MMM: Banana Brownie Waffles

With one sick Princess and a day of no school thanks to the memory of Martin Luther King, I actually had a little time to spend in the kitchen. Due to an excess of bananas which had over ripened with time, I heard the call of the Meal Makeover Moms from within the depths of the "No Whine with Dinner" cookbook where I found a recipe for Banana Brownie Waffles. Needless to say any recipe with a fruit or vegetable listed in it did not excite my two youngest daughters. 


"Bananas? I'll pass" said Sunshine. 

Hollywood trying to hide
from the camera

I garnered the assistance of my oldest daughter, Hollywood, in the creation of Banana Brownie Waffles. Just as inexperienced as her mother, Hollywood made a mess of the kitchen while following the recipe - just as her mother would. We mixed together the liquids. We made the flour dust fly. A good time for us both as we bonded in the kitchen. 


Because she didn't have any schedule to follow on Monday, Hollywood was a little lax about finding her way to the shower. So when I pulled out the camera she hid behind her the hood of her dance team sweatshirt. The picture looks quite creepy when you see Camo-Man's hand trying to pluck the hood off of her head, but he wasn't quick enough. Hollywood prevailed and kept her head covered. 


Is it a bad sign that when I pulled out the Belgian waffle maker Hollywood said she didn't even know we had one? We used to make Belgian waffles all of the time, but like most things in the kitchen it all started to feel quite overwhelming and the pure joy of light fluffy Belgian waffles came to an end. 

The finished product!

When Sunshine came home from her all day Lord of the Rings viewing event with her friends, I asked her if she was going to try the waffles. She promptly said no she didn't like bananas.


And then a little lie escaped my lips.


"Oh well, when I read the recipe closer, the bananas were meant to be sliced up on top of the waffles. So you don't even have to have them." I said with a sly warning look at Hollywood.


On Tuesday morning, Sunshine tried the waffles and LOVED THEM! Later she told me she could see the bananas in the waffles and knew I had lied to her. I guess we need to have Hollywood work on her banana mashing skills. Sadly, Hollywood doesn't get ready in time to have a light tasty waffle for breakfast. At the age of 15, she takes FOREVER to get ready for school and she usually eats scrambled eggs in the car on the way. With Princess still feeling ill, I didn't push the waffles on her, but I tried them and gave them a huge thumbs up. I am not a huge chocolate fan and thought I wouldn't like them, but the chocolate taste was not overwhelming and I really enjoyed them. 

MMM: Peppermint Meringue Snowballs

Sunshine - ever so happy
to make meringues

One of the first recipes Sunshine picked out from "No Whine with Dinner" by the Meal Makeover Moms was Peppermint Meringue Snowballs. Meringues? Meringues? OK, really, could we not pick an easy recipe? 


It's not that the recipe was difficult. It all looked so deceptively simple. Whip together some eggs and sugar, add some peppermint sprinkles and whola! Beautiful cookies, delicious to the taste, melting in your mouth. 


Yah well, remember, I've never claimed to be Martha Stewart and I don't have her knowledge nor her culinary tools. While some people have mixers which cost $200-300, I have 2-3 hand mixers. And nothing more. Just a hint of what you will see....a hand mixer does not quite hold muster when making meringues. 

Stiff peaks were not to be had with our hand mixer.

The recipe called for us to whip the eggs into stiff peaks. Do you know how long that takes with a hand mixer? No, not me either. Sunshine & I took turns with the hand mixer whipping the eggs for 25 minutes, but stiff peaks? Not happening. Instead, we had to be satisfied with a thickening of the liquid. After wearing out our arms and the hand mixer, we decided the eggs were just not going to stiffen and decided to move on with the recipe. 


I've always thought that most meals taste better when somebody else does the cooking. I think Sunshine would have preferred to have me finish the meringues, but why should I let her miss out on all of the fun? Can't you see the enjoyment on her face as she scooped the meringue mix onto the cookie sheet? 


Oh no, really she did enjoy it. That's not a grimace. She's just 12 and doesn't know how to smile at the camera without looking goofy!


