Soups On

Just a normal day, but full of blessings nonetheless!

The kids are learning to eat more veggies...I added plenty of carrots, celery, and onions to tonight's Chicken Noodle Soup!

Picky Eaters

These tips from Mayo Clinic sound logical to me...and I can see I may need to reconsider some of my methods.

Taken from this children's health article.

I wonder if any of these tips would work for Jadie, too?  Or if not using these techniques when he was younger has led to some of his selectivity when it comes to food?  I guess I'll never know.

No. 1: Respect your child's appetite — or lack of one

If your child isn't hungry, don't force a meal or snack. Likewise, don't bribe or force your child to eat certain foods or clean his or her plate. This might only ignite — or reinforce — a power struggle over food. In addition, your child might come to associate mealtime with anxiety and frustration. Serve small portions to avoid overwhelming your child and give him or her the opportunity to independently ask for more.

No. 2: Stick to the routine

Serve meals and snacks at about the same times every day. Provide juice or milk with the food, and offer water between meals and snacks. Allowing your child to fill up on juice or milk throughout the day might decrease his or her appetite for meals.

No. 3: Be patient with new foods

Young children often touch or smell new foods, and may even put tiny bits in their mouths and then take them back out again. Your child might need repeated exposure to a new food before he or she takes the first bite. Encourage your child by talking about a food's color, shape, aroma and texture — not whether it tastes good. Serve new foods along with your child's favorite foods.

No. 4: Make it fun

Serve broccoli and other veggies with a favorite dip or sauce. Cut foods into various shapes with cookie cutters. Offer breakfast foods for dinner. Serve a variety of brightly colored foods.

No. 5: Recruit your child's help

At the grocery store, ask your child to help you select fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. Don't buy anything that you don't want your child to eat. At home, encourage your child to help you rinse veggies, stir batter or set the table.

No. 6: Set a good example

If you eat a variety of healthy foods, your child is more likely to follow suit.

No. 7: Be creative

Add chopped broccoli or green peppers to spaghetti sauce, top cereal with fruit slices, or mix grated zucchini and carrots into casseroles and soups.

No. 8: Minimize distractions

Turn off the television and other electronic gadgets during meals. This will help your child focus on eating. Keep in mind that television advertising might also encourage your child to desire sugary foods.

No. 9: Don't offer dessert as a reward

Withholding dessert sends the message that dessert is the best food, which might only increase your child's desire for sweets. You might select one or two nights a week as dessert nights, and skip dessert the rest of the week — or redefine dessert as fruit, yogurt or other healthy choices.

No. 10: Don't be a short-order cook

Preparing a separate meal for your child after he or she rejects the original meal might promote picky eating. Encourage your child to stay at the table for the designated mealtime — even if he or she doesn't eat. Keep serving your child healthy choices until they become familiar and preferred.

If you're concerned that picky eating is compromising your child's growth and development, consult your child's doctor. In addition, consider recording the types and amounts of food your child eats for three days. The big picture might help ease your worries. A food log can also help your child's doctor determine any problems. In the meantime, remember that your child's eating habits won't likely change overnight — but the small steps you take each day can help promote a lifetime of healthy eating.

Meal ideas for this week

Crock Pot Chicken with Rice

Beef Enchiladas

Breakfast Casserole

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Frozen Pizza

Chicken Tortilla Soup

As I sit here devouring a homemade mish-mash of fajita leftovers, I can't help but think of chicken tortilla soup.  I can't wait until cooler weather.  Cooler weather is, of course, soup weather.  And I do love me some soup!

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

From The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Although I've copied the recipe here, you should really go to her site via the link above...it's so much more fun to "watch" her cook as you try to follow along!

Ingredients

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• 1/4 cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
• 1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can (10 Oz. Can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Hot Water
• 2 cans (15 Oz. Can) Black Beans, Drained
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa
• 5 whole Corn Tortillas, Cut Into Uniform Strips Around 2 To 3 Inches
• _____
• FOR THE GARNISHES:
• Sour Cream
• Diced Avocado
• Diced Red Onion
• Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
• Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix.

Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.

Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check seasonings, adding more if needed---add more chili powder if it needs more spice, and be sure not to undersalt. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese, if you have it! (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

Buttercream Icing Recipe

Let's be honest, who likes "Whipped Icing" anyway?

Source: http://sparkcloud.posterous.com/cupcakes-and-inbound-marketing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate.

Recipe Source: Allrecipes.com

My Favorite (Ground) Beef Stroganoff

I tried this recipe for dinner last night.  It could be the pregnancy, but I just couldn't get enough!

1 lb. ground beef

2 garlic cloves

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 pkg. onion soup mix

8 oz. pkg. sour cream

Finely chop garlic.

Brown the meat with the chopped garlic.

Prepare the onion soup as directed on the box.

Add cream of mushroom soup to prepared onion soup.  

Mix well. 

Add soups to the browned meat.

Heat through.

Add sour cream and mix well.

Prepare egg noodles.

Serve the stronganoff over egg noodles.

