Ham and Pineapple Asian Noodles

 This tastes as good as take-out chinese food, and just as fast (probably faster)!



Printable Recipe

1lb diced ham
2 tbsp catalina dressing
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup catalina dressing
1 can pineapple tidbits (juice reserved)
1 chopped bell pepper
1 cup water
1 tsp ground ginger
8 oz steam fried noodles

Brown ham in 2 tbsp Catalina dressing. Add soy sauce, pineapple and peppers and cook 10 minutes. Add another 1/2 cup dressing, reserved pineapple juice, water and ginger. Add noodles to pan. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently and adding more water if necessary. Cook until noodles are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

If you're wondering why I have a lot of recipes with ham lately, it's because my mom sent me home with a big chunk of it left over from dinner at her place one night. This dinner used up the last of it.
My boys liked the pineapple the best (no big surprise there!). They picked it out and ate it first. That was about all that Cole ate, but Bennett was a little more adventurous and eventually ate most of what was on his plate. I thought it was pretty yummy, and I was happy how easy it was to make.

Lemon-Soy Chicken and Rice

This is one of my favourite meals that my mom used to make when I was a kid. It's one of the first recipes I remember learning from her, and I still use it quite often for a nice Sunday dinner. It's so easy to make, but tastes like you put a lot more effort into it!

2-4 frozen chicken breasts

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp ginger

1 clove crushed garlic

1 cup white rice

water/ low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350F. Sprinkle rice evenly in bottom of greased casserole dish, arrange chicken pieces over rice. Mix soy sauce, lemon juice, oil, pepper, ginger and garlic in a 2-cup measuring cup, then add water or broth up to the 2-cup mark.

Pour over the chicken and rice. Cover and bake for 1 hour, uncover and bake for another 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside and rice is cooked.

My family knows this meal quite well so I didn't really have any comments from them. It's good, they know it, they ate it, the end. This time I didn't have broth but I had powdered instant chicken stock so I put in a 1/2 tsp of that with the water. It worked great. I really love the rice, it's so moist and full of flavour. I can't get enough!

Tuna Tetrazzini

A creamy, cheesy tuna cassserole that's ready in no time. It's my go-to recipe when I can't think of anything else to make!

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 finely chopped onion

1 finely chopped stalk of celery

4 cups rotini

1 can mushroom soup

1/2 can of milk

1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

1 can tuna

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat oil in large frying pan and medium heat and saute onion and celery until soft. Add mushroom soup and milk, simmer until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the frozen peas and corn to boiling water along with the pasta. Drain pasta and veggies in colander and combine with the sauce. Mix in tuna. Put in a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

We had this one night when Tony was working, so it was just me and the boys. Bennett couldn't seem to get enough of the stuff; he ate several helpings. Cole, the pickier one, only ate a few bites. After his bath I managed to coax him to eat a bit more because I told him he couldn't have any fruit until he did. That's pretty typical for him. I think Tony must have liked it too, it was all gone the next day!

Pizza Soup

What better way to enjoy soup than to add your favourite pizza ingredients to it? Make it in the crockpot or just simmer on the stovetop. The leftovers are great for lunches too.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup diced ham, smoked turkey, or hard pepperoni

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 small green pepper, diced

In large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat, saute onion, garlic, mushrooms, oregano, salt and pepper until onions are soft. Add half the broth and bring to boil. Pour into slow cooker with remaining broth, ham, tomatoes and tomate paste. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Stir in green pepper and cook on high until tender, about 20 minutes. Taste before serving and add more oregano to taste if needed.

If you don't want to use the crockpot, just simmer on low on the stovetop for about an hour.

I served this with cheese-bread sticks as it seemed to go with the pizza theme. Cole liked helping to prepare and serve the soup (and even acted as a hand model in my photo, as you can see), but didn't seem to enjoy the eating of the soup so much. I don't think he was very hungry because he didn't do much justice to his cheese-bread either, and usually he likes that a lot. Bennett wasn't overly interested either. I guess it was just an 'off' day. I ate all mine and enjoyed dipping my bread in it. I packed some in their lunches the following day and it was all gone when they came home so I'm assuming they liked it. I had some the next day for lunch as well and found that the flavour had improved overnight. It reminded me a lot of minstrone soup, but without beans and pasta. I think I prefer minstrone actually, but this soup certainly wasn't bad.

-Recipe from 'Canadian Living: Slow Cooker Collection'

Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Casserole

Basically this is macaroni and cheese with broccoli and ham added in to make a more complete meal. It's real comfort food.

2 cups uncooked macaroni

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups cut broccoli

1 cup diced ham

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup parmesan

Heat oven to 350. Cook macaroni as directed. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.

Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni, broccoli and ham into cheese mixture. Pour into ungreased casserole dish. Top with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

I'm aware this isn't the healthiest of meals, but mmm-mmm it's good! The broccoli makes it at least a little healthy anyway. Now, you can adjust this to be less fattening by decreasing the butter to 2 tablespoons, using skim milk and reduced-fat cheese. You could use whole-grain macaroni too if you want.

It went over pretty well with my family. The boys actually really loved the broccoli the most (or 'bobby' as Bennett calls it). Tony went back for seconds so that was a good sign! I'll have to try the healthier version next time and see if they like it as much.

Turkey Kielbasa and Lentil Stew

Here's another great crockpot recipe- a working mom's best friend! Kielbasa (otherwise known as Polish or Ukrainian sausage) gives this dish a wonderful smokey flavour, and the lentils add a hearty texture. It's one tasty way to add legumes to your diet. By using the turkey version of this sausage, you cut out some of the fat and sodium that is usually found in regular kielbasa.

2 cups water

1 cube of vegetable bouillon

1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed

1 pound turkey kielbasa sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicey)

Place all ingredients except spices in slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in spices about 10 minutes before serving.

Even with the lower sodium turkey kielbasa I still found this a bit too salty for my liking. I might try half a bouillon cube next time. Otherwise it was pretty tasty. Tony seemed to enjoy it. He asked me, "what's in this, carrots?" Nice guess anyway. Cole wasn't too thrilled about it, he only ate a couple bites and then wanted to just eat garlic bread but I wouldn't let him because he didn't eat enough dinner. Bennett ate most of his dinner and then moved on to the bread.

Impossible Pumpkin Pie

My mom used to make Impossible Pie made with coconut. She just threw all the ingredients in the blender, poured it into a pie dish, baked it, and magically it made it's own crust. I thought this was a pretty neat idea, so I tried out this pumpkin pie version. It has all the goodness of an actual pumpkin pie, but so much easier!

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup Bisquick

2 tbsp margarine

1 can evaporated milk (13 oz)

2 eggs

1 can pumpkin (16 0z)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9 or 10" pie plate. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into pie plate. Bake until knife inserted into centre comes out clean (50-55 min).

Garnish with whipped cream.

I was in a hurry and totally messed up the amounts of spices (too much cloves and nutmeg AND I forgot the vanilla), but luckily this pie is pretty forgiving so it still tasted fine. I think the whipped cream helped tone it down a bit. We had dinner at a friend's place tonight, and this is the dessert I brought along. It went over very well. Cole actually thanked me for making it (well, he thanked my friend because he thought she made it, but she corrected him and then he thanked me). I saw Tony sneak seconds when he thought no one was looking. Bennett gobbled his up too. I would definitely make this again.

Balsamic Maple Pork Tenderloin

Meat is usually one of the toughest things to get kids to eat, but you might just discover they enjoy this roasted pork tenderloin topped with a rich-colored sweet and tangy sauce. It's a very tender meat, as long as you're careful not to overcook it, so kids will find it easier to chew than a lot of other meats. Best of all it's incredibly lean, so it's a good healthy choice.

1 lb pork tenderloin

2 tbsps dijon mustard, divided

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsps maple syrup

1 tsp dried rosemary (or fresh would be even better)

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine 1 tbsp mustard, salt, pepper, garlic in a small bowl. Rub onto pork. Heat oil in large ovenproof skillet (I used cast-iron) over medium heat. Add pork and brown on all sides for 3-5 minutes. Put skillet in oven and roast until meat thermometer reads 145F, takes about 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil while you make the sauce. Place skillet over medium heat (watch out, handle is hot, as I know from burning myself on it!), add vinegar and boil, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds. Then whisk in maple syrup, remaining tablespoon of mustard and rosemary. Bring to boil again, reduce heat and simmer until sauce has thickened (about 5 minutes). Slice the pork and pour sauce over it.

I loved this and so did the whole family. That's an impressive feat! Cole miraculously asked for seconds (and thirds), Bennett said "yum, yum, yum, yum!!", and Tony said sauce was really good. That's a lot coming from Tony, he doesn't compliment food unless he seriously likes something, and I appreciate his honesty in that respect. So there you have it- another successful dinner!

Spinach & Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Pesto Sauce

This is one of the fastest meals I know, it's ready in less that 10 minutes. It's yummy, and your kids will have no clue you're feeding them spinach and pumpkin!

350g spinach and cheese ravioli (I like Olivieri)

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

2 tbsp jarred basil pesto

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Add ravioli to pot of boiling water and cook according to package directions (usually about 6 minutes). Drain into colander. Heat pumpkin, pesto and parmesan in pasta pot at medium heat until hot, then return ravioli to the pot and mix gently until evenly coated.