Remember how I said our eggs did not stiffen? Yah, well that explains why our cookies looked like pancakes. Meringues are supposed to be light, airy and tasty. Ours were tasty....but not exactly light and airy. 


The recipe was definitely easy and the results were quite tasty; however, I would definitely make sure to borrow Martha's $300 blender before trying to make meringues again. 

MMM: Chocolatey Pumpkin Bars

Hollywood tries the bars

Princess is not so sure.

As the weather started to change, the cravings for carbs started to ramp up. After looking through "No Whine with Dinner", I decided to make a recipe from the Snack Attack section, Chocolately Pumpkin Bars. I love a simple recipe and this is one I could whip together in no time. 

Unfortunately, Sunshine had to miss out on the recipe testing due to basketball practice, but Princess stood her ground even without her mischievous partner and picked it apart before tasting a corner of the bar. She suspiciously eyed the chocolate chips as if they were raisins which were going to revolt and attack from inside the bar.  

The Review: 2 thumbs up!

Camo-Man & Hollywood loved the bars as did I. I thought they were moist and tasty - and a little too handy to have around. Man, I've got to work on my self control! Just because you see it on the counter doesn't mean you have to eat it!

Princess just had to be difficult

Surprisingly, Princess gave it a mixed review with two thumbs kind of up. I think she liked them, but didn't want to fully admit it. Maybe I should hide the names from her until we get a full review...Pumpkin probably threw her off. Or maybe that was supposed to be her street look!

MMM: Greek Chicken & Chickpea Stew

Greek Chicken & Chickpea Stew
with a salad & Mediterranean salad
dressing

I haven't been really good about posting our reviews....heck, I haven' been really good about cooking from the "No Meal with Dinner". But with a sick kid and not being able to leave the couch, I thought it was time to play catch up.


Way back in December heck make that NOVEMBER, I made Greek Chicken & Chickpea Stew from the Meal Makeover Moms. I love the concept of crock pot meals. How simple can it be? Throw it all in a crock pot and cook for several hours, come home from work and WHOLA! Dinner is served! I was especially excited about this meal because I love Greek food and thought this would be a wonderful match to go with my Mediterranean Salad dressing.

Princess was less than
excited about trying the
stew.

HOWEVER, the reviews were less than promising. Camo-Man said it tasted like a typical chicken crock pot meal. Kind of bland and not a lot of flavor. Sadly, I had to agree. The meal fell flat in my mind. It was ok, but it didn't really satisfy any of my craving for flavorful, tasty food.

Sorry Meal Makeover Moms. I am going to push more flavor in my crock pot meals. That's what seems to satisfy my eaters more.

MMM: Luau Chicken with Carrots & Pineapple

According to today's menu plan, we were supposed to have Luau Chicken with Carrots & Pineapple from the Meal Makeover Moms. Because Tuesday nights are just absolutely insane, this recipe seemed ideal for me since all I had to do was toss it all in the crock pot and let it cook while I was at work.

After work we had Sunshine's volleyball practice & parents meeting, Hollywood's dance performance at the basketball game,Diva Princess' tumbling as well as Camo-Man's church trustee meeting.....could we add one more thing? Oh yah...I cancelled my first group meeting on "Think like a THIN Person". Busy? Yah, we're busy, but we still need to eat.

When I came home from work, it was all I could do to put my crock pot meal int he fridge and head to our local, small town restaurant for fried food...and specifically NACHOS. I had a craving to munch! After battling back and forth for a while, we decided to stay home and eat the meal I had prepared. I knew it was not going to satisfy my craving.

For some reason, no matter what I do chicken crock pot meals never seem to cut it. The meat was bland. I couldn't even taste the pineapple which I absolutely LOVE! Our family seems to like flavorFUL foods and this recipe didn't cut it. Camo-Man didn't mind it. Sunshine & Diva put the smallest bite they could in their mouths with a wince.

So no big thumbs up here...sorry Meal Makeover Moms. This one is not a winner for us.

