Dinner in 15 minutes

Kids are weird. Believe us, we've got three and They. Are. Weird. 

This is true for so many reasons, but their weirdness really takes center stage at the dinner table. For example, if we set a plate of rice in front of our children, they will turn up their noses and proclaim that they don't like rice. However, if we put a plate of steaming couscous before them, they'll grab their forks and say, "Yummy, rice." If we, as parents, ever took the time to correct them or debate why rice is a no-go while "rice" gets requests for seconds, those days are long gone. The kids eat it, so we buy "rice" in bulk.

But you know what gets old? Plain couscous, that's what. So Carla decided to whip up a 15-minute couscous dish featuring fresh veggies (including some broccoli side shoots from the otherwise dormant garden--despite the cold weather, the broccoli's still going strong) and peanut butter, all things the kids like. They even tasted the stir-fry sauce beforehand and gave it a thumbs-up.

It was delicious, and the little monsters wouldn't even consider eating it because, as you can see, the couscous and the peanut stir-fry were "touching." *Sigh*. 

Here's her recipe, which we will make again but serve in separate dishes for the weird ones.

Stir-Fry with peanut sauce and couscous

ingredients
3 cooked chicken breast, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 chives, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, shredded
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

2 cups cooked couscous

2 to 4 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 to 3 Tablespoons hoison sauce
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

directions
1. Warm oil in pan over a medium high heat. (I use olive oil because it's what I have on hand but peanut oil makes this even tastier.) Toss in onion, chives and garlic. Saute for about minute or two, just don't burn your garlic.
2. Add carrots, spinach, broccoli and cooked chicken. Turn pan to a low heat.
3. Cook until carrots are tender (about 4 or 5 minutes)
4. In a small bowl mix together peanut butter, hoison sauce and rice vinegar until you reach a taste you like. (You can add soy sauce in place of the rice vinegar, but I was out.)
5. Add peanut sauce to your stir fry mix and let the ingredients meld together for about a minute.
5. Serve with couscous mixed in or on the side.

Bacon & Egg Salad Sandwiches

Nothing fancy... just what we are eating these days.

 

Recipe:

makes 6 sandwiches. takes about 20 minutes to prepare

7 eggs, hard boiled
2 spoonfuls of mayonnaise
1 spoonful of relish
6 sandwich buns (yes... sadly mine are store-bought)
6 slices of bacon, cooked
lettuce
1 roma tomato, sliced

on the side: dill pickles and colby cheese 

Fishy Burritos

I woke up from a nap on Friday in desperate need of a burrito. I don't really have a recipe for this I just use whatever we have on hand and... there aren't exact measurements. Below are some general guideline.

Serves 2 adults and 2 children or 2 really hungry adults.

3 tilapia
olive olive
cumin
garlic powder
crushed red pepper
ground red pepper
salt & pepper
1 C brown rice
2 C broth
1 Tablespoon butter
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 onion, cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, chopped
avacado, diced
spring mix lettuce, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
salsa
4 soft tortilla shells


I start the rice first. 2 C of broth to 1 C of brown rice.
Then in a medium size skillet I saute garlic, onion and green pepper in olive oil until tender add some crushed red pepper to taste.
Remove the peppers and onions. Drop a tablespoon of butter in the skillet and cook tilapia. I usually end up chopping this up in the pan as it cooks. Add about 2 teaspoons of cumin, about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, dash of ground red pepper, salt and pepper. Add a touch of water or broth for the spices to stew in with the tilapia.
Dice the veggies you have on hand... in our case it was spring mix lettuce, tomatoes, and an avacado.
Once the rice is almost finished cooking I toss the tilapia right in the pot with the rice add 1 - 2 more teaspoons of cumin and garlic powder and continue cooking until rice is tender.
Wrap up your burritos in whatever kind of shell you like. Top with salsa. Add cheese and sour cream if you like.

Enjoy!