This is a small dinner, it only fed me and the 2 boys with not enough left over for another person. Luckily my husband was working so it was a perfect portion for us. If you have a larger family, you can buy a family-sized pack of ravioli (700g) and double this recipe.

It was a huge hit with Bennett, my 15-month-old. He scorfed down what was on his plate, passed it to me and said "more?". I had to refill his dish 3 times! Cole ate a decent amount (for Cole) and he said it was good. I was a bit put off by the way the sauce looked (it reminded me a little too much of the diaper I changed earlier), but once I tasted it I quickly forgot about that. It was delicious! I imagine it would be equally yummy with sun-dried tomato pesto sauce, and maybe might look more appealing too? I'll have to give it a try sometime.

Apple and Cheddar Snacking Cake

I just love the combination of apple and cheddar in this cake. It's packed full of fruit, cheese, and oats, so it makes a nice healthy snack (or even breakfast or lunch) for the whole family.

Topping:
2/3 cup quick oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp melted margarine

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 egg
1 large apple cut in small chunks

Preheat oven to 350F. For topping, stir together oats, sugar, cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in melted margarine. Set aside. For batter, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cheese in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, combine applesauce, milk, sugar, oil, egg, and apple. Add flour mixture, stirring until just moistened. Pour batter into a greased 8" square pan. Sprinkle with topping. Bake for 45-50 minutes, check it with a toothpick or knife to make sure it's done. You can also try these as muffins, just adjust heat to 400F and bake 20 minutes.

I made this today while the kids were napping, thinking it would be a good snack for them when they woke up. Unfortunately they didn't agree, they were more interested in getting into what was left of the christmas candy. I finally managed to entice my younger son Bennett and he seemed to like it. It was very moist, I thought it was maybe a little too moist at first, but once it cooled down it was perfect. Cole doesn't know what he's missing!

Belgian Beef Stew

Alright, I know that beer doesn't sound very kid-friendly, but the alcohol evaporates while cooking, really! Of course, you can finish off the rest of the can or bottle of beer yourself if you'd like; that's a nice perk of this meal. It's a crockpot recipe, which is especially handy if you're out all day at work or some other activity and don't have much time to prep when you get home. It's easy to prepare the night before and throw in the crockpot before you leave the next day.

2 lbs cubed stewing beef
1/4 cup flour (or enough to coat meat)
1 tsp seasoning salt
one large onion, chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 cup dark beer or stout
1 pressed clove garlic...or more!
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups new potatoes, chopped
1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper (to taste)

Saute the onions lightly in 1 tbsp butter until transparent and set aside. Sprinkle meat with flour and seasoning salt. Brown in remaining butter, adding more butter or oil if needed. Brown cubes on all sides. In a saucepan, combine and bring just to boil the beer, garlic and sugar. In a crock-pot, put in carrots and potatoes, then meat and onions, then pour beer mixture over top (if you like your veggies more firm and less mushy like I do, don't put the carrots and potatoes in until about an hour or two before serving, and turn the crockpot on high when you do to make sure they cook through). Cook for 6-8 hours on low setting. Stir in spices about 10 minutes before serving (I like to do this with crockpot recipes, otherwise I find the spices get diluted with the long cooking time).
I was going to add mushrooms too, but when I went to the grocery store today they were sold out. That's right, they had NO mushrooms! Just my luck. Anyway, it was still very good without the mushrooms. It seemed to be a hit with the boys, they both ate it. I asked my older son Cole if he liked it and he said "yes sir Mommy!" My husband Tony didn't get to enjoy it because he was working tonight but I'm sure it'll make great leftovers.

Just a Little Introduction

My New Year's resolution is to start a blog and stick to it. I've tried writing blogs in the past but they tend to fizzle out quickly. I'm thinking maybe the problem is that I usually write about my entire life in general, which is a lot of information to cover, and let's face it, mostly not that interesting even to me. This time I've narrowed it down to one topic that is near to my heart: Food! More specifically, I plan to write about kid-friendly food. Now, I don't claim to be a super skilled chef, but I do like food and preparing it for my family. I make it every day, 3 times a day, so I figure I'm bound to pick up some good meal ideas along the way. Still, I can't count how many times I make what I think is a delicious meal only to have my 3-year-old scoff at it and say "I don't like that," without even trying it. It drives me bonkers! So I'm going to share my adventures in food with you. Some will be tasty, and some probably not so tasty, but hopefully interesting. I'll regularly post my meals and my family's reactions to these meals. If you have any amazing recipes that you think my family might like, please share them with me and I'll try them out and post the result on my blog for others to see.