Our First Thanksgiving

This year was Meatlover and I's first Thanksgiving living together.  He couldn't come to the big get together my family was having because of work so I made him a dinner earlier in the week.  We had cottage cheese, deviled eggs, mashed potatos, dinner rolls, steamed corn on the cob, and honey ham with a basic brown sugar glaze.    He loved it and had tons of the ham.  Although he is sick of the leftovers.  I think next year I will get a smaller one.  I decorated our table with a dish towel but I still think it was cute!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

He Liked It So I Did It Again!

Because he liked it so much when he wasn't feeling well I made it again for him to take to work.  This time he had the same summer sausage, hard boiled eggs, munster cheese, and crackers.  He also got red grapes and carrots to go along with it.  I did make a little mistake here.  I packaged the crackers with the other things and they got a little mushy.  I won't do that one again. 

Steak and Bruchetta Mariara

So I decided to treat Meatlover and buy him some meaty steaks! He had to cook them though cuz I didn't know how.  Turns out neither does he as he burnt them.  He still said it was really good though.  He added his own spices and flavorings and I think he said it turned out well. 

I didn't want to miss out on having a yummy meal so I made myself a new fave.  I call it Bruchetta Mariara.  It is the Boca Bruchetta Burgers with some marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.  It was amazingly good and so filling!

We both had cottage cheese with our meals.  Meatlover opted for corn over peas, but I like peas better.  This meal was so good and so filling.  I am trying to eat more meals like this. 

Anyone have some good BOCA meal ideas?

Hotsauce's Burrito

 Hotsauce is my middle sister and she couldn't decide what to eat so she went with a burrito.  She made it all by herself which wasn't new as she makes it all the time, but it still looked very nice.  To go along with her burrito she decided on corn and a banana.  This was a big thing for her as fruits and veggies are not really her friends.  She did love these and was glad I let her choose them. 

Peahater's Ranch Strips

I had both of my sister's staying with me for a weekend this September.  Peahater you have met before. Hotsauce is my middle sister and she is named such because she puts hotsauce on everything!!   Anyways, while they were here I told them they were going to make their own dinner.  I took them to our local walmart and said to pick up whatever looked good and I would give them ideas of what they could make with it.  Peahater thought chicken and ranch sounded good.  I remembered seeing a commerical about ranch burgers and thought I could make that work for her.  The first picture is her cutting the chicken into strips, something that was very new to her.  The second picture is strips on the pan, and the third picture is of her meal.  She had carrots and strawberries with her strips.  She liked them alot and so did Meatlover.  I think they were quick and simple to make even though  Peahater made a big mess.  She was not a fan of the dredging process.  Her fingers got all crusty!!

Chicken Ranch Strips

Frozen chicken breasts

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip

bread crumbs

1 beaten egg

flour

Cut partially thawed chicken breast into 1 in strips.  Dip each strip into flour, egg, and breadcrumbs seasoned with ranch packet.  Put on a cookie sheet and bake until chicken is fully cooked and crumbs are golden brown.  

Creamy Spinach Penne

So I branched out and made this creamy spinach penne.  I started by cooking up some whole wheat penne.  Then in another pan I melted a few tablespoons of butter and added some flour to make a rue.  I let the flour cook out and added some milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  I let that cook and mixed in some drained and thawed frozen spinach.  Then I just mixed it alltogether and added a little parm. It was good, but I think next time I will add some cheese to the white sauce.  It needed a little more flavor. 
What kind of cheese would you suggest?

Hard Rice...why?

This is yet another failed meal and unfortunatly Meatlover had to eat it.  The rice is a fried rice gone bad.  I used my normal recipe which has worked before but for some unknown reason this rice was just hard.  It seemed like the water just barely permeated it.  If anyone knows why comment please!
To go along with his fail of a main corse he had carrots, frozen peas, frozen corn, and an big beautiful naval orange.

Cauliflower :)

So I love broccoli and cauliflower and this was leftover after the Kabobs. I decided to have it as a snack with a little ranch dip. It was soo yummy!

Kabobs..and lots of SMOKE!!!

So Meatlover and I attempted to make Kabobs the other day. Mine, in the foil, were cauliflower an potato. His were chicken, onion, and potato. They didn't turn out well! Meatlover's potato was too big so his chicken took forever to cook. Mine hardly cooked at all. It just smoked and smoked. We had to stop or the smoke alarm would have gone off. I didn't really like how the cauliflower tasted and my potato was still raw. I made myself some cereal and called it a night..Matt ate most of his and thought it was pretty good. We probably won't make this again so we don't get all the smoke.

Bread and Soup

I was hungry the other night but didn't really feel like cooking at all. So i quickly opened a can of 98% fat free broccoli and cheese soup microwaved it and added some parm. I ate it with a hunk of baguette.

