We got fed

Thai Peanut Salad

Posted on February 8, 2016 by erin

Date: February 8th

Recipe: https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/gluten-free-dairy-free-thai-peanut-salad/

Time to table: 30 minutes (?) Maybe less. I got interrupted a few times.

Servings: 5 adult servings

Modifications: I shredded my own cabbage and used probably more than it called for, also added 2 grated carrots. I used sriracha for the hot sauce component. Used frozen shredded chicken and it was perfect for this. I added chopped cilantro on my serving tonight, but if I were freezing I would not add that.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie & Luke: Did not attempt, wanted to keep this for myself.

Notes: My coworker Maggie brought this for our Asian potluck at work and I LOVED it – this is really so, so good. She noted that red quinoa is better in this dish, and that it really does freeze and reheat super well. I’ll finish it up for lunches for the week but do plan to make and freeze some to just leave in the freezer at work for future days I need lunch! Also, I am not a fan of spice but this was the perfect amount of flavor. Ben added far more sriracha to his helping.

Posted in cabbage, carrot, chicken, cilantro, green onions, lowcarb, lunch, one dish meal, peas, quinoa | 1 Comment

Sausage, potato, and kale soup

Posted on December 23, 2015 by ben

Date: December 13th, 2015

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/sausage-potato-and-kale-soup/

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: Two dinners and several lunches for me, this made a lot

Modifications: I used more liquids since I think we had more kale than it called for.

Ben: LOVE

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Luke: Like

Notes: Surprised that the kids ate this as well as they did. Luke especially is not usually a fan of things that look “different” on his plate/bowl. I thought this was excellent and will make it again for sure, its a great winter dish and relatively healthy.

Posted in italian sausage, kale, milk, onion, potato | Comments Off

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Posted on October 7, 2015 by ben

Date: October 6

Recipe: http://www.closetcooking.com/2015/09/sausage-and-pepper-stuffed-spaghetti.html

Modifications: Actually didn’t use sausage – we used ground beef that we had on hand instead. Also just used a single squash.

Servings: Fed the four of us for dinner with a little leftover.

Time to table: You can prep the filling while the squash is roasting, I’d say 45 minutes total.

Erin: Like

Ben: Like

Annie: Dislike

Luke: Dislike

Notes: This was pretty easy to make, even for a weeknight, and I think its one that you could experiment with quite a bit. I liked it a lot and its a healthy meal that I think I could get the kids to like more with some different filling.

Posted in basil, cheese, ground beef, lowcarb, one dish meal, onion, red pepper, squash | Comments Off

Crockpot Chicken and Corn Chowder

Posted on October 5, 2015 by erin

Date: October 5

Recipe: http://www.pink-parsley.com/2011/11/crock-pot-chicken-corn-chowder.html

Modifications: Added some celery, and a few more carrots than called for

Servings: Many – will feed our family of 4 for 2 nights and probably get a few lunches out of it too

Time to table: I’m slow, but it took me probably 40 minutes to prep this (then the hours of crockpot time)

Erin: Like

Ben: Love

Annie: Like (but not enough to want it in her lunch)

Luke: Meh, didn’t hate it

Notes: I typically think of crockpot meals as quick. This was not quick. I had a baby strapped to me, and thought I’d just have to chop some veggies and throw it in the crockpot, but no. I also was very confused by the step of making bacon, and then having the bacon never mentioned again. You could put it in the crockpot but it’d probably get mushy – I saved it and chopped it up and added to my soup (and Annie and Luke just ate the pieces by themselves). Then the added step of sautéing onions and garlic and making a roux, etc. For sure not something to quickly “throw together” before work, but if you plan ahead and actually know what’s coming (and chop veggies the night before) it would be doable. The soup was really good, and I do think it’s worth the effort for the amount of food it makes especially. Very slightly spicy but not overpowering.

