Kicked up Krispies

We have been on a marshmallow crispy kick recently, we have made them 4 times in the past 10 days.  Luckily most of them have left our house shortly after being made.  They are one of those foods I find myself picking at until the entire pan has suddenly disappeared.  We made two regular batches, cut into triangles and topped with a piece of candy corn for school bake sales.  Then we made a batch that we turned into pumpkins.  We formed them into balls, dipped in orange chocolate,  used a green Mike-n-Ike as a stem and M&M's for eyes - the kids loved making these. 

Our last batch was an experimentation that I did with the kids, this batch stayed home, it was the most dangerous batch and really should have left the house, immediately.  On a recent trip to Colorado we went to the Hammond candy factory in Denver, it is a fun tour and a great way to spend a couple of hours, plus you can get some wonderful deals on their candy.  On the day we were there they were selling all their candy canes for .25 cents, so I loaded up for Christmas, I also loaded up on their Mitchell candies.  At the factory store they sell bags of mushed up ends for, I think $5.00, these candies aren't pretty, but they are still delicious.   I had a partial bag of Vanilla Mitchells, a partial bag of mini marshmallow and a partial box of Rice Krispies.  Melt the Mitchells and the marshamallows add the Rice Krispies and you have creamy caramel crunchy yumminess.  I definitely wouldn't do this with a "nice" bag of Mitchells, since they sell for over $20 a pound, but it is a great use for the "ugly" bags.  I only wish they sold these bags on-line and not just in the factory, actually I don't otherwise I would be making these way too often. 

Battle - Salad!!

My kids, Liam in particular, love the food challenges on Food Network, so I challenged them to the Ultimate Salad Battle.  We get our vegetable delivery on Wednesday and they had to see how many of the items in the box they could use to create the best salad ever.  At first they didn't think about using the fruit, for them dinner and salad means vegetables.  We have fruit salad for breakfast or lunch, the idea of oranges and apples at dinner was a little strange for them, and this is why I like cooking with my kids, it helps me realize what I am teaching them without knowing it.  I have taught them that fruits are not part of dinner, this is not something I have ever said, but have taught them this by not making fruits a part of dinner.  Now that I know this I can now make an effort to find ways to include fruits and vegetables into our evening meals.   What do you teach your kids about food without realizing?

 

My youngest helped by taking a bite out of everything

Another Squash Recipe

It must be Fall, it seems as if we are eating squash in some form with every meal.  Most weeks we have at least one meal with squash as the main dish, then if there are leftovers it reappears later in the week.  As much as I like squash I am running out of ideas and I don't know how many more times I can get the kids to eat squash soup.  Tonight I paired leftover acorn squash with pasta, not original but always popular.   The squash had been baked with brown sugar and butter, so it was pretty sweet, to balance out the sweetness I added bacon, sage, chicken stock and a little heavy cream.   I like a nice crusty bread with every meal, but there was none in the house so I baked off some pita chips, not the same but helped provide a nice crunch, some pumpkin seeds or nuts sprinkled on top would have also been a good addition.  It was a good quick meal and used up some leftovers, and I'm always happy when I can use those dreaded leftovers. 

Squash and Pasta

2 Acorn Squash - baked with butter and brown sugar, skin removed
1 lb Pasta cooked (I only had bow ties, but penne or rigatoni would be best)
5 Strips bacon diced
1 onion
1 Tbs. Fresh Sage finely chopped
1 cup Chicken stock
1/4 cup Heavy cream
Parmesan cheese

Saute bacon, add onions.  When bacon is browned and onions are soft add sage cook just to release flavor.  Add stock, heavy cream, squash and pasta heat until warm.  Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Menu Planning Monday

Another week and another menu, added bonus, this week I am actually doing it on Monday!!

Monday - sasuage and potatoes - I'm not exactly sure what I'm making.  I thought there was a traditional New England dish with sasuage and potatoes, but I can't seem to find anything, I guess it's just my food imagination at work

Tuesday - Slow cooker squash stew

Wednesday - Salad  with steak - we get our vegetable delivery on Wednesday and Liam has two loves making salads and food challenges on FoodTV, so I thought we would try a salad challenge for our kids cook night. 