A Disney Pasta Dinner

So I wish all of our dinners could look like this. These dinners were served on our Simba and Ariel children's plate and bowel sets. It keeps the portions small and forces me to add the fruits and veggies. Mine is the one on the left. It has cucumber and a little sour cream ranch, strawberries, and pasta with a mix of garlic alfredo and EVOO. Meatlover has spaghetti minus the meat, carrots, and strawberries. Meatlover would have had meat but I forgot to make it. UH OH..my bad!

Rachael Ray Recipe ala Veggie (me)

I was watching Rachael Ray the other day while sick and she was making Honey Mustard Chicken. I was inspired and said, Hey I can do that! So on Saturday morning I did. My recipe is a little different then hers though as I didn't have parsnips I just used potatoes. I also substituted soy sauce for Worcestershire. I'm not sure if they are at all close but it still worked. My family all tried it and said the chicken needed to simmer longer with sauce and that the veggies needed some more time on the heat to soften up more. Over all it was a big hit and something I may alter to be more veggie friendly..why not!

Subtastic Lunch for Mealover

Here is the lunch I referenced in the last post. While doing our midnight shopping run the other day we picked up some sub loafs on the clearance bakery cart. I thought oh that would be great for his lunches so we picked them up. I used them to make this lunch. On his sub there is honey ham and turkey as well as some provolone cheese and onion. In his small container he had a navel orange pre pealed and some carrots. He later told me the sub was amazing but needed something else. Maybe I need to buy some lettuce or other veggies to fill it out a bit. He also mentioned he was still hungry so he bought a yogurt to go with his food. I figured out why too. I usually add pistachios or sunflower seeds to his meal to add more protein and fiber, but I forgot to on this day.

Cheese and Cracker Dinner

Whist I was sick I found myself eating a TON of cheese and crackers. I bought the multigrain like club crackers and they are so good. The texture is perfect for adding cheese. So Thursday night as I was feeling quite a bit better I made this for myself. I love all of the colors, flavors, and textures I have on this little pink plate. It made for a very pleasing meal, and remarkably filling. I had three kinds of cheese that I originally bought to make that killer grilled cheese but just folded apart for the crackers. I also had carrots and strawberries with Nutella.

Meatlover in the Kitchen

A few days ago I managed to get Meatlover into the Kitchen. I decided he would help me make his supper, breaded chicken breast. Above you can see Meatlover cutting the breasts into halves. (We later learned that 3rds would have worked better) He then dipped the pieces into flour; egg; and finally a mixture of plain bread crumbs, lemon pepper seasoning, black pepper, Valencia orange peel, chipotle chili powder, and chopped parsley.


We then took the meat and cooked in in a good layer of EVOO. It ended up with a nice crust on it. Unfortunately because the meat was so thick it took too long to cook which caused the crust to kind of fall off of the meat. We also made up so yummy corn on the cob for us to eat with our meal ( I had a Boca burger). It was good but I cant wait till later this summer so we can have some of the nice juicy corn!! YUMM!! Below is the final picture of the chicken.

A Classic...

Yep, that's right..its Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese. I used to hate this combination so much but as I got older I started to love it. I know I'm weird but unlike most people this was not a staple in my childhood. We always had our grilled cheese with ketchup, a combination I just cant stand. I have always loved grilled cheese. There is something about heating it up and that buttery crust that takes a boring cheese sandwich to a whole different level. This meal was so filling and comforting I ended up eating it three times in 2 days. Yumm.

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta

We have sort of been on a pasta kick around here lately. Its cheep and oh so filling. Here is meatlovers lunch from earlier this week. It contains the pasta we have been eating almost every meal, spaghetti. He also has strawberries and carrots. So filling, So little points. This was about 5 or 6 in total! The blue container in the picture is where we are keeping our cooked noodles. We have been making up a big batch and keeping it in the fridge so we can eat it whenever. Its been working very well.

Not just any salad..its BLUE!

So what do I have to say about this salad..well not much..the romaine tasted funny and it was lacking texture but man does it look pretty. I topped it with Blue Cheese dressing. I love that stuff!

He ate this..I had cereal

New recipe people..OH YEAH!! This time its potstickers. I almost forgot to take a picture so the one above is of just one of them just seconds before he ate it. It took me so long to cook it and figure out the recipe, I made it myself, that I just ate cereal. I was too tired to make my own. So do u want the recipe? Well here you go.

Potstickers
(exact measurements not needed)
Pork sausage, precooked
Red onion, grated
Carrot, grated
Egg roll wrappers
Egg
Beef Stock
Oil
Soy sauce
First mix sausage, onion, and carrot together in a bowl. Then add just enough egg to kind of make it all stick together. Place a spoonful on the wrapper and wrap according to package directions. Add a thin layer of oil to a pan and place potstickers in the pan so they don't touch. When the wrapper is golden brown on both sides add about half an inch of stock to the pan and cover with lid. When the liquid is all boiled out remove from pan. Serve warm with soy sauce.

Meatlover's Watermelon Lunch

Today Meatlovers meal consisted of honey ham and american cheese sandwiches, carrots, and watermelon. It was 14 points and he said it was really good, although he thinks watermelon doesn't keep well in these containers. It tasted a bit off but still really good.