Posted in bacon, basil, carrot, celery, chicken, corn, crockpot, garlic, onion, potato, soup | Comments Off

Butter Chicken

Posted on August 30, 2015 by ben

Date: August 19th

Recipe:

1 lb boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp curry paste (I like Patak’s mild curry paste)

1 tsp cayenne powder (optional. It’s really hot if you add this)

2 tsp tandoori masala

1 tsp garam masala

1 400 ml can coconut milk

1 cup plain yogurt

1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste

Salt to taste

In a large frying pan on medium high heat, add the oil and butter. Stir fry chicken, onion and garlic until the chicken has some color and the onion is translucent. Then pour entire contents of pan into crock pot. Then add the rest of your ingredients. Mix gently and cook on high heat 4-6 hours or low heat 6-8 hours. Serve with basmati rice and warm naan bread.

Servings: 4-5

Erin: Like

Ben: Love

Annie & Luke: Like, I guess?

Notes: *Do not use the InstantPot for this* There’s not enough liquid to get it up to pressure and it just ruins the dinner timing.

Our neighbors were having this at their house one night when we crashed in to say ‘hello’ and it looked excellent and easy, and it was! The kids surprisingly ate this really well, in spite of their skepticism. Great leftovers for lunches too. We made sautéed kale as a side dish which went great with it.

Posted in chicken, coconut milk, garlic, kale, onion, rice, yogurt | Comments Off

Cruciferous Crunch with quinoa and chickpeas

Posted on July 22, 2015 by erin

Date: July 21st

Recipe:

-2 cups cooked quinoa (I always prepare using chicken broth)
-1 can drained chickpeas
-1 bag Trader Joe’s cruciferous crunch
-Salt and Pepper
-Juice of 2 lemons
-Optional – toasted almond slices (I did not have these)

Directions: (This is exactly how I made it based on instructions from Maria that I slightly modified) Saute a can of drained chickpeas in a little olive oil with some salt until they are browned (maybe 5 minutes), then add the cruciferous crunch and about 1/2 cup water – stir and cover to steam. Add in quinoa, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice (we have frozen cubes of it so I put one cube in). Top with almond slices if you have them.

Time to table: Including making the quinoa, probably 30 minutes. If you didn’t have to do that and had cooked quinoa frozen, it’d be maybe 15 minutes total.

Servings: 4-5
Erin: Like
Ben: Like
Annie: Tolerate but had some negative facial expressions
Luke: Tolerate

Notes: This recipe came from my college roommate Maria in response to a “dinner ideas” email chain – it sounded so easy that I had to try it right away! We aren’t huge Trader Joe’s fans – I go there a few times a year and just don’t see what the fuss is all about – but this caused a special trip! We will definitely make this again because it is SO fast, cheap and healthy. I wish I could get a mix like this at a place other than TJ’s though, or that it was more freezable (I doubt the cabbage or broccoli frozen raw would fare well).

I had a hunch the kids wouldn’t eat this one so well, so offered the PB toast too. The little things in the bottom right are some 100 calorie Special-K blondie bites that Chelsea brought me – those were a big hit obviously 🙂

Posted in broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, chickpeas, kale, lemon, quinoa, vegetarian | Comments Off

Chicken wraps with guacamole and black bean salsa

Posted on June 1, 2015 by erin

Date: June 1

Recipe: http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/01/11/roasted-chicken-wraps-with-black-bean-salsa-and-guacamole/

Modifications: I just used this as an idea – purchased the black bean salsa, got spinach wraps, spinach, sauteed chicken, and made guacamole like I usually make it. (I use 3 avocados, one roma tomato, 1/2 red onion, cilantro, salt, pepper, lime juice and a splash of worcestershire sauce)

Time to table: 30 minutes, we already had the shredded chicken

Servings: I think I’ll get 4 lunches out of this

Erin: Like

Notes: Always hate doing the prep work for lunches on Sunday nights but then am so happy I did during the week. I’m guessing the guac will get kind of sketchy by Thursday but I’ll probably survive.

