Chex Lemon Buddies

I love snack foods.  If I could snack all day and not eat a single meal all day I certainly would.   I can totally relate to the character that Cher plays in the movie Mermaids, because she can make an entire meal from cocktail wieners and cookie cutters. 


And so, here is a Chex Mix recipe that lemon lovers will adore.  Just make sure to let it cool before bagging it up...lest you bag it too soon and the whole mix goes stale.  Not that I know.  


Chex Lemon Buddies

9	cups Rice Chex® cereal
1 1/4	cups white vanilla baking chips
1/4	cup butter or margarine
4	teaspoons grated lemon peel
2	tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2	cups powdered sugar

1.	Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2.	In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chips, butter, lemon peel and juice uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3.	Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; gently shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Store in airtight container.

1 Serving: Calories 160 (Calories from Fat 45); Total Fat 5g (Saturated Fat 4g, Trans Fat 0g);Cholesterol 5mg; Sodium 135mg; Total Carbohydrate 26g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 18g); Protein 1g % Daily Value*: Vitamin A 4%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 6%; Iron 20% Exchanges: 1/2Starch; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 MyPyramid Servings: 1 tsp Fats & Oils 

Food limitations and CrockPot Lasagna

I love to cook.  That is, when I don't HAVE to cook.  It is relaxing for me to cut fruit and veggies.  To prepare food and provide sustenance for my family makes me happy.  But, I do not like to be rushed in the kitchen.  And with 3 XY's living in my abode, it is tough to keep them satisfied and full.  Not to mention that 2 of the 3 are small and whiny--22 months and 4 years old.  


On top of the boy factor--we have a variety of dietary restrictions.  For starters--I am wheat intolerant.  I can eat wheat in small amounts and truth be told...I prefer to consume it in sweets.  However, when I consume too much I get severe intestinal distress, along with constipation, mood swings and headaches.  Not a happy camper.


My youngest son is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts.  When he consumes milk products he breaks out in hives and his eczema flairs up.  He seems fine eating eggs if they are in baked goods or muffins, though I still try and avoid them.  Peanuts...well, they are something we are not going to test out.  He hasn't had peanuts or peanut butter, and until the allergist clears him for a food challenge I am not willing to risk exposing him to a potentially lethal legume.  He also will rarely, if ever, eat meat.  Unless it is bacon.  And who doesn't like bacon, I mean, seriously!


My husband eats anything, and is grateful I cook and grocery shop.  And my 4 year old eats a very select set of foods which include things like cheese sandwiches, hot dogs and bacon.  Mixed with the occasional vegetable, a huge variety of fruits and even a few bites of salad.  


Which brings me to the challenge of preparing a meal that we first CAN eat, and then secondly that we WILL eat.  


I am open to ideas.  


I did recently make a Crock Pot Lasagna for my husband and I that was yummy and pretty easy.  Though, I am not sure why making it in the crock pot is necessary since you still have to brown the meat, onions, garlic and sauce before mixing it with the other ingredients.  I took the recipe from my friend Leahs blog.  Visit her at: http://leahsthoughts.com/.  She is a wonderful cook and posts a ton of recipes on her site.


Here is the recipe she used, with my modifications in parenthesis

Easy Crockpot Lasagna (adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything)

1 pound ground beef (I used extra lean turkey burger)

1/2 cup diced white or yellow onion

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 (24 – 26 oz.) jar of spaghetti sauce (I only had half a jar, so I added a can of tomato sauce)

1/2 cup water

1 (15 oz.) container of ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese (I used 8 ounces of mozzarella balls and mashed them up)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. dried parsley (subbed Italian Seasoning, since I was out of parsley)

6 – 8  uncooked lasagna noodles (Gluten free no-boil noddles)

In a large skilled, brown the beef and onions. Add garlic. Add spaghetti sauce and water. Simmer for about five minutes. Meanwhile, mix the ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 2 Tbsp. Parmesan and parsley in a large bowl.

Pour 1 cup of spaghetti meat sauce into a 4 to 6 quart-sized crock pot. Place half of the noodles and half of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce. You will have to break up the noodles to get them to fit. Then cover with 2 cups of meat sauce, the remaining noodles, cheese mixture, and the remaining meat mixture.

Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, or until noodles are soft. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover and let the cheese melt. Let the lasagna stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Closing notes on this recipe:

The turkey burger was dry.  I think that using ground beef would be juicier and more flavorful.

I also missed the way that cheese bubbles and crusts on a baked lasagna.

Savoury Muffins

Savoury Muffins (c/- Australian Babies and Toddler's Good Food Cookbook)

2 cups self raising flour

1/2 cup finely chopped ham (didn't use)

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (used 1 cup)

1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms (none in fridge)

1 small red capsicum (pepper)

1 Tbs of finely chopped parsley (didn't have)

125g melted butter (used 3 Tbs of olive oil)

1 cup milk (used vanilla almond milk)

1 beaten egg

I also added in 1 cup frozen corn - I think creamed corn & some zucchini would have also been yummy.

Combine first 6 ingredients. Stir in butter, milk and eggs, just don't overmix. Divide into muffin tins and cook for 15 mins at 400. Makes 24 mini muffins

Storage - covered in fridge for up to 2 days, or freezer suitable

Healthy Breakfast Muffins - sweetish

Since A starts Kinder next week, I've been trying to get organised and think of things that all the boys can eat on the way to school in the car.......I know I'll be huffing and puffing about all the extra mess, but there's just no way we'll ever sit down and eat breakie at the table during the week, no way!

