My menu is all over the place this week — some meals I can cook without a recipe, like comfort food favorite spaghetti and meatballs. But I’m also trying a couple of new vegetarian dishes, one based on white beans and the other on chickpeas.
Still, I am most excited about the baking I have planned. I’m trying Ina Garten’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake to take to a morning event early in the week. Then I plan to test out Chewy Butterscotch Graham Cookies, but I’ll use toffee chips instead of butterscotch. I am participating in a holiday cookie swap at the end of the month, so I need to figure out what I’m bringing. I may make a batch of Martha Stewart’s Pretzel-Shortbread Bars, as well, since I think they’d make a unique contribution to the swap instead. Either way, I need to make small batches before I decide which sweet will be multiplied to 6 dozen.
Last Wednesday, A. ate two homemade meatballs in sauce, whole wheat pasta, steamed green beans, and an apple for dinner. That may seem like any day of the week to you and your kids, but as the mom of picky eaters, it was a night to be remembered. Sure it was a well-rounded and healthy meal, but it was extraordinary in how simple it was for me to make, and how nonchalantly it was eaten by my eldest. (G. just ate the pasta.)
I’m repeating that meal again this week, though A. requested I cook the meatballs separately from the sauce. No problem, I can do that. In addition to the dinners below, I’m also making a batch of Crispy Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies for a meeting on Thursday.
Monday: Grilled steaks and sweet potatoes, salad, challah (meant to be served last night, but we ate out instead)
I got through last week — which started out with a three-day power failure — with a lot of plain pasta dinners. The kids were happy, but I was not. Still, it’s good to feel I can fall back on a week like that when a major storm derails our normal plans, and I struggled to get back on task.
This week is filled with “real” meals, as G. would say. This kid, who once thought it was the greatest thing on earth to be allowed to eat a cup of yogurt for dinner, has come to expect a home-cooked meal with multiple components. I love that this is his idea of normal, even though he still won’t eat most of what I cook. I did ask the boys to each contribute a suggestion for one dinner this week. G.’s choice is the calzones; A.’s is the lasagna roll-ups. They only suggested those meals after I shot down their first request: plain pasta.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
Want to Try
Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
Want to Try Archives