MMM: Turkey Tortilla Pie

Before cooking

Tonight for dinner we had the Meal Makeover Mom's Turkey Tortilla Pie from No Whine with Dinner. Oh yah! Simple and delicious. I loved it. I think for me and my family I might add a little more of the cumin and chilli powder and kick up the spice, but it was delicious and oh so simple to make!

Ground turkey with a few spices and cheese and bake for 15 minutes. Could it be any simpler? I think not. I can't say it was 5 thumbs up - cause let's face it. There is no satisfying Sunshine & Princess, but the three people in my home who actually eat enjoyed it quite a bit!

I didn't put it in the spring form. I just didn't feel like digging my pan out. I had a pie plate that I threw it all in and I still think it turned out wonderfully.

Give it a try.

Zapping out the JOY from Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Day started out with such promise. After a night of rotten sleep during Sunshine's 13th birthday sleepover blow out and subsequent puke fest, I decided to sleep in on Christmas Eve. By 9 am, I was up, refreshed and ready to tackle the craziness involved in preparing for Christmas Eve. 


As soon as I had my first blast of caffeine, I started my cooking for the holiday dinners. Of course, my cooking is NEVER too involved because everyone knows I am no Martha Stewart.


 
For Christmas Eve, we were heading to my hometown of Rochester, IL to spend time with my 5 fabulous sisters and their families. Our family tradition of pizza and ping pong on Christmas Eve goes back to my childhood to a time before I can even remember doing anything else. I decided to make two dips and take chips & dip. I found a tangy tomato dip in my Fitness Magazine and decided to make Lime 'N Honey Black Bean Dip from the Meal Makeover Moms. The recipe was very easy to make as all I had to do was throw it all in a blender and spin!



I also made my world famous CHEX MIX to take to the Leber's on Christmas Day. After my cooking, I went to the basement to jump on my bike for a spin on the trainer. The workout today was a 10 minute warm-up, then 3 sets of 8 minutes at 85-94% and 2 minutes of rest at 65-70%, followed by 5 minutes of cool down.  Following my cool down, I ran to the shower while shouting instructions to my kids to clean the front room if they wanted to open one present before heading to Rochester. By the time I was ready to head out, Camo-Man was home from goose hunting with bad news....the roads are getting bad. As a mode of self-preservation, I lived in denial for a while telling myself,

The roads aren't that bad. We can still make it. Springfield probably isn't getting anything now. 

 
Once ready, I let the girls each pick a gift for their sisters to open. It was fun listening to them negotiate which present to pick and they actually cooperated very nicely with each other. Everyone got to open the present they really wanted to open although I'm not sure they loved what they got.


Diva Princess got some new feetie pajamas. Last year, her last pair of feeties broke and the tears wouldn't end. This year mom got smart and bought 3 pairs to get us through the winter. It's not easy to find size 10 feetie pajamas!


A new duffle bag for Sunshine....after watching her stuff her basketball gear into an open top bag, we thought it was time she got a new bag to carry her stuff around in. Organization is the key to keeping little Miss Sunshine up and running. Her 2nd gift was a pair of fuzzy socks. Not exactly exciting, but Sunshine does like funky socks. 


Hollywood opened her 2 gifts. She also got some fuzzy, funky socks, but her other gift was the one that made this mom the happiest. A new hair dryer! Every morning Hollywood sneaks into my bathroom and uses my hair dryer. Now maybe she can keep all of her stuff upstairs. 

Princess' 2nd gift was the one she was looking forward to opening the most. She couldn't guess what it was and when I told her it was a two part gift, she nearly burst! Fortunately, Hollywood was in a good mood and let her open that gift. It was the Furrlicious Beanbag from PB Teen. Being the DIVA that she is, she LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it and couldn't stop saying THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!


Now it was decision time. After a few texts and checking a few online websites, reality came crashing in....no family time, no 2 for 1 pizza from Little Caesars, no ping pong for me. The day would be lonely and sad. 



