January 11, 2020

Happy New Year! One of my resolutions is to restart the blog!  So, here we go!!!

Although it has been a long time since I have posted we continue to cook from scratch. We still try new recipes all the time and it will be great to get the keepers added into the archive!  This is a great weekend to get it restarted since it is also Liam’s birthday; he is a big reason why I started this blog in the first place! He was such a picky eater as a baby. Liam liked vegetables (at least a few) but did not like fruit.  I know what you are thinking - a kid that doesn’t like fruit? Grapes, strawberries, bananas? Yes- you read that right; Liam barely liked any fruit. So the summer he was three years old we had Fruit Boot Camp. All I offered for snacks the entire summer was fruit.  We tried many different kinds and we had so much fruit in the house - the older kids loved it! By the end of the summer Liam had come around to green grapes, strawberries and raspberries, but honestly not much else. Thankfully, over the years he has developed a taste for nearly all fruits!  

It is hard to believe Liam just turned 10 years old!  One of our birthday traditions is for the person to choose the dinner.  You literally can pick ANYTHING you want. Without fail what does Liam pick?  Tuna noodle casserole! This boy loves his comfort food. I use the recipe from Ryan’s childhood - his mom shared it with me when we were first married.  The three big kids absolutely love this, but so far Finn will not eat it. Maybe in time his tastes will change and will join his siblings and become a fan of tuna casserole; we shall see. I’ll put the recipe I use in the Tried & True section below.  A word of warning - this is an extremely monochromatic casserole so I wouldn’t suggest serving it with cauliflower!  

A friend at work asked me about dinner at our house.  I told her that we meal plan every weekend and then build the grocery list.  This process results in a fairly streamlined cooking and dinner experience in our kitchen.  I certainly would not be able to handle the pressure of coming up with an idea for dinner every night after a full day in the classroom followed by attending therapy appointments, watching sports contests or running other errands.  I need to be able to plan ahead and know what to expect. On Saturdays we look at the upcoming week and collaborate to pick out the meal ideas. We end up trying new recipes primarily on the weekend, and stick to what we know during the week.  And most Fridays we may eat the same thing as you probably do...PIZZA! The question is will it be homemade, frozen, or carry out? It depends on the week: does Finn have horseback riding, is there anything else going on, and how we are doing with the weekly food budget?

I’m so glad to be back on the blog! 2 new keepers and 1 tried a true this week!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes

Jalapeno Popper Dip (Award Winning)

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Tried & True Recipe

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Jalapeño Popper Dip (Award Winning)

Ingredients

• 2 packages of 8oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 4oz can chopped green chilies, drained
• 4oz can diced jalapeño peppers, drained
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 5 pieces cooked and crumbled bacon, if desired
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• Peppers, carrots, crackers or chips for dipping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 oF.
2. In a large bowl mix all the ingredients except the panko bread crumbs.  
3. Spread dip into an ungreased 9 inch pie plate.  Sprinkle the panko bread crumbs on top.
4. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Serve with vegetables, chips or crackers.

Notes

We love this easy and delicious dip!  I entered it in a contest at a BaconFest party and won “best in show” with the addition of the optional bacon.  Honestly, this dip is delicious both with and without the bacon and we make it both ways. I usually serve with with both veggies and Ritz crackers.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups carrots, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 9 cups chicken broth
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• Package of refrigerated tortellini (see notes below)
• ½ cup fresh spinach leaves, rough chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper, to taste, if needed

Directions

1. Place large sauce pot over medium heat.  Add olive oil and onions. Saute for three minutes to soften.  Add chopped pepper, carrots and garlic. Saute another three minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, chicken breasts, thyme, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper.  Bring just to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board.
3. Turn the heat back to medium.  Stir in the tortellini and stir so they don’t stick together.
4. Chop or shred the chicken and place back into the soup.
5. Once the tortellini is cooked through (follow the directions for timing on the package), turn off the heat.  Stir in the spinach and parsley. Taste, add additional salt and pepper if needed.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

We love this soup, and when I make it I like to use Buitoni tortellini. Most of my family loves pasta so I toss in an entire family size 20oz package (the typical size is 8-9oz).  If you’d like your soup to be a more traditional soup with a few tortellini you can absolutely use a smaller package of pasta. The original recipe I adapted this called for an 8oz package of tortellini.

If you think you have too much chicken for the soup when you chop or shred it you can refrigerate the extra chicken and use it for something else.

This soup is delicious and I love having the leftover chicken soup for lunch the next day (my family will have eaten all the pasta during dinner!).

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients for white sauce

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp AP flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• Group pepper, to taste
• 1 ½ cup milk

Ingredients for casserole

• 1 recipe of white sauce
• 1 can of tuna (solid white albacore), drained
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 12-16 oz egg noodles (depending on how "saucy" you want it)
• Potato chips

Directions for white sauce

1. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour, salt and pepper to combine.  Stir until there are no lumps.
2. Stir in the milk all at once.  Raise the heat to medium and continue to stir until there are bubbles across the entire surface of the sauce. Continue to cook and stir for approximately one more minute to thicken. Remove from the heat.

Direction for casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 350oF.
2. Cook the egg noodles according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and put back in the pot.
3. While the egg noodles cook, make the white sauce.
4. Combine the noodles, sauce, tuna and eggs.  Stir well.
5. Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 12 glass baking dish.
6. Crush potato chips (as many as you feel makes sense, but try to cover the casserole) and sprinkle on the casserole.
7. Cook for 15-20 minutes uncovered.  Serve and enjoy!