When I started experimenting with a veggie-filled tomato sauce to add to pizza and pasta, I knew it needed to be FULL of good-for-you ingredients but all the sweet potatoes in the world wouldn’t matter if the result wasn’t tasty. I have four small kids, ages three, five, seven and eight and whether anyone will…
20-Minute Smokey Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Zucchini & Cheese Sauce
“I can’t believe you just made up this recipe,” she squealed. “It’s so good!” That was my third grader last time I made this smokey pasta with turkey sausage and zucchini. No big deal. Your kids say that all the time, right? Ha! Me neither. That’s why I decided this one was a keeper. With…
My Favorite Pasta Recipe I Learned Living in Italy: Amatriciana
If you came to visit me when we lived in Rome, I would’ve made you this pasta. That’s because it’s my favorite pasta recipe I learned living in Italy: Amatriciana. Like many of the world’s most delicious recipes Italian recipes are awfully easy, this one begins with bacon. Except in Rome it’s pancetta. That smokey flavor…
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…
Birds’ Nests: Baked Pasta Cups with Spaghetti & Spinach
Leftover pasta becomes an easy lunch for kids, one with a little imagination that makes for cute lunch discussions. It also includes spinach. Because you know my policy on making things Florentine: Do it as often as possible. We’d had spaghetti for dinner the night before. I threw in an extra handful of whole-wheat pasta, then stored…
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…
How to Make a Pasta Salad Turtle: The Potluck Dish of Your Kids’ Dreams
Even though it’s been a while, moving back to America from Italy has meant many big changes. English. Big cars. And potlucks. So many potlucks. Church potlucks, school potlucks, people who get mail potlucks (you’re coming, right?). We have another one coming up in a couple of weeks and I have to confess something: I…
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…
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,…
Let’s Make Mark Bittman’s Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms, and Wine
Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms, and Wine Excerpted with permission from HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING FAST Time: Faster (30 minutes or less) Makes: 4 to 6 servings Use red wine and this dish is hearty for the fall or winter; use white and it becomes lighter for spring or summer. You won’t go wrong either way….
2 Dinners in 1: Grilled Chicken Becomes Creamy Lemon Pasta and Peanut Ginger Stir-Fry
MAKING DINNER EVERY NIGHT ISN’T EASY. This, we know. One of my favorite new techniques for getting food on the table is actually cooking less. Yep. By cooking one base I can make at least two meals. We’ve done it with ground beef, rice and tomatoes in Stuffed Red Peppers, which later became the base…
15-Minute Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
OBVIOUS CONFESSION COMING… I’M TOTALLY OVERWHELMED. Have I mentioned that before? It turns out that managing four kids under the age of six is hard, especially when you don’t get to sleep at night. I know you know that. The silly thing is, I didn’t know that. Or, I guess somehow I thought it wouldn’t be….
easy pasta with zucchini, tomatoes & fresh mozzarella cheese
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I NEED TO MAKE DINNER FAST. Before the Clifford video runs out. Before 2-month old Violet starts wailing for her own dinner. Before I turn from Pretty Nice Mommy into Awfully Frazzled Mommy. That’s where a quick pasta dish full of fresh vegetables like this comes in handy. There’s also the…
15-minute cheesy pasta with chicken & spinach
THIS PASTA DISH IS A 3-BOWLER. At least it was for Phoebe, our 5-year-old. Okay, okay. I admit it. I also found myself eating at least another helping, standing next to the sink while I pretended to “clean the kitchen” after dinner. It’s just that kind of pasta dish. And there’s even better news: the recipe is…
simple pasta with tomatoes, basil & mozzarella
AS PART OF OUR SEMI-DELUDED PLAN to have friends over this weekend, we served homemade rolls along with two pastas, including this one that I learned how to make when we lived in Italy. Our wonderful guests brought veggies and desserts including a chocolate layer caked called “Tall, Dark and Handsome”. And yes, we’re inviting them…
bread machine whole wheat rolls with yogurt & oats
WELL, WE DID IT AGAIN. And I actually can’t believe it. After a week that included 1-2-3 then 4 and 5 different household members succumbing to the nastiest little tummy virus in the South, we had another dinner party this weekend. It sounds counterintuitive (and a little crazy) but the house needed a good scrubbing…
cheese tortellini recipe idea with spinach and bacon
This cheese tortellini recipe idea without red sauce is one of my favorite easy dinners for kids. And we made it out of need on one very, very cold night. (And then kept making it and making it!) There was an ice storm. Way before the cheese tortellini recipe idea came in. I don’t have…
very green broccoli mac & cheese
YES I PUT BROCCOLI (AND SPINACH) IN THE MAC & CHEESE BUT HEAR ME OUT. When Estelle turned three she actually asked for this dish to be served for her birthday lunch with friends. Despite a pretty serious invasion of vegetables, this stuff is very tasty. Downright company-worthy. Especially when you’re two going on three….
mini mac & cheese cups (with carrots too)
LAST WEEK WE HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY LUNCH for 6 preschoolers to celebrate Estelle’s 3rd birthday–and at the birthday girl’s request, these mac & cheese mini cups were the main course. Like our broccoli & cheese pasta cups, they’re essentially macaroni and cheese (with a built-in veggie) to go. And like our broccoli & cheese pasta…
baked pasta with spaghetti squash
BAKED ZITI. I USED TO BABYSIT TWINS IN NEW YORK who ate two things for dinner: baked ziti and chicken nuggets, end of list. So I know kids love the stuff. The only thing is, plain pasta not that great for you. So I tried something. We combined spaghetti squash with whole wheat penne pasta, then…