Delicious Pumpkin Gingerbread

I made Pumpkin Muffins for Breakfast yesterday morning.  Yumm!  The problem is that the recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin, which is only 1/2 of the can.  I didn't want to double the recipe, because that would be too many muffins for sure...

So I searched allrecipes.com for another pumpkin recipe.  I found a great one!

This Pumpkin Gingerbread is divine...if you like that sort of thing.  I decreased the recipe to half the number of servings and used what I had left of the pumpkin from breakfast.  Waste not, want not...I'm sure glad I didn't!

I've also copied the address below as I made it.  The original recipe yields two loaves, but the halved version yields one.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

• 
  
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove.
3. In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.
4. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.  I had to leave the loaf in the oven an additional 10 minutes.  Just use the toothpick test and you'll be fine.

Carresa's Tuscan Soup

Tuscan Soup Recipe

What's For Dinner?

• Monday: Baked Chicken and Mac & Cheese...this was scrounge night before Tuesday's grocery store trip.
• Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas...mine are as the recipe describes, Caleb's are chicken and cheese only...Jadie's are chicken only.
• Wednesday:  Spaghetti...I keep the meat unseasoned and assemble by the bowl.
• Thursday: Soft Tacos...I'll use the left over meat from spaghetti.
• Friday: Tater Tot Casserole.
• Saturday: Fajitas...I'll use the remaining tortillas, cilantro, etc from the other Mexican food from the week.

Update On the Homemade Pizza

A few notes:
1. The homemade pizza turned out great!
2. I used a round, metal, 12.5-inch pizza pan that I picked up at HEB a few years ago.
3. I used 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour and 3 cups all purpose flour to make the dough.  We liked it just fine.
4. It took approximately 1.5 hours for my dough to rise to twice its size.
5. The dough recipe made 3 dough balls for me.  I made 2 pizzas that fed 3 adults and 2 children, and I tossed the 3rd dough ball in the back of the freezer in a freezer bag.
6. I used a jar of marinara for the pizza sauce.  There's no sense in buying that tiny jar of "pizza sauce."  What a rip-off.  I used the remaining marinara to make spaghetti the next day.

Homemade Pizza Recipe

I have not yet tried this, but it is on my meal plan for THIS WEEK!!!

I don't usually copy and paste someone else's entire post, but I want a quick and easy place to return to when I try this for myself!

From Good Cheap Eats.

Homemade Pizza is a regular feature on the FishFam menu. I try to make it at least once a week, usually on Fridays. This makes a great start to our weekend. Coupled with rootbeer, a movie, and snacks, it creates a fun family night for my husband and me and our six children.

The first time I made pizza, it was a terrible bomb and I vowed never to make it again. That was fifteen years ago. About three years later when our first child was born and we moved to one income, I reconsidered that vow. I liked pizza, but I knew it wasn’t in the budget to indulge on a regular basis.

Instead, I set out to teach myself how to make it at home. After some trial and error, I’ve come up with something that we like just as well if not better than pizza parlour pies. I still goof up sometimes, but overall everyone enjoys pizza night.

Dough
I rely on my bread machine to make fantastic dough. The texture can vary a little, depending on the humidity, but overall it’s pretty consistent.

1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons honey
4 1/2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon yeast

Combine ingredients in the bread machine pan according to the order recommended by your machine’s manufacturer. Set on dough and start the machine, checking after ten minutes to make sure all the ingredients have been incorporated and not stuck to the side of the pan.

When dough is ready, divide into portions. This makes six individual pizzas or three to four large. Shape each portion into a flat round. Place on a cookie sheet or pizza pan that has been greased and sprinkled with corn meal. Spread pizza crust with sauce.

***Suggestions for those of us without a bread machine:

Warm the water and place it in a large mixing bowl (or Kitchenaid mixer). Add honey and stir.  Sprinkle the yeast and stir. Once it starts to foam (after about 10 minutes), add the rest of the ingredients. If using mixer, put the bread hook on and mix for 3 minutes. If by hand, stir until dough forms, transfer to floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Transfer to greased bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk.***

Sauce
I usually use whatever spaghetti sauce I have on hand. Usually something I’ve made myself, like this tomato sauce with meats. I prepare it in huge quantities and store it in 2-cup portions in the freezer. The morning of pizza night, I pull out a container to thaw in the refrigerator.

I use about 2/3 cup sauce for large pizzas, 1/3 cup for smaller, individual size pies.

Toppings

Start with a sprinkling of cheese. We like a combination of shredded jack and mozzarella cheeses.

Next layer on whatever toppings you like:

• pepperoni
• sausage
• sliced mushrooms
• diced onion
• diced or sliced tomato
• sliced, black olives
• chopped zucchini
• sliced bell pepper

Top with more cheese.

A preheated oven is key to a great crust. Up to an hour before baking, set your oven to 475 &deg. Bake pizzas for 8-15 minutes, depending on their size. Use the shorter baking time for smaller pizzas, the longer time for larger ones. Pay close attention to how your oven operates and how brown your pizzas are getting. I cook only one large pizza at a time.