I just gave these two recipes a whirl - one sweetish & one savoury, both got a thumbs up from the boys. Of course, there were some substitutions made depending on what I had in the fridge/ cupboard, & the boys' palates, so I'll include the original recipe and also the changes that I just made.

Healthy Breakfast Muffins (marthastewart.com)

Ingredients:

1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour

1⁄2 cup dark brown sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1⁄2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1⁄2 cup raisins

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large egg

1/3 cup skim milk

4 medium carrots, shredded

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

Directions:

Servings: 12

Ready in: 40 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan wit

h cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and salt until there are no lumps. Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots and banana and stir until blended.

2. Fill each muffin cup with 1⁄4 cup batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. To store, keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

My substitutions:

Used self-raising flour instead of AP flour, baking soda & baking powder

Used cinnamon instead of nutmeg

Used quick oats instead of old fashioned

Used vanilla almond milk instead of cows milk

Cooked muffins in a mini tin for 12 minutes at 400.

Roasted Vegetables

This isn't really a recipe at all, but rather more of a starting point for quick meals during the week.

Every Sunday, I try to roast a big pan of vegetables to have on hand. Usually I toss chopped onions, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast them at 400 degrees until they're tender and brown, but you could use whatever combination you like. Then I just put them in the fridge to use for various meals:

• as a side dish, with a rotisserie chicken from Costco and a loaf of bread
• mixed with eggs and a little bit of cheese for a vegetable frittata
• tossed with cooked couscous, parsley, feta, olive oil, and lemon juice, served with chicken sausages from Trader Joe's
• inside a quesadilla
• mixed into a big salad
• over a baked potato with a little bit of mozzarella or cottage cheese for protein
  
• cold, out of the pan, at the counter (instead of, or at least before, all of the candy in the house)

Again, this isn't a recipe or particularly creative, but it helps me to have something healthy in the fridge that's ready to go when I need it.

Slow Cooked Stuffed Peppers

I don't do much crock-pot cooking, but when I do, I always think, "I should totally be cooking more stuff in my crock-pot!" Anyway, here is an easy and yummy recipe for stuffed peppers using the crock-pot. I prep the peppers the night before and then throw all the stuff in before I leave in the morning. And it makes the house smell so yummy when I get home!

Slow Cooked Stuffed Peppers

1 package (about 7 oz) Spanish rice mix
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup diced celery
1 small onion, diced
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
1 package taco seasoning
1 egg, beaten
3 med green bell peppers, halved lengthwise, cored and seeded
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed tomato soup, undiluted*
1 cup water

1. Set aside seasoning packet from rice. Combine turkey, rice, celery, onion, chilies, taco seasoning and egg in a large bowl. Divide mixture evenly among pepper halves.

2. Pour tomatoes with juice into slow cooker. Arrange filled pepper halves on top of tomatoes. Combine soup, water and reserved rice mix seasoning packet in medium bowl. Pour over peppers. Cover; cook on LOW 8-10 hours.

* Last time I made these, I used about 2 cups of Trader Joe's Low Sodium Tomato Soup instead of condensed soup and maybe a half cup of water. It made them a little more saucey (which we liked), so feel free to play around with the soup/water mixture.

Perfect Pasta

I should be Italian. I really should be. I feel that way back in my family someone must have been Italian. There is no other way to explain just how much I love Italian food. I think I could eat it every meal. Really, I could. Imagine my delight when a few months ago my beloved Bon Appetit arrived in the mail and it was devoted to everything Italian. I was in heaven; I couldn't put it down. Now, imagine how excited I was to discover a whole article on making the perfect pasta. Oh, giddy night before a field trip excited. In that article I found the simplist, most delish pasta sauce recipe that I have ever had, and it only has 5 ingredients.

Cacio E Pepe (serves 2)

Kosher salt

6 ounces pasta (I use whole wheat spaghetti)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, divided (use a really flavorful butter. I made this at my mom's and it wasn't as good because her butter was not all that tasty)

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

3/4 cup finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan

1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino*

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5 quart pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add pepper and cook, swirling pan, until toasted, about 1 minute.

Add 1/2 cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring to a simmer. Add pasta and remaining butter. Reduce heat to low and add Grana Padano, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. Remove pan from heat; add Pecorino, stirring and tossing until cheese melts, sauce coats the pasta, and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls and serve.

The most amazing thing about this recipe is how it is just begging to be modified. Toss some broccoli in the water at the last minute or two, maybe saute some mushrooms in the butter and add some peas. Whatever your tastes are, experiment to suit. My favorite modification is a corn sauce that I make all too often right now. I made it for a dinner party on Saturday and everyone said it was their favorite sauce of the night. The ground corn creates a creamy, milky sauce. Yum.

Cacio E Pepe with Corn (serves 2)

Kosher salt

6 ounces pasta (I use whole wheat spaghetti)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, divided

Kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn. Set aside 1/2 the kernels.

1 medium onion diced

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan*

1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino*

Using a mortar and pestle, grind 1/2 the corn kernels until they have released all milk and are pretty much mush. Set aside.

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5 quart pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in pan, add pepper and onion. Saute onion until it is translucent but not browned. Add whole corn kernels, season with salt and cook about 4 minutes, or until corn is cooked through. Add 1/2 cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring to a simmer. Add pasta and remaining butter. Add ground corn kernels, tossing with tongs to incorporate. Reduce heat to low and add parmesan, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. Remove pan from heat; add Pecorino, stirring and tossing until cheese melts, sauce coats the pasta, and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls and serve.

*Trader Joe's sells a Parmesan/Pecorino mix that I use for everything. This is what I used for these recipes.