Spring Feast

The sun has been shining around here and the weather has been in the 60's. I can't believe it. Grace and I spent a lot of time outside this week enjoying the beautiful weather. This meant that I didn't spend as much time cooking resulting in a lot of light and quick meals, perfect for the gorgeous spring weather. 

Meal planning this week did prove to be quite the challenge. Grace has been trying to assert her control over things more and more, and last week her conquests included meal time. She refused to eat anything other than cheese and fruit. Something I was not happy about. My husband and I are not picky eaters in the least and are always up for trying a new recipe. A picky child simply is not going to survive in this household. In order to try and keep her pickiness at bay I attempted to pair some of Grace's favorite foods with other new flavors to create some fun combinations. I also tried hard to introduce different flavors and cuisines from around the world. Luckily this weeks meals were much more successful than last weeks, and Grace gobbled up almost every bite.

Shrimp Tacos and Linguini

I swear that every time I walk into the kitchen to cook dinner Grace decides to throw a tantrum. She cannot stand that mommy is 10 feet away and not holding her.  It makes it really hard to make a decent meal with a child clawing at your leg. Therefore, my meals have really been lacking the past few weeks. 

Last week, I introduced Grace to shellfish. We had jerk shrimp tacos with pineapple salsa, and Grace loved it even though it was a little spicy. I was so glad there were no adverse reactions to the shrimp. We eat seafood a lot in our household, and now she can join in too. Yay!

Jerk Shrimp Tacos Pineapple Salsa and Pina Colada Crema

Tex-Mex Meals

Making meals around here used to be such a hassle. Around 5 pm you could usually find me with my head stuck in the fridge staring at the contents trying to find something to make for dinner. Since we buy mostly fresh produce and ingredients, I would often only have one or two items needed to make a meal. This would often result in some crazy combinations. I think in my desperation we have even had a meal completely comprised of side dishes. Of course, we always had pasta in our house. When I was pregnant I am pretty sure my husband ate nothing but spaghetti with pesto for at least a week because I never got to the grocery store.

Heart Shaped Everything

I hope you are all having a good Valentine's Day thus far. We have been celebrating Valentine's Day all week around here with various heart-shaped meals and goodies. Most of these meals were super easy to make and were cooked up in no time. These meals are perfect for a quick meal or dessert and they don't even have to be heart-shaped. Unless you want them to be, of course.

Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

Around this time every year I get horrible cabin fever. I am sick of the cold, the snow, and the lack of sunlight. I spend my days dreaming of green grass, blue skies and endless sunshine. Today was a particularly bad day. The weather was awful. It was freezing cold and the roads were covered in ice which meant I was stuck at home. So to keep my mind off the gloomy day I decided to bake. 

I have been craving chocolate and raspberry for a while so today was the day I would tackle my favorite sweet and sour combination. After much deliberation I decided to make a rich chocolate layered cake covered in chocolate ganache and filled with a whipped raspberry filling.  Since it is the week of Valentine's Day I decided I would make them heart-shaped just for fun. 

Super Bowl Sunday and Chicken Curry

My husband worked late a lot this week which meant dinners were often rushed and we ended up eating pizza more than I want to admit. At least Grace got some good meals this week which you can read about here. Even with all of the late nights I was able to try a couple new recipes this week including hot wings, smashed potatoes, chicken curry, and tortilla crusted tilapia. It may not have been the healthiest week for meals, but they sure were good.

Last Sunday was the Super Bowl and while we are not football fans we still celebrate the day by eating loads and loads of unhealthy snack foods. Super Bowl Sunday is the only time I can eat my weight in buffalo wings without guilt or judgement. That's why they have that silly game on TV, right? In addition to the buffalo wings we also had chips and taco dip for an appetizer. In order to give the dip some nutritional value and add a little protein to the dish I substituted cream cheese for Greek yogurt. In fact I substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream in everything that we eat including tacos and loaded baked potatoes.

Buffalo Chicken Wings, Caesar Salad, and Taco Dip

"Healthy" First Birthday Cake

My husband and I  have the worst sweet tooth, and have on occasion been known to eat an entire batch of cookies in only a day or two. Naturally, I want to try to prevent Grace from getting our sweet tooth, so when it came time to make a first birthday cake I opted for a healthier no sugar added version.  I decided to make Grace a carrot cake with a cream cheese and butter frosting.

The carrot cake is sweetened only with ripe bananas and dates. I even tried a little bit of it and it was actually pretty tasty. This cake is rather dense and is more like a pound cake than a traditional birthday cake. However, I was fine with that if it meant less sugar. I also did not use any dyes in the frosting and achieved the color by using strawberry puree. How neat is that?

Slow-Cooker Applesauce for Baby

I, like most moms, am very conscious of the food I serve my child. I try to serve Grace as much organic homemade food that I can. However, making food from scratch is often not cheap or easy to do. Luckily, this applesauce recipe is both. PLUS Grace loves the taste, and I love that it is made from fresh apples with no added preservatives.

All you need to make this applesauce is a slow-cooker, a bag of apples, and some lemon juice. Grace also like lots of cinnamon in her applesauce, but if you are making this as a first food or have not yet introduced cinnamon, that is ok too. It tastes great without it as well. 

Amazing Real Fruit Margaritas

 Margaritas are my favorite cocktail. I would drink them every night if the waistband on my jeans would allow it. So of course, margaritas have become a staple in our household. I have had a ton of fun (and sometimes too much) over the years trying all kinds of mixes and recipes in search of that perfect cocktail. This whole fruit margarita recipe is by far my favorite. It is made with real fruit (no icky preservatives or dyes) and is sooooooo good. I mean, better than your child's naptime, good.

Super Easy Spanish Rice

A couple of nights ago, I needed a side dish to go with our tortilla crusted tilapia. I really wanted to make some Spanish rice, however, the recipe I normally make was just not going to cut it. It is labor intensive, and I had a child who was on the brink of a meltdown. So, I came up with this easy recipe. I simply put all of the ingredients in a skillet and let it simmer. How much easier could it be?

Quick Meal Week

This week has been crazy around here. Bradley has been working late a lot and making a meal with Grace constantly trying to climb up my legs isn't easy. That means this week we ate a lot of quick meals with very little prep involved.

We started the week off with a 5 Minute Spicy Asian Chicken Salad.  My husband loved this salad, but it sure was spicy. I normally love spicy food, but this was a little much. Next time I will make sure to omit the jalapeño and cut back on the Sriracha. 

Quinoa Fritters and Apple Cinamon Pork Chops

I love cooking and trying new recipes! I used to make healthy, elaborate meals for Brad every night from scratch. Then I got pregnant... I couldn't stand the sight of most foods, and I definitely didn't have the energy to spend hours cooking. Brad tried his best to take over the cooking, but it did not go so well. He may have forgot the food in the oven once or twice. So, we began eating out more than at home.

 When Grace came along I was lucky to have time to eat, much less make a meal. By the time I had a moment to myself it was 8pm, and I would cook the quickest thing possible. It felt like I made pasta, tacos, or pizza every night and maybe I did. Now that Grace is 9 months old, and I feel like I have some small resemblance of my life back, I am going to try to get back into cooking real food. I am excited to try out some of the new recipes I have been accumulating for years, and to introduce Grace to all kinds of new flavors and textures. I know I love getting new ideas for recipes, so here are some of the meals we enjoyed this week.

Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops with a Dried Cherry and Feta Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette.