A BOWL OF PASTA DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN TOMATO SAUCE. One of the easiest ideas I’ve learned from the Italians is to substitute traditional red sauce with something much simpler: extra virgin olive oil, fresh herbs and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Dinner’s on the table in 20 minutes, and it’s a really good…
The best roast beef sandwiches you’ll ever have
THESE PLAYDATE SANDWICHES WERE MADE WITH ON-THE-GO EATING IN MIND. Admittedly, they were more for the moms and dads than kids–who got turkey sammies smothered with honey mustard and mayo spread–but on this blustery fall day in Rome, every parent not only commented on how good they were, but couldn’t stop talking about the roast…
baked apple chips with cinnamon sugar
I’M PRETTY SURE THIS IS WHAT HEAVEN SMELLS LIKE. Sweet apples slowly roasting in the oven, the scent of cinnamon swirling in the air… I enjoyed the amazing aroma almost as much as the moment I handed our kids a bowl full of low-sugar, full-flavor apple chips…and they loved them!
ham, cheese and apple melts
RECENTLY I’VE GOTTEN A LOT MORE STRATEGIC ABOUT MAKING LUNCHES AND DINNERS. Our kids are so small that we always have tons of leftovers. And while none of us are crazy about eating the same thing over and over, I’ve found that many meals can be made into something tasty later in the week. That’s…
Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins (With Beans!) 2 Ways
Don’t stop reading yet. I made chocolate pumpkin muffins with beans. A full can of beans. And they’re awesome. This breakfast was originally a dessert, similar to our chocolate cake with beans, but if there’s an option to wake up to chocolate I have only one thing to say: yes, please! Our muffins are packed…
Frittata with spinach, pancetta & ricotta (a Barefoot Contessa makeover)
MY BIG INDULGENCE IN ITALY, other than one trip to the Gucci outlet and one million bowls of gelato (which was probably more expensive in the long run!), has been an international subscription to the Food Network magazine. I’ve definitely learned a lot from Italians when it comes to food, family and the combination of…
Lentil sausage soup with spinach (a Barefoot Contessa lentil soup makeover)
IT’S HERE! I LOVE SOUP SEASON. Even though the Roman weather keeps playing tricks on us–one day it’s cool and crisp, the next is so hot and humid that everyone is sweating before we leave the house–we’ve started making soup. And even better, we’ve started freezing soup too. This recipe makes more than enough to…
Roasted fall vegetables: potatoes and fennel
I’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND IT’S STILL TRUE: if your kids are reluctant to eat veggies, the best thing you can do is roast them. The veggies, not the kids. Here’s my favorite way to prepare almost any vegetable, and bonus, the best way to slide a new one in there too. We combined a…
Healthy chocolate-zucchini muffins for kids (a Paula Deen zucchini bread makeover)
STOP EVERYTHING. THESE ARE THE BEST MUFFINS you’ll ever make. And don’t tell Ina Garten because I’ve strayed again and updated another Paula Deen recipe for this one. Right now Paula’s zucchini bread is the most popular thing on the Food Network website; and my remake of her pumpkin cake (now pumpkin spice mini-muffins) is…
Beef tacos become Tex-Mex rice with beef and beans: two dinners in one
OK, I’LL FESS UP RIGHT NOW. This dinner was a double miss but that’s because I made a silly mistake early on: I accidentally used hot, spicy salsa instead of mild. You won’t do this and your family will enjoy the whole thing. Twice.
pumpkin pancakes or waffles
ONE OF MY DREAMS FOR THIS WEBSITE is to create an amazing collection of family-friendly recipes and meal ideas from moms and dads everywhere. There’s a special section on Foodlets devoted to this mission; you can upload your family’s favorite recipes (with photo) easily right here. But sometimes I hear from you directly, which is…
Individual plum crisps (a Barefoot Contessa recipe makeover)
WE’VE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. Last summer a friend appeared on our door, bag in hand overflowing with juicy purple plums. We combined them with a few berries for a family-style dessert at a friend’s summer rental. This time we got our own plums and this time they were yellow. And this time, I…
Grated carrot salad, a recipe inspired by “French Kids Eat Everything”
I don’t know about you but my kids aren’t usually into salad. There was a time when my preschooler, Phoebe, would spot a great leaf of anything on her plate, be it basil, parsley or actual lettuce, immediately pick it off and deposit onto MY plate while explaining “I don’t yike salad.” Sigh.
homemade ham & pineapple pizza
NO ONE LOVES A SPIN-OFF MORE THAN ME. I’m a huge fan of Hawaiian pizza so it wasn’t even a question that we’d turn our pork & pineapple skewers into kid-friendly ham & pineapple pizza sooner or later. Just don’t tell the Italians… The flavor is so nice, we might try this again with the healthy deep…
Fresh peach & cinnamon muffins
THERE’S NO BETTER TIME FOR PEACHES than the last weeks of warm weather. (Ditto for tomatoes!) Inspired by all the juicy looking fruit overflowing on our supermarket shelves, Phoebe and I set out to make a new muffin: peach spice muffins.
Crepes with sausage, mushrooms and cream
I HAD MY FIRST CREPE a long way from France. Instead, I was sitting in a high school French class. This was Arlington in 1990, a two-stoplight town in the northwest corner of Washington state. Like many in the area, it’s full of dairy farms and lumber mills but Francophiles are few. Ms. Weingarten, our…
Sauteed zucchini
ESTELLE IS ON A ZUCCHINI KICK. And by “kick” I mean she doesn’t spit them out. Unlike, say, shrimp, which will be its own post soon… Instead she eats them happily and heartily every time. And since they’re so fresh and easy to find this time of year, why not indulge the little one? Especially…
Honey whole wheat cornbread
IF YOU THINK CORNBREAD IS DRY or worse yet, greasy and heavy, this one is for you. Phoebe has eaten three pieces in the last 18 hours, one at every meal and actually closes her eyes with each bite. So, I think it’s pretty good.
Endive kiwi salad, a recipe inspired by “French Kids Eat Everything”
LIKE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, we can thank the French for this one. Karen Le Billon, inspiring writer and author of my new fantasy lifestyle manual favorite book “French Kids Eat Everything“, introduced this endive kiwi salad to our household. And hold on to your hats because the kids ate it. Salad. One toddler, one preschooler, eating…
Chicken and peach kabobs
SO MANY FAILURES, SO LITTLE TIME. Since our pork and pineapple version was so tasty, I thought this was a natural spin-off. And it might have been, but I’d need to do things differently. Estelle actually ate quite a bit but Phoebe was having none of it and I couldn’t blame her. The chicken needed…