Pretty nice day for lunch outside! You can just see the skyline of Minneapolis.

Posted in avocado, black beans, chicken, cilantro, guacamole, lunch, spinach, tomatoes | Comments Off

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

Posted on May 5, 2015 by ben

Date: May 4th

Recipe: http://whatsgabycooking.com/bbq-chicken-quinoa-salad/

Modifications: I added a sautéed onion because we had half of one in the fridge, and I added paprika, garlic powder, and salt to the mix.

Time to table: 30 minutes, we already had the shredded chicken

Servings: Dinner + 2 lunches

Erin: Like

Ben: Like

Luke: Dislike

Annie: Meh, she ate it ok, not her fave.

Notes: This was pretty easy and really flavorful, I’d try it again when we have some leftover pulled pork too.

Posted in black beans, cheese, chicken, cilantro, corn, onion, quinoa | Comments Off

Simple Chicken Curry

Posted on April 29, 2015 by erin

Date: April 28

Recipe: http://navigatingthemothership.blogspot.com/2015/04/5-minute-chicken-curry-with-spicy.html

Modifications: Had chard for the greens, didn’t use hot sauce. Used previously cooked and frozen shredded chicken as Laura did.

Time to table: Probably a half hour or more because I forgot to cook the rice, which frequently happens to me. Whoops.

Servings: 6 adults

Erin: Like

Ben: Love

Luke: HATE!!!!! Gagged on the chicken, said the greens “tasted like salad!!” and had the 3 bites I made him eat and no more.

Annie: Dislike, not as strongly as Luke. She actually ate a bite and didn’t say anything, but then after Luke gagged, she informed us that actually she didn’t like this meal either.

Notes: Predictably, the children hated this because it was DIFFERENT. It was really quick though, and both Ben and I enjoyed it, so we will make it again. We’ll add chopped onion and maybe even some other veggie to the curry next time, and definitely make more greens. Luke hates literally any meal served with rice, like anything at all. The below is what I do when I KNOW full well that the kids are going to not eat what we’re serving, to at least encourage them to try it without much pressure. This has been all of our meals this week – including beef stir fry and tuna salad (which I forgot but I guess Annie does like and Luke seemed somewhat okay with as long as he didn’t ingest a pea. He likes snap peas but not just peas. Children! Annie also is fine with the beef stir fry but lord knows we couldn’t give them different things.)

Posted in chard, chicken, rice, yogurt | 1 Comment

Beer Braised Brisket

Posted on April 7, 2015 by ben

Date: April 4th, 2015

Recipe: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/beer-braised-brisket

Coleslaw recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/creamy-cole-slaw-recipe.html

Modifications: Didn’t have dijon mustard, so I used some stone ground stuff we had. Missed the broiling step, which would have added a nice crust to it, I’ll do that next time. I had to cut the brisket in half to fit in the dutch oven, I want to get this roasting pan so I don’t need to cut it next time.

Time to table: 30 minutes to prep the brisket with the sauce the day before, then six hours in the oven the day of cooking. Coleslaw took 45 minutes or so.

Servings: Tons. We had our friends and their three kids over for dinner and we’re going to have at least three dinners worth of left overs.

Erin: Like

Ben: Love

Luke: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: I love making big cuts of meat, so fun. Braising the meat is incredibly easy, compared to using the smoker. We were at Erin’s parents’ house the whole time it was cooking, just got home and shredded it. Making coleslaw was kind of fun too, got to use an attachment for the food processor that we hadn’t even opened in five years. Cheaper than buying it at the store and you get a ton of it.

Posted in beef, beer, cabbage, carrot, lowcarb, onion | Comments Off

Thai Peanut Salad

Sausage, potato, and kale soup

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Crockpot Chicken and Corn Chowder

Butter Chicken

Cruciferous Crunch with quinoa and chickpeas

Chicken wraps with guacamole and black bean salsa

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

Simple Chicken Curry

Beer Braised Brisket

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