Kids Halloween Cutouts

A very simple but fun kids activity that I will post when I have a moment

Pork, Apple and Cheddar Meatballs with Egg Noodles

Okay, I know it's a little silly to post a picture of a magazine clipping, but:

1. The pictures I take of food always look gross
2. I forgot to take a picture
3. I burned the meatballs

Other than me burning the meatballs, this was really, really good.  The meatballs were really great.  This is a really good, different recipe.  It has a real fall feel to it for some reason.  Must be the apples.
The girls didn't eat very much of it, but I think that might have something to do with the 1/4 pound of cheese they ate while I was preparing the meal.  I used a really sharp Vermont Cheddar.  I didn't think they would like the cheese itself, but they couldn't get enough of it.

1 pound ground pork
1 cup coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tart apple, such as granny smith, peeled and grated
1/2 small onion, grated
1/2 cup chopped parsley (I left this out because I forgot to buy it)
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
One package egg noodles
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces (I didn't use the full 4 tablespoons...makes it really greasy if you ask me)

1. Preheat the broiler.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease with butter (I skipped this part and just put them on a nonstick pan...worked fine). 
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork, cheese, breadcrumbs, apple, onion, 3 tbsp parsley, the egg, 1.5 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Shape into 16 meatballs and arrange on the baking sheet.
Broil the meatballs until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the noodles.  Drain, then return to the pot and toss with the butter and remaining 5 tablespoons of parsley.  Divide the noodles among 4 plates; top with 4 meatballs each.

Making Rock Candy

A fun kids activity that I will post when I have time and when I figure out if it actually worked (takes up to a week, but I don't see any crystals forming yet)

Quick and Easy Ravioli Lasagna

Great recipe that I will post when I have an extra moment

Asian Noodle Salad with Tofu Bites

I got this recipe from the Disney Family Fun website.  Click here for a link to their page. 

I thought it was great.  It tasted like stuff from a real Chinese or Thai place..only a little better!  Chris did NOT like it.  AJ ate quite a bit of the noodles, and Mia picked away at it, and even had some bites of the tofu.  I think it's a keeper because:

#1 - I like it...Chris will just have to deal with it. 

#2 - It's healthy and pretty cheap

The one change I made to the recipe was to leave out the sesame seeds.  I'm sure the sesame seeds would have given it a great texture and taste, but sesame seeds were soooo expensive.  I really couldn't see myself spending $7 just on the sesame seeds.  But I did pan fry the tofu in the sesame oil, which gave it a nice flavor and crispiness.  Also, I didn't have any rice wine vinegar, so I substituted one part rice wine with one part white vinegar.  I think my favorite part of the dish was the soy sauce/honey/rice wine that you pour over the tofu at the end of cooking.  It makes this really yummy glaze on the tofu, but the tofu still remained crisp on the outside...yum. 

Ingredients

• FOR THE SALAD
• 1 (14-ounce) block extra-firm tofu, drained
• 12 ounces linguini noodles
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into thin, 2-inch sticks
• 1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed and strings removed
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons lite soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

• 1/4 cup sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon canola oil
• FOR THE DRESSING
• 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon honey, 2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Slice the tofu widthwise into quarters. Slice each quarter into four rectangles, then slice each rectangle diagonally into two triangles. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels and arrange the tofu on top in a single layer. Cover the tofu with another double layer of paper towels and place a baking sheet on top faceup, along with a weight, such as a heavy pot. Let the tofu drain for at least 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dressing and set it aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then cook the noodles according to the package directions. Rinse the noodles with cold water, drain them, and toss them with the dressing. Add the carrots, snap peas, scallions, and cilantro, and toss once more.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar and set the mixture aside. Place the sesame seeds on a small plate. Firmly press both sides of each tofu piece into the seeds. Heat the sesame and canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu, frying each side until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Drizzle the soy mixture onto the tofu and continue cooking 1 minute more. To serve, fill each bowl with the noodle mixture, then top it with a few pieces of tofu.

