Nov 3rd, 2010 // Desserts, Recipes
My folks were in town for Halloween this year. On Halloween afternoon my father asked if we had purchased Halloween candy. We hadn’t because we planned to go to a kid-friendly Halloween party that evening. My father thought it would be a good idea to have candy in case trick or treaters showed up when we returned home. (Dad’s are always right!)
We got the kids dressed while my dad ran out to the store to pick up candy. He came home with a bag of Butterfingers and a bag of Snickers.
We headed off to our party and left the house dark. When we returned home there were a few kids still walking around the neighborhood. Our doorbell rang 4 or 5 times and we distributed candy by the handful, but by bedtime we still had a half a bag of Snickers.
The next day I had the bright idea of putting the Snickers in the food processor and baking with them. The mission was to make blondie that wasn’t too sweet and then cover it in snickers. The mission was accomplished with the help of my little astronaut. Now for the recipe…
Read more after the jump…
Nov 3rd, 2010 // Breakfast, Kid-tastic, Recipes
Months ago our friend, Amy, had us over for breakfast and proudly showed us a picture she’d torn out of a magazine featuring bacon and egg toast cups. She thought the kids would get a kick out of eating them.
Amy had already done all prep work of rolling out the bread, tucking them into muffin tins and preheating the oven. When we arrived she popped them right in to cook. Trouble is that Amy and I had quite a bit of catching up to do while our kids were running around like maniacs and our husbands didn’t exactly pay attention to what was going on in the kitchen. The result was some seriously overcooked bacon and egg toast cups. They got thrown in the trash and we feasted on bagels instead. My kid and I finally just got around to recreating them. So glad we did. Now for the recipe…
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Nov 1st, 2010 // Dinner, Most Popular, Recipes, Veggie Friendly
I know that substituting spaghetti squash for spaghetti is a healthy thing to do, but I find that it often comes out too watery. Also, um, I like spaghetti. Although recently when I saw a nice squash at the market it occurred to me that my kid might enjoy seeing the squash transform into ‘spaghetti’.
Turns out I was right! The scraping part was fascinating my kid and resulted in the added bonus of him trying some pieces along the way. Score 1 for spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute!
Oh, and my mom gave me this hot tip: drain the spaghetti squash in a colander while you are prepping the rest of the ingredients. It makes for a far less watery end result. Baking it also helped absorb some of the juices and the baked ‘pasta’ was delicious. Now for the recipe…
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Oct 31st, 2010 // Recipes, Sides
Seriously. We made the easiest dough ever last night then woke up in the morning, punched it down and baked it up in a pot. I think my husband is officially sick of hearing me say “I cannot believe we made this bread!” I think my kid is on his 5th slice. Or is it his 7th? Hard to keep track since we are all devouring it. Simple. Beautiful. Perfect. Addictive.
When she heard I was from New York, my new friend, Beth, asked if I had tried this Sullivan Street Bakery Recipe. “No, but I love Sullivan Street Bakery!” I responded. Beth was downright gleeful in explaining the simplicity of the recipe. Later, she leaned across the table and confessed that it was a household obsession.
I have always found bread to be intimidating, but Beth was pretty convincing. Plus, when I looked at the recipe I couldn’t believe that you basically just throw everything in one bowl, mix it up and transfer it to another greased bowl and go to bed.
In the morning you punch the dough down, form a round loaf and wrap it in a towel for a second rise.
Once it has risen you transfer it to a preheated pot and cook it in the oven with the top on.
We modified the orginal recipe to make the bread a bit more healthy. Adding some whole wheat flour seemed like the right thing to do. The result was simply gorgeous. Tastes pretty awesome with butter. Hmmm… does that cancel out the fact that we made it healthy? Now for the recipe…
Read more after the jump…
Oct 30th, 2010 // Swell Suppers
So many of you fine folks have emailed to ask me for advice on getting an entire meal on the table. We’re responding with a new series we’re calling Swell Suppers. Our Swell Supper posts will put some of our favorite dishes together to help simplify making dinner. Our first Swell Supper meal starts with kid-friendly Beef & Bowtie Stew. (We’ve also made a vegetarian friendly option!) The great thing about making a stew is that you can get everything else done while it’s cooking! Start by browning your meat according to the recipe and while it’s simmering you can make this amazing Halloween Candy inspired dessert.
When you are at the store picking up Halloween candy be sure to grab an extra bag of mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. You’ll need them to make Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies! Let your kid unwrap each of the cups while you are getting the rest of the ingredients prepped. Once you’ve made the dough let your kid roll the balls in sugar then pop them in the oven. Don’t forget to push the peanut butter cups into the cookies after 5 or 6 minutes of cooking. When they’re done set aside to cool and take the whole wheat pizza dough out of the fridge so you’ll be read to make these Easy Parmesan Bread Sticks. Also, it should be about time to put the veggies in your stew...
About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat divide the pizza dough into 8 pieces and let your kid roll each piece into a snake. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cook according to the recipe. When the the bread sticks are done baking remove from the oven and transfer them to a basket lined with a napkin to keep them warm. Ladle Bowtie Stew into bowls and serve with Parmesan Bread Sticks. Don’t forget to save room for the Surprise Cookies! Now doesn’t that sound swell? Happy and safe Trick or Treating!
