Recipes and cooking tips for foodie families.
Featured Recipe: Chicken Barley Stew
If I told you that I could feed mom, dad, big kid #1, and little baby #2 for less than a buck a serving, you’d be like: awesome, right? Let’s add healthy, delicious, and fits in one pot so there’s no clean up: could it be possible? Continue reading
Brrrrr, fall is upon us and winter is close behind! Time for some warming comfort foods! I’ve gotten in the Halloween spirit this week and made a menu almost entirely of orange foods that are both comforting and seasonal. Since I just headed back to work after my maternity leave, I’m also focused on recipes that are super easy and come together in under 1/2 hour.
Dinner #1
Butternut Squash Risotto
Garden Salad
I’m making this dinner on Halloween. I’ll roast the squash on Sunday afternoon, make some pureed squash for Katie while I’m at it, so Halloween dinner will come together in 20 minutes or so. It’s orange and festive for the holiday, but also chock full of veggies so hopefully will offset some of that candy.
Dinner #2
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Toasted Whole Wheat Bread
Garden Salad
Nicholas LOVES broccoli. It’s weird, but I’m not complaining. If your kids aren’t such a fan, here’s a way to encourage them to try again. Creamy, cheesy soup…that’s actually made up mostly of broccoli!
Make sure to make enough soup to have 2 servings leftover for the next night’s dinner.
Dinner #3
Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole
Garden Salad
This casserole is a great way to use up leftovers. It calls for cooked chicken and cooked brown rice; I typically have both of those in my freezer because I notoriously make way to much food and always have leftovers. If you don’t already have cooked chicken on hand though, consider getting a rotisserie chicken. Take the meat off the chicken for this recipe, and use the bones to make stock on the weekend.
This recipe also serves 6-8 depending on appetites, so you may be able to get two nights of eating out of this one.
Homemade Baby Food
Shopping List
cooked chicken, 1 cup (rotisserie chicken)
broccoli (2 lbs, plus more for baby food)
butternut squash (2 1/2 lbs, plus more for baby food)
lettuce
cucumbers
tomatoes
onions (2)
garlic
sage (fresh preferred, but dried is fine)
brown rice
Arborio rice
chicken or vegetable stock (1 1/2 quarts)
flour
nutmeg
sharp cheddar cheese (8 oz)
butter–unsalted
Parmesan cheese
milk
whole grain bread
This is the first of a series of weekly menus to help busy parents prepare homecooked meals a few times a week. It includes dinner recipes for 3 nights and a shopping list. I plan to post these on Saturday mornings so you can use it for your weekly grocery shopping. I hope you find it useful!
When I was planning this week’s menu, I started with the Chicken Flatbread because it’s one of our favorites. But I realized that we’d have a bunch of random things leftover from that recipe, so decided to make a Shrimp Greek salad later in the week to use it up. And to make life easier later in the week, while I’m making Chicken Flatbread I’ll grill up some extra chicken breasts to use another day in Curry Chicken Salad.
Dinner Menu #1
Grilled Chicken Flatbread with Tahini Dressing
This is pretty much a meal in and of itself, but if you wanted you could grill some zucchini and/or eggplant on the side for some added vegetable nutrition.
Dinner Menu #2
Shrimp Greek Salad
Hummus and pita
This is a great way to use up the extra ingredients from the chicken flatbread recipe.
Dinner Menu #3
Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Garden Salad
I’m going to serve the sandwiches on either a hearty whole grain bread from the bakery or perhaps wrapped in naan if I can find some. Add lettuce and tomato and it’s done! A quick garden salad on the side makes a simple, delicious meal for the whole family.
Shopping List
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb peeled shrimp
2 lemons
1 large head romaine lettuce
grape tomatoes
cucumber
oregano
mint
grapes
olive oil–extra virgin
curry powder
slivered almonds
chickpeas (also called garbonzo beans)
tahini (often found near peanut butter)
Greek yogurt
feta
1 cup Kalamata or Greek olives
whole wheat pocketless pita
One of the biggest struggles I’ve had cooking with a new baby is cooking in a way that allows me to stop what I’m doing and address baby’s needs. Something like bacon, one of my favorite ingredients, is one of those challenging ingredients that not only requires constant attention if you’re frying on the stove, but is also dangerous to baby if he gets too close to the action. My remedy? Cook the bacon in the oven. This is a technique I saw used during my restaurant days, but also cooks like the Barefoot Contessa like to use.
Best practice is: Preheat over to 375. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easy removal). Lay cookie sheets or broiling pan over cookie sheet. Lay thick-cut bacon slices on the cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until desired doneness. Barefoot Contessa style: in the last 10 minutes or so, brush with maple syrup, cracked blacked pepper or both for added flavor.
I like using this method for cooking bacon while making my Grilled Chicken BLT Salad. Each component of the salad can be cooked in it’s own time and stopping as necessary. Perfect when you’re trying to make a tasty light dinner while also on baby-duty.
auntieangela
gourmetmommy