No RUN-AROUND-THE-PING-PONG-TABLE with my crazy sisters and fun loving nieces and nephews.  (snif snif)




No giggling, laughing, and teasing with the people who mean the most to me. (whah!) God and my dearly departed parents blessed me with the most wonderful family. 






No silliness....like riding scooters in the basement or telling stories from our youth about the wild and crazy things we used to do. 

Tangy Tomato Dip from Fitness Magazine

All that was left for me to look forward to was my fireplace, movies with my kids and my DIPS! After I cried my tears over not getting to spend a Traditional Eddington Christmas Eve surrounded by my family, I dove into my dips....and thoroughly enjoyed them! We had the Lime 'n Honey Black Bean Dip with Lime Tortilla Chips....oh my word! What a fabulous combination. 

Julie Julia: The Next Round

I know, I know. You don't want to hear my endless line of excuses for not posting, and especially for not staying on track with the Julie Julia project. I will not bore you with my full calendar. Instead, I will just get back on track and go from where I am today.

With the recent snowfall in Central Illinois, I enjoyed a quite day at home today. I caught up on my laundry, created my workout plan for December and practiced for the Body Flow launch at my fitness center on January 3rd. As I sat down for a few minutes of relaxation, I decided it was time to do some menu planning for the next week at least. With 7th grade basketball over and Madrigals concluding this weekend, our family will actually have an opportunity for all of us to sit together at the dinner table. From the Meal Makeover Moms "No Whine with Dinner," I've selected the following recipes to try for this week.

Sunday:
     Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
     Dinner: Greek Chicken & Chickpea Stew
Wednesday:
      Dinner: Crushed Tortilla Chip Casserole
Saturday:
     Dinner: Salmon with Over the Rainbow Brown Rice
Other Snacks for the week:
     Chocolaty Pumpkin Bars
     Banana Zucchini Squiggle Loaf

Wish me luck....to successfully make the recipes and to successfully follow my plan!

Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells

I know I should technically be on the second or third round of recipes, but sometimes life happens. Or life happens and you don’t get to the grocery store to buy all of the required ingredients and that small window of opportunity is lost.

After the disaster that was Nest Eggs, this mom was a little gun shy. Between basketball games, speech & madrigals practice, dance and tumbling, I found it hard to get motivated to try anything new with my family dinner. So, I became a slacker providing minimal meals which just needed to be pulled out from the freezer.

Yesterday, however, an emotional show down between me and Sunshine triggered the fact that I couldn’t hide anymore. I had to face the fact that my kids are picky eaters. I even had the sad thought that I like to go out for dinner because we don’t usually have knockdown, drag out fights at a restaurant dinner table. Only at home. We couldn’t act like imbeciles in public! So instead we allow our children to eat unhealthy foods in order to keep the peace.

Not anymore.

Tonight was the night! Sunshine and I agreed to make the Peppermint Meringue Snowballs for us and my world famous chex mix for a class party on Tuesday. The jury is still out on the snowballs since Sunshine just pulled them from the stove; however, we did make the Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells for dinner tonight and I must say all and all I will call it a success.

Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells

 Now unfortunately, I did not have the complete recipe. I was missing the edamame from the recipe, but in order to make progress on this project, I decided to forge ahead and make the dinner anyway. The recipe was very easy to follow. I am relatively sure I didn't screw this one up.

Hollywood wasn't home from madrigals practice yet, but we decided to sit down to a family dinner anyway. Heck, let's face it with my two picky eaters I could still be sitting at the dinner table anyway waiting for them to finish. As soon as they saw the shrimp, they started grumbling. "Do I have to eat the shrimp?" "Can you leave some of the pasta out of the sauce?" OH well, grumble as they may I was determined to have a peaceful, successful dinner tonight.

Sunhine & Princess each sat down with a small scoop of Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells. They survived the first few bites of pasta, but were terrified by the thought of actually eating a shrimp.

"What's the pink stuff? Is that veins?", asked Sunshine.
"I can't do it, mommy. I just can't do it.", whined Princess.

