School Time Snack Ideas

Does anyone have any great school snack ideas? Claire's first grade class is asking for people to just randomly bring snacks in that the teacher can pass out before they go to recess. They need to be something easy and fast and preferably, not sugar. It all sounds great, but I think that the kids are gonna end up with a lot of pretzles and grahm crackers. Anyone have any other great ideas?

Another Fun Find

I have a weakness for cookbooks and the other day I found this at TJ Maxx for only $4.99! What a lucky find.

The meals are definitely not gourmet, but most little kids don't want gourmet anyway. I haven't tried any of the recipes, but they look very family-friendly. The whole intro in the book is about how dinnertime should be a family affair and a chance to bond with our kids. (Has anyone else heard a lesson or two about that?) I really need to work on getting my kids involved with dinner preparations and making mealtime an enjoyable (rather than stressful) experience together. Each page in this book has an idea for "Together Time." For example:
"Color a tablecloth. Cover your table with brown paper or butcher paper, get out the crayons or markers and let the kids draw their neighborhood..." OR "Mix thing up for a little excitement on Wacky Wednesday. Serve dessert first, and pour your beverage into bowls to sip through straws. Have family members wear sunglasses or eat with their mittens on."
Doesn't that sound fun? These are obviously not things to do every night, but maybe once a week. It could be used as an incentive on the other nights for the kids to eat all their healthy food. If you guys want more of the "Together Time" ideas, I'll post more. I'm excited to try some of Betty's ideas.

Cooking For Your Freezer

A few days ago Mical asked about recipes that freeze well. I was thinking about that, and I realized that I do not make good use of my freezer. I was looking on The Prepared Pantry web site and thought they had some useful information:

"If your home is like ours, we routinely put leftovers in the refrigerator. Than we forget about them and in a few days, throw them out. How much better to wrap them, freeze them, label them and use them at a later date. And when you're cooking that favorite casserole, why not double the batch, make two, and freeze the second? If we have a selection of favorite family foods in the freezer, we can bail ourselves out on those busy days when we just don't have time to cook.

Your freezer can save you money in a number of ways. On those busy days when there is no time to cook—and for most of us, there are too many of those days—we either reach for a store-bought prepared food, call out to the restaurant for delivery, or jump in the car and go out to eat. All three solutions are expensive. Grabbing a casserole, some frozen rolls, and a dessert form the freezer is quicker, better, and will save money."


Some Commonly Prepared Foods and How to Freeze Them

• Casseroles: Undercook casseroles when practical. To freeze, wrap the casserole tightly in foil to avoid air pockets. Use within four to six months. Reheat in an oven at 400 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Meatloaf: You can freeze your meatloaf baked or unbaked. Use within three or four months. If unbaked, cook the meatloaf for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees or reheat a baked meatloaf for one hour.
• Other cooked meats: Remove as much fat from the meat as possible before freezing. Keep the pieces large and cover with gravy or broth if possible. Use within two to four months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat for 20 minutes in a hot oven.
• Potatoes: Store mashed potatoes in a covered container. Consider cutting baked potatoes lengthwise, mashing the contents, and refilling the shell before freezing. French fries can be frozen. Reheat them on a baking sheet at 400 degrees.
• Quick breads: Wrap the bread in aluminum foil to freeze. Use within two or three months. Thaw it at room temperature or reheat it in a warm oven (325 degrees).
• Yeast breads: Consider slicing the bread before freezing. Place the bread in plastic bags and then wrap the loaves tightly in foil. Thaw the bread at room temperature or reheat it at 300 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes. Consider toasting individual slices to thaw.
• Cakes: Unfrosted cakes such as fruit cakes and angel food cakes freeze well. Consider slicing them before freezing so that you can get our just what you need. Wrap the entire cake in foil or wrap individual slices to freeze. Cakes with shortening or butter should be used within four months. Many types of icing do not freze well.
• Cookies: Store baked cookies in heavy plastic bags and use within two months. If stored in foil in rigid, airtight containers, the cookies may be stored for up to six months.


For more info: http://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=243

My Husband Martho Stewart

I'm not sure if he is serious, but Collin wanted to know if he is allowed to publish stuff on here because he is cooking now. He actually answered the door wearing my girliest apron which is lavender gingham with yellow flowered ruffles on it. 

Anyway, yesterday he made the yummiest chicken from the Everyday Food cookbook he got for his birthday. I liked this way better than the same thing you order in a restaurant. The recipe calls for plain bread crumbs, but he used Panko (freeze-dried Japanese bread crumbs) and I think it made all the difference. You can buy them for pretty cheap at Trader Joe's. 

Chicken Parmigiana

3/4 c panko bread crumbs

3/4 c grated Parmesan

8 Chicken cutlets, sliced thin

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 c jarred tomato sauce

1/4 c olive oil

6 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into 8 1/4 inch thick slices

Heat broiler. Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan in pie plate. Season both sides of chicken with 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper. Dip chicken in beaten egg, then dredge in breadcrumb mixtures, turning to coat both sides. Spread tomato sauce on bottom of 10X15 inch baking dish. Heat 2 T oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place 4 chicken cutlets in skillet and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes on each side. Using a spatula, transfer the browned chicken cutlets to the baking dish, placing them on top of sauce. Repeat with remain oil and chicken cutlets. Top each cutlet with a slice of mozzarella. Broil 4 inches form heat source until sauce is hot and cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots, 5-8 min. Serve immediately. 

It makes me so happy that he cooks on the weekend now:)

Secret Veggie Power

(Katy, I think this idea is awesome!) So I am Tara McKinney. I am married to Katy's brother Collin and I live in Lewisburg, PA. I really enjoy cooking, knitting, reading mostly young adult and children's fiction and scrapbooking. The one thing that has improved at mealtime for us is using Jessica Seinfield's Deceptively Delicious cookbook. So far my kids like the mac and cheese with butternut squash, the blueberry oatmeal bars with spinach, scrambled eggs with cauliflower, pink pancakes with beets, yellow cake mix with pumpkin and I am hoping they will like the little graham cracker and yogurt sandwiches because I made them last night. I have looked everywhere for brown rice crispies (not cocoa flavor, regular). Does anyone know if I can get them at Trader Joe's? Anyway, back to the recipes from J.S. My kids hated the butter noodles with yellow squash, sweet potato hot cocoa and cauliflower frosting (duh on that last one). Has anyone else tried any of the recipes and had their kids like them? Anyway, I think it is really amusing that my daughter (who has actually thrown up at the table when we tried to have her eat some plain steamed butternut squash) ate as much butternut squash mac and cheese as her dad did last night. Does anyone else have a husband that likes to cook? Mine just started to cook dinner on Friday and Saturday night and I love it. It makes for a really relaxing weekend.