We got fed Rotating Header Image

broccoli

Stuffed chicken breasts

Fontina & Sun dried tomatoes stuffed chicken

Date: 2/8/2012

Recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Breasts-Stuffed-with-Fontina-Artichokes-and-Sun-Dried-Tomatoes-241332

Roasted broccoli: Toss broccoli with olive oil, salt, and parmesan cheese. Roast for 20 minutes at 400.

Modifications: We halved this recipe because it was just for us and two chicken breasts is plenty for three of us.

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: 2 adults, 1 toddler

Ben: Dislike

Erin: Dislike

Annie: Like

Notes: Erin and I didn’t really like this recipe. We had just picked it because we had fontina cheese and sun dried tomatoes from other recipes to use up, and from that perspective it was a success :) We just gave Annie a plain piece of chicken under the assumption that she wouldn’t like thee stuffing. She enjoyed her bland chicken and broccoli just fine though :)

Fontina & Sun dried tomatoes stuffed chicken

Meatloaf with broccoli and mashed potatoes

Meatloaf, broccoli and potatoes

Date: 1/24/2012

Meatloaf recipe: http://kickassbbq.com/smoked_meat_loaf.html

Broccoli recipe: 1 head of broccoli tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes.

Mashed potatoes recipe: Quarter the potatoes and boil them until soft, mash with butter, sour cream, and cream.

Modifications: We used turkey thigh instead of beef, and added garlic, shredded carrot, and only used 4 strips of bacon.

UPDATE 4/30/12: Made this again last night and wanted to document what I thought was a winning combination of ingredients:

  • 2 lbs ground turkey thigh
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 2 stalks of celery, diced
  • 1/2 carrot, shredded
  • 1 jalapeno, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 egg
  • 2 T bbq rub
  • 1/4 cup bbq sauce
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

Time to table: 30 minutes meatloaf prep, 90 minutes meatloaf grilling time. I made the broccoli and potatoes while the meatloaf was grilling.

Servings: 2 adults, 1 toddler, and several lunchs of leftover meatloaf

Ben: LOVE

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This was simply amazing. We made this meatloaf before using the smoker, not the grill, but this time was tremendously better. I was surprised at how tasty the turkey thighs were, and the grill cooked the garlic more than the smoker did, so it turned out better. Annie surprisingly loved the broccoli tonight and continued to ask for more off of Erin’s plate. Everything came together great in this meal, AND I timed everything perfectly so that it was all hot when we ate it. I’m pretty great, if you ask me.

Meatloaf

Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole

Date: 12/6/2011

Recipe: http://www.forkknifeandspoon.com/blog/2009/12/12/emulsifying-worlds.html

Time to table: 45 minutes prep, 30 minutes bake time

Modifications: I steamed the broccoli just using a steamer basket and then chopped it even more because I like tiny pieces of broccoli and it appears Annie does too. Only needed 1 can of cream of mushroom soup. I think our bag of broccoli was maybe 16oz, not 20 but there was still plenty in there.

Servings: This makes a ton – filled a 13×9 pan. I’d say it would easily serve 6-8. We ended up freezing half of it for some other time, and still had enough for a lunch too.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Love

Notes: This was pretty time consuming. Brown rice takes a long time to cook, and making a cheese sauce takes awhile as well. It’s certainly healthier than the original, and wasn’t particularly difficult, but it wasn’t a quick weeknight meal by any means. We did all like it quite a bit, so I found it worth the effort – really any meal that gets Annie to love broccoli is a win in my book.

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole

Big bite!
Any meal that gets this face is a hit with Annie!

Chicken and broccoli bake

Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Date: 11/21/2011

Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cheesy-chicken-and-broccoli-bake-recipe/index.html

Time to table: 30 minutes, 40 minutes cook time

Modifications: I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen broccoli. We absolutely did not use the disgusting product that is Velveeta, I used shredded cheddar instead.

Servings: 6 adult servings

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: Erin had wanted a dish with rice, but luckily this was still pretty good. I should have steamed the broccoli because the stuff in the middle of the pan wasn’t quite done all the way. The mixture also didn’t seem creamy enough when I first mixed it, but while cooking, enough moisture came out of the ingredients to make it more like a casserole. I’d make this again.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Broccoli and carrot orzo

Orzo with chicken, broccoli and carrots

Date: August 2nd, 2011

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/03/08/carrot-broccoli-cheese-orzo/

Modifications: I probably used more cheese than called for, but I wasn’t measuring. We also added some chicken pieces.

