Kiss it. Lick it. Bite it.

Toddlers are tough! If restaurant owners had to serve only toddlers and couldn't serve them grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese every day, they would all close down and go running.

Anyway, I found a great tip on a blog for getting kids to try new foods:

Kiss it. Lick it. Bite it. 

It's so silly, but oh my gosh does it work, well, at least to get them to try it. Can't guarantee more than that first bite.

So, here's how it works. First, you ask your child to just kiss the food on their fork or that they pick up to eat. Miss gives us a big "this is so silly" smile and gladly kisses the food. Next, you ask the child to lick the food. It's a step closer to actually eating it, but it's still silly. Miss loves making a dramatic lick with a huge slurping sound. Maybe not something I would have her do in a fancy restaurant, but if it gets her to eat it.... (Never mind that I wouldn't be taking her to a fancy restaurant anyway.) Finally, you ask your child to bite it. Miss pretty much always complies even when she didn't want anything to do with the food before. She may not end up liking it, but often she does. The goal is just to get the kid to try something new, right?

Why does it work? I would have to guess that it's a few reasons. First, it's silly. What kid doesn't want to do something silly. Second, it's less intimidating to ease into trying a new food. You get little tastes of it while kissing and licking, but it's not a dive into biting it. Third, it's like a little game. Again, what kid doesn't like games? Regardless, it works. I'm not going to question it. Now, if only it would get her to eat more any meat.

Sweet Potato Fries

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about posting! Miss has just decided to go through a really picky (for her) stage, and I've tried a few new recipes that haven't been quite good enough.

Tonight, I made a tried and true side to go along with dinner: Sweet Potato Fries. I actually made them tonight using home-grown sweet potatoes. :o) Miss's glowing review, "Mmmmm... Delicious!"

Servings: Really depends on how many potatoes you use. 2 large potatoes get us about 2 adult and 2 toddler sized servings

Ingredients:

• Sweet potatoes (long, skinny ones work well)
• Olive oil
• Coarse Kosher salt

Heat oven to 425F. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick heavy duty foil.

Clean sweet potatoes and cut out bad spots. Cut potatoes into 1/4" to 1/2" thick slices. The size is really up to you. If you want your fries meatier, cut them thicker. If you want your fries crisper, cut your fries thinner.

Arrange fries in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Drizzle fries with olive oil and toss with clean hands to coat. Sprinkle the salt over the fries.

Cook the fries for about 20 minutes. Stir and flip fries over. Cook another 15-20 minutes. Stir and flip again. Continue cooking until fries reach desired crispness, making sure to check and stir them at least every 5 minutes to make sure they don't burn.

Serve with ketchup, garlic mayonnaise, or whatever condiments you wish. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce

This is definitely a make-in-advance-on-the-weekend recipe. I only make it when tomatoes are in season and overflowing from my garden. It does take a bit of prep, but once it’s going, you can ignore it other than to stir it every once in a while. Miss is a big fan of stirring, so I carefully let her help me with that (make sure the sauce isn’t simmering too hard and stir it first to release any trapped air). This sauce freezes very well, so I make it once and have meals and meals of it waiting in the freezer. Yum!

• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion (such as Vidalia), chopped
• 12 cups peeled, quartered tomatoes (about 12-15 medium-large tomatoes)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 ¼ tsp fresh gound pepper
• ½ tsp dried basil
• 2 6-oz cans tomato paste
• ⅓ cup packed brown sugar

In a Dutch oven or other large pot, heat oil until just beginning to shimmer. Saute onion in oil until just beginning to brown and caramelize. Add the tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, salt, oregano, pepper, and basil. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Add tomato paste and brown sugar. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. (Make sure you watch the sauce during this hour. It’ll thicken up and start to splatter. You may need to turn the heat down on it. Also, make sure you stir frequently enough after adding the brown sugar to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your pot.) Discard bay leaves.

Serve with pasta and lots of cheese. Or, use in lasagna or other pasta dishes. Or, freeze for later use. Regardless, enjoy!

