BeBa

Isn’t homeschooling fun? Cooking is part of Bailey’s curriculum, and today’s assignment was making Cake in a Mug! HM happened to have a half day of school today, so she joined in the fun.

It was a messy endeavor (since tweens were involved) and delicious. They made me a mug of cake, too. Homeschooling rocks!

Here’s all you do:

Microwave Cake in a Mug

adapted from Chocolate Cake in 5 Minutes

1. Assemble your ingredients:

4 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a mug: flour, sugar, cocoa.

3. Crack the egg into the bowl and mix it in.

4. Stir in the milk and oil

5. Microwave on high (1000 watts) for three minutes.

6. Dig in.

I had mine with some milk splashed in. A scoop of ice cream or dollop of fresh whipped cream would have been mighty fine, though. Mighty fine.

This flavorful sweet potato salad makes a unique side dish. It also made a light and delicious vegetarian supper the next day!

This week our CSA bounty included four tender new sweet potatoes. My husband typically (irrationally!) hates sweet potatoes, but our friendly CSA farmer girl enclosed a recipe for this unique salad that I just HAD to try. With so many layers of strong flavors, I thought maybe he could enjoy sweet potatoes prepared this way. At least, I decided, that if he didn’t like sweet potatoes with FETA, then I would be sadly convinced that he’s never going to like sweet potatoes.

So, we had this for dinner Friday night with steak and butterflake rolls. The verdict? My husband said, “You could almost fool me into thinking these are NOT sweet potatoes!” He liked it! He ate it!

>> Read more and get the recipe for Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Onions and Feta

I don’t know who conceived of this marriage between vodka and marinara, but it is a heavenly one.

For a busy mama faced with a last minute dinner decision, it is a dream come true: Delicious, easy-yet-sophisticated, requires only a few ingredients and fairly quick to assemble.

As an added bonus: It’s vegetarian.

And, at least in my house, the kids LOVE it.

You don’t have to break out the Gray Goose for a quick weeknight meal, but for a truly fabulous dining experience, you should probably use the best ingredients you can find – especially the vodka and the Parmesan.

>> Click for Whole Wheat Penne with Vodka Cream Sauce recipe

Update on our vegetarian adventure…

Well, we’re not even remotely vegetarian and likely never will be, but I HAVE managed to reduce red meat meals to only one per week, plus we have incorporated 1-3 vegetarian dinners into the meal plan each week. This represents a significant improvement in the healthfulness of our diets!

Also improved is the variety in our meals. My husband is really enjoying this. He loves trying new things – the more exotic the better (franky, more exotic than he’s ever likely to get from me; I’ll never make food with tentacles, let alone eat it!). I’m a midwestern-raised girl, so my food tastes and experiences have long been quite midwesternly conventional (cow, pig, chicken). I don’t think I even tasted my first gyro until I was in college – and I never even considered ordering something as strange as falafel!

So my husband was a little surprised when he saw falafel appear on the menu plan for this week. He was also a little uncertain. He was pretty sure he wasn’t in love with falafel when he tried it in the past. But my research indicated that it is a mainstay for vegetarians and reading various recipes, considering the ingredients and how they blended – I was pretty sure I would like it.

I wasn’t so sure about the kids, though. However, they LOVE hummus, so I presented this as something “kind of like hummus, but cooked differently.” It didn’t hurt that it smelled wonderful as I was preparing it. Garlic and cilantro, cumin and coriander. Cucumber, yogurt and dill. Yum. It was so fresh and delicious – a real pleasure to prepare!

Anyway, we ALL loved it so much (hubby included) that the only problem was I didn’t make enough! I would absolutely double the recipe next time, so everyone got enough for dinner and there would be some leftovers for me and my boy the next day.

>> How to make Pita Falafel at home

Deep in the back of my cookbook cupboard, I unearthed a long-forgotten gem: Best of the Best from Arizona Cookbook. I’m not even sure where this came from, but I browsed through it the other night and my mouth was watering. We are huge Mexican, Tex-Mex, southwestern fusion, etc. food addicts here.

Last week we tried a new enchilada recipe that was a hit! This week we had a enchilada variation that I found in the Arizona cookbook. The recipe may call itself tacos, but this is more like an open face enchilada or enchilada casserole – or even an enchilada pie. Personally, I prefer to make enchiladas this way – so much easier than the hassle of rolling flaky corn tortillas (a task I just hate).

Unlike the previous enchilada recipe, this, um, is not particularly… healthy. It is, however, nutritious and creamy and comforting and OH-so-delicious. Another rave-worthy hit in our household! The kids, the husband – they were all nuts for it.

Kids in the kitchen: It was a gorgeous day yesterday and the kids were outside on their bikes and scooters playing in the park with friends. I was perfectly happy for it to be that way. Had there been a child around, cheese shredding would have been a useful occupation.

Tip: That does remind me, though. I used to always keep packaged shredded cheddar on hand for the convenience factor, but the kids LOVE to shred cheese and it’s such a useful way for them to be involved with me in the kitchen (without being underfoot or otherwise a nuisance) that I’ve taken to buying blocks of cheese just so they can help out. It’s cheaper anyway, and personally I prefer the texture and flavor of freshly grated cheese.