Time to table: 20 minutes with premade chicken

Servings: 3 adults, 1 toddler

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This meal was a great way to sneak in some veggies that Annie actually seemed to like, the copious amounts of cheese doesn’t hurt :) As you make this dish, you don’t get too excited for it, but it is surprisingly flavorful and incredibly easy to make, a big win!

Annie eating orzo

Smoked spare ribs with roasted veggies and potatoes

Ribs

Date: July 16th, 2011

Ribs recipe: http://www.thesmokerking.com/page1b.html

Modifications: I used the same rub we use for our pulled pork: http://www.crumblycookie.net/2008/05/30/crockpot-pulled-pork/. I didn’t use a mop or a spray for the ribs, just smoked them for two hours, wrapped them in foil and smoked for another hour. The rack I had was 2.65 pounds, and following the “one hour per pound” rule worked perfectly.

Veggies recipe:

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1 head of broccoli
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
Cut up the broccoli and cauliflower and toss with the olive oil and salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and put on a hot grill for 20-30 minutes, until the veggies are tender.
Potatoes recipe:
  • 3 large russet potatoes
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 stick butter
  • 0.5 cups sour cream
  • salt and pepper
Cut the potatoes into fourths and boil for 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Drain the water and add the cream cheese, butter, salt and pepper, and sour cream. Stir (don’t even need to mash) until all the ingredients are worked in and the potatoes are broken up and creamy.

Time to table: 3 hours smoking, 40 minutes for the potatoes and veggies, while the ribs were smoking.

Servings: 4 adults, 2 toddlers, with a little leftover potatoes. The ribs were gone.

Ben: LOVE

Erin: Like

Annie: Love

Notes: We made the food and then ate this at our neighbors with them and their daughter. The ribs were heavenly, and incredibly easy to make. Smoking food is easy as long as you have the time to do it, and the food comes out so awesome it’s unbelievable. Erin tricked Annie by combining the cauliflower and broccoli with her mashed potatotes, and she ate them. It’s not lying though, because Erin TOLD Annie she was doing it! :)

Ribs

Ribs, pre-rub

Ribs

Ribs, post-rub, mmmmmmmmm

Ribs on the smoker

The ribs were nearly too long to fit on the smoker

Roasted veggies

Roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Mashed potatoes

Mashed potatoes

Annie's meal

Annie with her meal, making good progress on her potatoes with hidden veggies!

 

 

Thai Curry

Curry

Date: June 16, 2011

Recipe:

  • 15 oz coconut milk
  • 1 cup vegetable  broth
  • 1-2 T curry paste
  • 1 T brown sugar
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 1 T fish sauce
  • 1 inch of ginger, peeled and diced
  • 1-2 thai chilies (optional, for heat)
  • 2 c broccoli
  • 2 c sweet potato, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  1. Start cooking 1-2 cups rice. I like to make extra and use the leftover rice for fried rice.
  2. Food process the brown sugar, garlic, fish sauce, ginger, and thai chilis. Maybe add some of the broth to make it process easier.
  3. mix the first four ingredients into a saucepan and add the mixture from the food processor.
  4. simmer for 5-10 minutes to let everything cook together and then serve the curry over rice (I like basmati rice).

Modifications: I skip the thai chilies and just add spice to my portion, in deference to Erin and Annie

Time to table: 30 minutes

Servings: 3 adult meals, 1 toddler meal

Ben: Love

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This is really easy to make and versatile as you can use any number of vegetables or meat in the curry. On a side note, rice and Annie don’t seem to mix, as rice is a pain to clean off floors and carpet.

Annie loves broccoli

Not feeling the broccoli so much.

Annie eating curry

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast casserole

Date: May 30, 2011

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2010/12/09/breakfast-casserole/

Modifications:  I doubled this, since we were feeding 6 – we’ve made the original recipe twice and it is JUST enough for 4 adults and 1 toddler. We had a few leftovers. I used: red pepper, broccoli, red onion and corn for the veggies. I chopped the veggies REAL small to try to get the maximum amount hidden into each bite since Annie has the habit of picking out the egg and bread pieces and leaving the vegetables.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 1 hour to bake

Servings: 8 adults

Ben: Like

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: This is a really good basic breakfast casserole recipe that you can change to suit your fancy. I also baked Lemon Blueberry Scones to go with these.

Veggies

Breakfast casserole

Annie eating breakfast