Tip for peeling tomatoes: Bring a large pot of water just to a boil. In a large bowl, make an ice bath of approximately equal parts water and ice. Cut out the stem on the tomato and make an X-shaped cut on the blossom (opposite) end. Using a slotted spoon, dunk the tomato in the boiling water for a few seconds. Remove the tomato with the spoon and dunk it into the ice water for a few more seconds. Remove the tomato and peel the skin off.  You may have to experiment with how long the tomatoes are in the boiling water, but don’t leave them in for too long or they will begin to cook.

Honey Soy Grilled Salmon with Edamame

Tonight's dinner was courtesy of The Food Network and was a hit. Miss actually is a fan of salmon and other fish, so I thought this would work well. Oh, and we liked it, too. ;o)

The sauce has just the right sweetness and compliments the creaminess of the salmon beautifully. The scallions were a little oniony for our taste, but it wasn't bad. I will say, though, that most of what Miss had didn't have any of the herb stuffing. She had a little of it and didn't seem to mind it. I did serve this with edamame, another Miss favorite, and some leftover rice from another meal.

One note about grilling this. I used my grill pan on top of my stove. The fish stuck even with spraying the pan down with Pam for grilling. Also, once I put the sauce on, the smoke detector went off twice even with the hood on high. The honey in the sauce just isn't good on the grill pan. It tasted good, though, which is all that matters, right?

One thing I try to aim for in my recipes is that you can easily leave out or substitute ingredients that you don't like. If you don't like the cilantro in the herb stuffing, use parsley. If you don't like scallions use another allium (onion, leek, shallot, etc) or leave it out. I imagine that garlic would work really well in this. And, I don't see why lemon or orange juice wouldn't work in the sauce. Experiment!

Food Network's Honey Soy Grilled Salmon with Edamame

Apple Chicken Sausage Pasta

I have made this a few times. I'm not sure how I really came up with it. But it's really yummy, and a great Fall dish. It can be done in about 30 minutes, but I also figured out a way to prep most of it the night before. 

Servings: About 4 adult sized and 2 toddler sized

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz package of Apple Chicken Sausage (I have used a couple of brands, but my favorite is al fresco.)
• Olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into about 1/2" pieces (We usually have Gala on hand.)
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp thyme
• 14 oz apple juice or cider
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 6 oz frozen peas
• 1/2 lb pasta (Use whatever shape you want. I wouldn't use spaghetti or something long like that, though. Penne or Rotini work well.)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Slice sausages into about 1/4" thick slices. Saute in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked through (if not using fully cooked sausages) and slightly browned. Remove sausage from skillet.

Discard all but about 1-2 tbsp of the remaining fat. If needed add some olive oil (to get to 1-2 tbsp of fat/oil). Saute onions over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes more.

Add apple, sage, and thyme, and continue to cook until apples begin to soften. Return the sausage to the pan. Add apple juice or cider, vinegar, and peas and simmer until the peas are cooked and the liquid is reduced by about half.

If preparing the night before, stop here and just put the "sauce" in the refrigerator until you're ready to fix dinner the next day.

Meanwhile, prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve about a cup of the pasta water for the sauce. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. (My skillet isn't big enough, but if yours is, you can scoop the pasta directly into the skillet from your pot without reserving the pasta water or draining.) Add the sauce and stir to combine. If the pasta seems dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Welcome

This blog may actually serve myself more than others. I'm one of those cooks who tends to just wing it. I will look at recipes and combine them or modify them or just come up with something on my own. Often, it's hard for me to remember exactly what I made, and more importantly if the toddler liked it. Well, that second part isn't usually too hard.

Anyway, the recipes posted in this blog will be stuff that my family, toddler especially, liked. I aim for easy food that I can fix in about a half hour. Occasionally, there will be a slow cooker recipe or something that can be made in bulk and may take longer, but will freeze well. I also try to make what we eat healthier than a prepackaged, highly processed meal. I will admit it, though, that I also recently developed a joy for making homemade ice cream. So, there may be a treat here and there. :o)

With that being said, I doubt I will post with any regular frequency, but I hope to have something every couple of weeks at least. Maybe that will also motivate me to try new recipes. Enjoy!