I calmly explained that I heard someone recently say that it takes seven bites in order to determine if you really like something new. "Oh please, mom, don't be that person." cried Sunshine.

Oh yes! I am that person. I had nothing on the agenda for the evening and was more than willing to sit at the dinner table for the rest of the evening until the pasta was gone and shrimp was at least attempted.

Suddenly, like a streak of lightning illuminating the sky, a fork flew by with a shrimp gorged on the end which somehow, magically wound up in Sunshine's mouth. All I could do was look at her in amazement.

"I had to do it fast, mom, because when I went slow I talked myself out of it. I could see all of the veins in the shrimp." I gave Sunshine a high five and congratulated her on the big strides she had just taken. When I asked her if she was going to eat the other shrimp, she said she didn't like the crunchiness of the shrimp. I calmly explained that if she wanted to try a Peppermint Meringue Snowball she was going to need to eat the other shrimp. We stared at the final shrimp for a few minutes and decided he looked like an army guy with his pasta shell as a hat. I tried to take the picture from various angles, but this is all I could come up with.

Our Army Guy Shrimp

After a few moments of careful thought, she quickly stabbed the shrimp and several pieces of pasta and put it all in her mouth without another thought. The hurdle was jumped. The mission complete. The plate was clean.

Princess' eyes welled  up in tears. Now she knew the attention was going to be focused on her. I took this video of her trying to eat the shrimp.

 In the end, Princess didn't like the shrimp. Of course, I don't think she gave it a fair shake either, but we made progress....she ate the shrimp without a HUGE fit. Progress is being made and that is all I can expect. Hollywood, of course, had no problem with the dinner. This was HER pick. For tiny a little pip-squeak, she can certainly eat. She loaded her plate up with the dinner and ate it all.

Hollywood's Dinner Plate -FULL of Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells

The Final Ruling:

Sunshine gave it a mixed review. At first, she didn't care for the seasoning, but eventually she got past that. Instead, the mixed review came from the fact that she didn't care for the shrimp, but even a partial thumbs up is a victory indeed!

 Next came Diva Princess. She didn't care for the seasoning at all. AND she didn't like the shrimp. So she gave it a thumbs down, but honestly I don't think she hated it as much as she says she did. There just weren't enough tears for an out and out thumbs down.

And finally we had Hollywood. Remember that full plate? Well, this is a picture of her plate....about halfway through. She finished most of it. Unfortunately, Hollywood needs to learn how to fill her plate by her stomach and not necessarily her eyes!

Hollywood gave the dinner two huge thumbs up! She loved it and I must say that Camo-Man & I agree. I liked the taste. I loved the shrimp and pasta. AND I really loved that it was so easy to make. 

This dinner will definitely be on our menu in the future and maybe, just maybe, we'll start to see those thumbs turn toward the sky as the picky members of our family learn to appreciate a wider variety of foods.

Let the Battles Begin

I woke up this morning full of optimism and what I was going to accomplish today. I had my workout planned and altered as needed. I had my work meetings in the front of my mind and then I decided to start my Julie Julia project.

The meal for the day was Nest Eggs. Nothing fancy. A simple recipe of cooked eggs in the center of the bread and lightly drizzled with syrup. I mean who doesn’t like it when their eggs accidently get into the syrup when eating a large breakfast? Now I knew going into this little event that getting Sunshine & Diva Princess to actually open up their mind to these recipes was going to be difficult, but I was very excited about the project and what it could do for our family's dinner time. 

Eggland's Best Eggs

The meal for the day was Nest Eggs. Nothing fancy. A simple recipe of cooked eggs in the center of the bread and lightly drizzled with syrup. I mean who doesn’t like it when their eggs accidently get into the syrup when eating a large breakfast?

I pulled out my ingredients – note the Eggland’s Best Eggs. I’ve bought them off and on over the years because of the Omega 3s, but I tend to be a skeptic and wondered if my family would truly receive the value of the Omega 3s from the eggs. How can you just add a random nutrient to a food product and get the true value from it? However, because the Meal Makeover Moms love them, I have full faith that the product is helpful to my family and especially my picky not-so-little-ones.

