Kid friendly foods rich in nutrition & flavor
Our CSA started out small, mostly with leeks, swiss chard and lettuce greens. The very first week I made this frittata with the leeks and chard. It’s so simple and … Read more
It’s berry time! I’ve picked almost 20 pounds of strawberries and raspberries the past couple weeks and have been feverishly perfecting recipes that feature summer’s berry bounty. Several the recipes are for preserved berries so we (and you) can enjoy them year round. But this mixed berry salad recipe features fresh raspberries and strawberries in a mouthwatering and waistline friendly creamy strawberry dressing.
Every home cook needs a secret weapon in her freezer. No I don’t mean an ice dagger (although I do happen to have one hanging off the ceiling of my standing freezer). I’m talking about a special recipe that can fill a variety of needs. Whether you need a snack for hungry kids, a dinner party appetizer, or a fast and simple main dish, to have one prepped ingredient that can meet those needs will save you time and energy. My friends, this cheese spread is my secret weapon.I recently served this to families at the Tukwila Kids’ Fest. I offered two choices, apple butter or cheese spread. Typically, kids under 8 went for the apple butter and older kids and adults went for the cheese. Often families would share with each other so they could try both.
Chicken roulade never fails to impress. When it was roasting in the oven, Eric wandered the house saying, “Wow, it smells so good!” Once you slice it into little spiraled coins of chicken and serve it, everyone says “Ooooh!” and thinks you spent hours on dinner. But I’ll let you in on a secret, it takes just about fifteen minutes of prep work to create this impressive main dish! I wish all fancy chicken recipes were this easy!
I have a reputation in our various circles of friends not only as the resident foodie, but also as the queen of salads. I love bringing salads to potlucks and parties because they’re so simple to make and a really affordable option if you know where to get your ingredients. This spinach salad is my latest favorite. At my birthday party I made it with dried cranberries, today I’m using golden raisins. Whatever dried fruit you use, this dish will probably the first one gone at your next event.
We got beef! The farmers we do our CSA with also raise cattle, and we bought 1/4 of a cow from them. You should have seen me skipping around the butcher’s building as we went to pick up our two coolers full of meat. Buying your beef locally and in bulk is a HUGE money saver. You might have to do some hunting for a ranch, farmers aren’t necessarily going to be on the internet, but trust me it’s worth it. We get ground beef, steaks, roasts, soup bones and ribs for less than $3 a pound! Because we don’t have a deep freezer (although I’d totally stuff one in our apartment if I could), we split the beef with my parents. This meant we only spent around $130 and have enough beef to last us 8 months or more. The first thing I made with our new beef was Beef Aju Sandwiches.