Side dish: I kept it simple… steamed asparagus and some orange sections. I also served this with fresh, chopped jalepeño on the side, because my honey likes it that way. He sprinkled them on top of his portion for the additional flavor – and some heat.

Planning ahead: I’m so organized! (For once!) As I was planning my menus this week, I decided I would work smart. Last night we had the cream taco casserole. I grilled and chopped twice as much chicken as I needed and stored half in the fridge for dinner tonight (which is Jen’s BBQ chicken rollups). Hoo-ha! Thanks, Jen!

>> Click here for the Cream Taco Casserole recipe

We had this for dinner last night. You should have it for dinner tonight!

My 12 year old watched me prepare this meal and asked, “Mom, are enchiladas hard to make?” In fact, they are not difficult, but they have quite a few steps and dirty a lot of dishes/pans. Plan on needing about an hour from start to dinner plate.

Kids in the kitchen: My 10 year old shredded cheese. My 12 year old opened the cans of enchilada sauce and green chiles, plus she set the table and moved all the lunch/snack dishes from the counter to the dishwasher. Next time I’ll probably also have her chop the chicken and assemble a few of the enchiladas, but with time a-wastin’, that’s requires a more leisurely day, like a weekend meal.

Husband in the kitchen: My wonderful husband washed up the bowls and pans as I moved on to the next steps, which helped keep the overall mess at a minimum. <smooch>

Family review: It was a hit! The sauce was a little bit spicy – perhaps a bit spicier than the kids preferred. We had this with steamed corn and tortilla chips and sliced strawberries on the side. The kids used the chips to “dip” into the enchiladas and that helped them deal with the heat. These were super yummy. I loved the chicken rub and the hint of cilantro. My husband was so happy. He loves Mexican and spicy foods and he was SO happy to have something that wasn’t vegetarian or pasta or beans for a change and that actually had MEAT in it. He said “dinner was so good tonight!” at least five times throughout the evening, including right at bedtime. Would I make this again? You bet!

>> Read on for the Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe!

I love pasta, but I don’t usually have a lot of variations – most of my creations are some combination of noodles, ground beef, red sauce and cheese. Sometimes I’ll get crazy and alfredo it up. I’m a busy working mom. I love to cook, but I just don’t have enough time or energy to play in the kitchen. Besides, my family is picky and they don’t want to try new foods.

Isn’t that lame? Because, really, there is no excuse! Going (somewhat) vegetarian has forced me out of my comfort zone with food and I’m finding it’s incredibly fast and easy to discover new recipes. We’ve had a couple flops, but we’ve also had some interesting successes. I’ve been impressed by how my family has taken to this culinary adventure.

This week so far we’ve tried two new pasta dishes.

• Garlicky White Beans, Sage and Orecchiette

• Whole-Wheat Pasta with Broccolini and Feta

>> Read on for recipes and my impressions of these meals

To get you caught up:

Day 2 of our vegetarian adventure I had chicken taquitos for dinner. It was one of those rare fend-for-yourselves nights. And technically I wasn’t ready for whole hog vegetarian, right? Right.

Day 3 of our vegetarian adventure we had Chick-Fil-A. Yes, I know. Lest you think I’m failing miserably at this so far, let me direct you to…

Day 4 of our vegetarian adventure… I had steak. See?! I can fail worse! It was good, too.

Day 5 of our vegetarian adventure we had a chicken/veggie stir fry with funny little pastas. I didn’t eat the chicken. It was okay. Simple, fast, bland, boring… but healthy. Everyone was satisfied except me. My palate doesn’t like boring. I need to get my menu plan and shopping list together so I can make more interesting fare.

Day 6 of our vegetarian adventure was pizza night. So much for planning and shopping. I’m on a tight work deadline and my kids all had dental appointments right after school. Even getting dinner made was too much of a challenge. I had a big salad (with bacon bits, I confess – the shame, the shame) and one large slice of cheese pizza.

<sigh>

>> Am I ever going to get this figured out? Read on…

Lately I’ve been dealing with some (relatively minor) health problems. To get my immune system back on track – and hopefully avoid surgery – my doctor referred me to a naturopathic doctor on her staff for an herbal protocol. In addition to supplements, the protocol also requires THREE MONTHS of vegetarian diet, heavy on the fruits and veggies.

Observing the horrified expression on my face, she backpedaled a teensy bit and said that if I absolutely must have meat, then I could have a small portion of chicken, turkey or fish no more than once per day. I barely like chicken. And fish/turkey not at all. I’m a red meat girl!!! And pork. So this is a blow.

Not to mention the challenge of preparing family dinners for anywhere from five to seven people! Initially, I just rejected the idea, but over the past week, I’m starting to come around. First of all, I certainly could stand to eat healthier. Plus, like most women six months postpartum, I could afford to lose a few pounds (like 30).

So I started doing some research on vegetarian recipes, and WOW have I been impressed with the results. I found some gems, like the following…

>> Check out these yummy vegetarian recipes