Approximate cost:  $10.35

Cost per serving: $2.59

Nutritional Information:

Per serving (1/6 of recipe) Calories 378, Total Fat 15 g (24%), Saturated Fat 2 g (12%), Cholesterol 33 mg (12%), Sodium 1,107 mg (46%), Total Carbohydrate 41 g (14%), Fiber 7 g (29%), Sugars 7 g, Protein 19 g (39%), Vitamin A (115%), Iron (27%)

Flinstone Slab Cookies

I clipped this recipe out of an old magazine.

 The recipe was called Marshmallow Pebbles Slabs and originally called for Marshmallow Pebbles for the cereal.  Well, I don't think that cereal is being made any more...at least I couldn't find it at my grocery store.  It's hard to tell from the picture if the cereal is kind of like lucky charms...it looks sort of like fruity pebbles, only white...kind of like Rice Krispies with marshmallows in it.  Anyhow...I substituted Cocoa pebbles and it came out great.  I think next time I'll try Lucky Charms.  I've renamed them Flinstone Slab Cookies...they are delicious.



Flinstone Slab Cookies
1 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 stick butter, softened
1/3 Cup packed Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini chips)
4 cups Miniature Marshmallows
2 Cups Cocoa Pebbles or other cereal, divided

Heat oven to 350.  Combine Flour, Salt, and baking soda.  Beat butter and sugars until light and creamy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in chocolate chips and 1 cup of the cereal.  Spread into greased 9 x 13 baking pan.

Bake on center rack for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden.  Sprinkle evenly with marshmallows, return pan to oven.  Bake 2-3 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffed.  Immediately sprinkle with remaining cereal.  Press lightly into marshmallows, using the back of a wooden or large spoon.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Cut into slabs. 

YUM... I really was not in the mood for sweets this evening, but I wanted to try just a taste to see if the recipe was good enough to post on the blog...well, I had one bite, and then another, then another.....so good.

Taco Night

Okay, I know everyone knows how to make tacos.  I'm really just posting this to remind myself how easy it is to make tacos, and how budget-friendly and versatile it is.

On Tuesday we had chicken tacos (ground chicken was on sale).  I served it with sour cream, salsa, a bag of that steam-in-the-bag brown rice (I was going use regular and it probably would have been cheaper, but the steam in the bag stuff was on sale for 99 cents, so I figured you couldn't beat that), a can of spicy beans (I think they were those Bush Grillin' beans...really good), cheese, and a premade salad.

When dinner was over, I combined the leftover rice, beans, and chicken.  On Wednesday we had taco salads made with the remaining salad greens, topped with the leftover taco shells (broken into pieces), then some cheese, then the chicken/beans/rice mixture, then salsa and sour cream on top.  The taco salads were awesome!  This was such an easy meal to make, and not so bad health-wise...although the sodium content was probably not so great. 

I'm just doing a guess on some of these items, as I forgot to save the grocery receipt.

Ground Chicken:  On sale for $3.00
Taco Seasoning: $1.20
Taco Shells: $1.50
Cheese: $1.00
Salsa:  $1.25
Sour Cream: $.90
Bagged salad: On sale for $.99
Steam in bag rice: .99
Can of Spicy Beans: $2.75 (you can get beans a lot cheaper, but I think these grillin beans were worth the extra money!)

Grand Total (for two meals, four servings each): $13.58
Price per meal: $6.79
Price per serving:  $1.70

Aside from the fact that this is a really budget-friendly meal, it was soooo easy to prepare.  We all know how easy it is to make tacos.  And to make the taco salads, all I had to do was reheat one bowl and toss a few things together.  And it didn't feel like we were eating leftovers at all...it felt like a completely new meal.   And, there is essentially no waste.  All I have left is some cheese, salsa and sour cream, which we're going to use for a couple of quesadilla lunches this week.

 I hope I can remember to do this meal every two weeks or so.