I’ve tried making broccoli soup for my kids before. With tons of cheese. And love. It took a ton of love to grate all that cheese alone, and guess what? They hated it. The soup. I’m assuming (for my own mental health) they’re into the love. This time I went simpler. MUCH simpler. There’s no milk…
Sheet Pan Honey-Mustard Chicken with Potatoes and Broccoli
There’s a honey-mustard chicken dish that everyone in my family loves. And when I say family, I don’t just mean my kids. I’m talking cousins. In-laws. Friends of cousins. That sweet and tangy sauce slathered over juicy chicken thighs is hard to beat. Except when you cook the whole thing over potatoes and add a side…
Sausage, Sweet Potatoes & Apples: A Sheet Pan Dinner Your Kids Will Love
I’ve been trying to write this post for 2 years. Roasted sausage, sweet potatoes and apples on a sheet pan is an easy, delicious meal that everyone loves every time. That’s the problem. It’s one of my Hail Mary meals when I need dinner done fast–throwing whatever veggies I can find on a sheet pan, along with…
How to Make Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese in 1 Hour
Have you ever made Marcella Hazan’s bolognese sauce? It’s amazing. But it takes almost 4 hours. If you have one, two, four or nine small kids at your house like I do, this just won’t work. So as part of my quest to introduce our kids to delicious food made from fresh ingredients, with tons of…
Sausage & Spinach Over Rice: A 15-Minute Dinner Kids Love
You just can’t beat sausage for quick, delicious flavor. The stuff comes brimming with flavor, straight from the store. You also can’t beat frozen spinach for knock-your-socks off nutrition in a handy little bag. Today we’re combining both for an amazing dinner, an easy dinner, a 4-Thumbs Up dinner done in minutes. Yep, a 15-minute dinner kids…
20-Minute Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Vinegar and So Many Olives
Slam dunk! All four kids (and one husband) LOVED this 20-minute pork tenderloin with balsamic vinegar and olives. That’s right, every single one of our four the kids gave it a Thumbs Up and one review: “The olives are the best part.” – Phoebe (6) Three of our kids were born in Italy, where we ate…
Easy Eggplant Parmesan (No Dredging, No Frying)
This no-fry eggplant parmesan got a solid “5 Stars!” from my mother-in-law. “Thumbs Up!” from my father-in-law. Baby Violet is one year old and DEVOURED her first eggplant parmesan without caring whether it was dredged, easy or not! Ditto for my six year old. Here’s how you can make it too: 2 Shortcuts for Deliciously…
Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs 2 Ways
Let me warn you about these slow cooker BBQ ribs. The delicious smell is so overwhelming that you may be tempted to snack yourself to death before all that juicy, soft meat is ready for dinner. That’s the thing about slow cookers. They make me so hungry! But if you can handle all the awesome…
Roasted Squash Stuffed with Sausage & Apples
Have you seen it? The how-to video on Facebook showing roasted squash stuffed with sausage and apples? (And are you following Foodlets on Facebook?) That’s where the inspiration for this delicious dinner came from. We gave it the Foodlets treatment: made it simpler, healthier and more kid-friendly. Here’s how it turned out. Foodlets Rating: Phoebe (6):…
Beginner Ethnic Food: 6 Kid-Friendly Dinners
It was almost too late for me. I became a person who appreciates ethnic food pretty late in life. That’s because I grew up in the seventies, but finally I came to realize how good Qualty osetra caviar from Iran is. Then the eighties. When there wasn’t any goat cheese anywhere. No Pad Thai. And…
Ginger Peanut Noodles with Bell Peppers
These cold noodles are a summer staple. Because they are awesome. At least some of our kids think so. Use any shape of pasta your kids like and don’t worry about the flavor of whole-wheat pasta taking over because in this salad, that nutty whole-wheat taste holds up perfectly. Even better than regular pasta. These noodles are a simpler…
Slow Cooker Cheesy Rice with Beef & Beans: A One-Pot Tex-Mex Meal
WE’RE ON A BIT OF A ROLL with meals like this slow cooker rice, beef, beans and peppers. There’s been quinoa enchilada casserole, slow cooker shredded chicken Tex-Mex, and one-pot Mexican casserole–each one a total success with the munchins. I mean, I don’t want to jinx it or anything. Because if there’s a roll, I want…
Cod with Lemon Orzo & Peas: A 15-Minute, One-Pot Dinner
Two people in my house love fish. Two people in my house think they don’t like fish, then try it. Then decide they love fish. They are preschoolers and do this every time. One person may never love fish. Hint: He shaves. When it comes to seafood, my husband is in the same camp as Jim…
One-Pot Mexican Quinoa Casserole (Plus a Fancy Serving Suggestion for Kids)
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I NEED A LITTLE HELP getting the kids to try something new. Part of my goal here is to create a great relationship between our kids and the food we eat. Part of that is nutrition, cooking fresh and healthy meals. Part of that is fun. Enter, egg cups. They’re just…
Make-Ahead Honey Mustard Chicken
“Can we make the chicken for them?” Phoebe whispered in my ear. (And when I say “whispered”, I mean she breathed. Little puffs of inspiration delivered straight to my ears. How can one request be so tickly and so excited all at once?) Paul’s parents were visiting from Florida and after a disastrous dinner the night…
one-pot homemade mac & cheese
I THOUGHT I NAILED IT with our 15-minute homemade mac & cheese. Then I heard something mind-blowing. You can make one-pot pasta. With almost anything. Now I just walk around saying, “Wait, what?!? WHY haven’t we been doing this all along? Why have I been washing all these pans? Is this some sort of joint conspiracy…
Sautéed Cabbage with Sausage, Apples & Onions
“I JUST DON’T LIKE IT” they all said. Before any of them had tried a single bite. Even I was worried. Would four kids under the age of six like sautéed cabbage and sausage with apples and, gasp, onions? But I couldn’t help myself. A dinner like this is so nutritious, so colorful and it’s even…
Enchilada Casserole with Quinoa & Black Beans
THIS WEEK I PREPPED 5 KID-FRIENDLY DINNERS IN 1 HOUR. It’s the first time I’ve tackled something so organized. What I learned from the whole crazy process is a whole other post, but this recipe for a meatless make-ahead dinner was one of them and it’s an unexpected keeper. Filed under It’s Always Gotta Be Something,…
Cheeseburger Hand Pies with Puff Pastry
Cheeseburger hand pies are what happens when you cross a juicy cheeseburger with a croissant. AMAZING. Cheeseburger Hand Pies are Perfect for Picky Eaters Also, if you’ve got picky eaters cheeseburger hand pies are for you. One of the (bazillion) lessons I’ve learned about feeding my tribe is about spin-offs. Keep your eyes open for…
Make-Ahead Sweet Potato “Cottage Pie” with Ground Beef (and Why It Isn’t Shepherd’s Pie)
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN shepherd’s pie and cottage pie? Lamb. This is what I just learned from Food 52. Shepherd’s pie is traditionally made with lamb, which makes sense when you think of a shepherd’s job. Cottage pie, however, is made with ground beef. That’s what we used here when we made our own even simpler version….