wedges and juice.

Lunch
Pasta Salad with Veggies and Chicken, an applesauce cup, milk.

Supper
Meatballs Stroganoff, broccoli.
It isn't until you start writing down everything that you plan on making that you realize how often you eat the same things. LIKE PASTA. But that's okay. We like pasta.

Tuesday and Purim
Breakfast
Oatmeal and Frozen Berries


Snack
Bagel with Cream Cheese, Grapes


Lunch
Soup in thermos, Banana bread and cream cheese

Note to myself: Bake Hamentashen after school with the kids.

Supper
Orange Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry , Brown Rice (note to self: double rice for tomorrow morning.)


Wednesday and Johnny Appleseed Day
Breakfast
Brown Rice Pudding (hence the doubling last night. I'm so fancy.)

Snack
Yogurt with Granola for Sprinkling, Apple, Hamentashen

Lunch
Pizza for The Boy, Egg Salad Sandwich for The Girl because she HATES PIZZA, the weirdo. Fruit Salad cups.


Supper
Crispy Herb-Coated Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes (which I'm making double of, so we can have some tomorrow), Broccoli with an Orange Glaze, Apple Crisp.


Thursday
Note to self: get up early to make pumpkin bread. I DO THIS TO MYSELF.
Breakfast
Whole Grain Pancakes with Chocolate Chip Smiley Faces and Berries

Snack
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese, Orange Wedges, Applesauce Cup

Lunch
Whole Grain Macaroni and Cheese in Thermos, Cucumber Slices and Cauliflower Trees

Supper
Cabbage Rolls, Peas, Mashed Potatoes


Friday

Breakfast
French Toast with Orange Wedges


Snack
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese, Grapes

Lunch
Tomato Soup, Whole Grain Crackers and Cheese, Pepper Strips


And that's it. My husband makes supper on Fridays.
Supper