Thursday -  still deciding

Friday - Roast Chicken - Tuesday is my usual slow cooker night, but this week Friday is also super crazy so I'll break it out twice.

Halloween Cake

We had our neighborhood Halloween party this weekend.  One of the events is a cakewalk, which is always popular, but this year prizes were given out for the best decorated.  There were a lot of great cakes, but there could only be one winner and the winner was my candy barrel cake.  It is definitely a cool looking cake, but there is not much decoration on it and I think there were other cakes that should have won.  My favorite was the Frankenstein.  This cake is very easy to make and is great if you need something last minute, but still want a lot of wow factor.  It is made using two 9" round cakes stacked, I filled the layers with just buttercream, but you could add your favorite filling.  Ice the entire cake, you don't need to worry about the appearance, I didn't bother with a crumb coating and just added one thick coating.  Before the icing sets stick candy bars around the outside of the cake, I used Kit Kats, they work out perfectly as they are just a little taller than the cakes, but there are a lot of other options - peppermint sticks would be fun for a winter themed cake.   Cover the top of the cake with M&M's or your favorite small candy hiding as much of the icing as you can.  I used one and a half large bags of peanut M&M's which is a lot of candy, but makes for a fun cake.  This cake is not easy to cut.  When serving at a party I find it is easier to disassemble it before cutting and then giving a little bit of the different candies with each piece.  If you are enjoying it in the privacy of your own home I say just pick away at it and enjoy.

Stomboli

We were supposed to go out on Friday night, but after a long week we just weren't up for it and decided to change plans.  Which meant we need something for dinner that would be quick and easy.  Enter, Stromboli.  I am a fan of anything that hides some of its ingredients and allows the use of those random bits of food that you have leftover at the end of the week.  This week we had some marinara sauce, one uncooked chicken breast, a head of broccoli and some mozzarella.  I made the pizza dough and while it was rising I poached the chicken in white wine and steamed the broccoli.  I used my steamer pot to cook the chicken and steamed the broccoli above it.  Once the chicken and broccoli were cooked I diced them into small pieces.  When the dough was done I divided it in half and rolled it out into two rectangles.  Spread the marinara sauce, leaving about 1/2" boarder on the edges.  Then sprinkeled the chicken, broccoli and mozzarella on top.   Bring the sides up and crimp together, closing tightly.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parmasan cheese, bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.  Serve with a nice salad and you have a great, sort of quick meal. 

Crunchy Kale

I hate kale.  Unless it is like this.  Tossed with oil, salt and pepper and baked, then drizzled with vinegar, and I can eat an entire bunch.  I just devor it, last night I ate half of it before dinner.  I think it is the mouth feel.  It becomes so airy and crunch, it just vanishes when you put it in your mouth.  Plus I am a complete sucker for anything with salt and vinegar.  My kids even eat this stuff, again I think it is because of the texture,  it really is fun to eat.  I haven't tried it with any other leafy green, but I have read you can use almost any type.   I paired this with lemon chicken and we had a meal that everyone ate.  Such a happy day.

This is my receipe for lemon chicken.  I have never written it down before, but it is something I make at least once a month.  The receipe came from my Mom, who doesn't have much interest in the kitchen, but this was one meal she enjoyed making and eating, so I have been eating this dish for a long time

Lemon Chicken

4 Chicken bonless chicken breasts cut into bite sized cubes

1/2 onion diced
2 Tbs butter
2 lemons - thinly slice one lemon
1/4 cup flour
2 cups Chicken broth

Sautee chicken until golden brown.  Remove chicken from pan leaving all the little bits in the pan.  Add a little more olive oil and sautee onions. Once soft add the butter, when melted add the flour cook for a few minutes.  Add the sliced lemons, allow the juices to come out.  Add the chicken broth and juice from second lemon cook until thick.  Return chicken to pan and cook for about 5 minutes. 

My Mom always served this with peas and rice, but you can decided on your own sides.   Like I said the kale is fabulous.