My Cut-N-Seal made cutting
the circles easy.

I started my first Nest Eggs by using my Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal to cut out the center circles of my whole wheat bread and put the bread the eggs on the skillet. Simple as pie, right? 

Sunshine and Diva Princess came down for breakfast. Sunshine was  amazingly quiet when I put the first plate in front of her. Princess asked, "If we try it and don't like it, can we have something else?" Is this a foreboding warning of what was to come? As I started making the second batch of Nest Eggs, Sunshine started poking at her eggs. My lack of foresight could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. One stab into the yolk and the yellow liquid poured over her toast. 

The finished product which I thought
looked pretty good.

UH-OH

The gauntlet had been dropped. 

Sunshine: "Moooom, it's all runny!"

Mom takes a deep breath.  "That's ok. You can have the next one" and I quickly punctured the yolks. I should have predicted that one, but I will claim lack of caffeine for the mistake. 

I presented a second plate to Sunshine and finally a third for Princess. Hollywood was still upstairs as any 15-year old would be trying to get ready for school. I still had plenty of time to prepare her breakfast and put another batch on the griddle. As Sunshine sat at the breakfast counter poking at her eggs, I tried to take a picture of her slightly pouty face, but my life was quickly threatened and I put the camera down. I explained to my little picky eaters that I needed them to eat three bites in order for them to truly give it a try. 

Sunshine said the eggs tasted like rubber, ate two bites and walked away because she needed to get into the shower to tame her wild, curly locks. Princess took one bite of the egg which was hanging outside of the toast and said she had eaten all of the egg. When I tried to explain that the center of the toast was actually egg, she was momentarily fascinated, but said the eggs didn't taste like her eggs. After five minutes of begging, pleading and cajoling her to give it true try, I sent Princess off to get ready for school. 

I decided to take a bite of Princess' Nest Eggs and I have to say that I agree. They don't taste the same, but why? Well, in my early morning haste, I turned the burner up a little higher....therefore, lightly over-toasting the bread and yet still under cooking the eggs. At that time, I remembered Hollywood's Nest Eggs which were still on the stove....burnt to a crisp. 

Ahhh, a great start to the day. Aggravation with 2 of my kids for their lack of open mindedness, disappointment that my one good eater would not even have a chance to try the recipe and a house full of a light smoky haze. 

What I learned from our first escapade into our Julie Julia venture:

1) Never try to introduce new foods at breakfast before school. In my disappointment and honestly - anger, I started our morning off on the wrong foot. I do not like taking my children to school when I am seething with pent up hostility. Trying new foods on a school day when we have limited time is definitely not a wise plan. In the future, breakfast recipes will be saved for the weekends or used as a special "Breakfast for Dinner" night. 

2) Don't turn the burner up too high cause no matter what no one will care for the results.

3) Just because mommy has bought into the idea of a new food project, it doesn't necessarily mean that my children have. I need to find a way to communicate to my kids the importance of keeping an open mind about food while not turning the discussion into a verbal war of words. 

On the way to school after a few calming moments, I tried to explain to my daughters that I am concerned for their health. Their typical breakfast would normally include either frozen waffles (with light or sugar free syrup) or a sugar laden cereal such as cinnamon toast crunch which always makes me cringe. At one point my Sunshine loved a certain pancake which included a sweet potato puree from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. To this day, she does not know what is in them and honestly, she doesn't want to know. However, I found it takes a lot of time to cook the sweet potatoes, puree them, cool and/or freeze them and then to bake the pancakes. 

My mind whirled with ways to make this process easier. Part of me wanted to ignore this blog and not even write about my disastrous foray into whineless meals, but then I thought I needed to give an honest report on what happened in my home this morning. The resulting chaos had less to do with the recipe and more to do with my poor choices and lack of cooking skills....even for a simple egg. 

I'm debating cooking the Nest Eggs again tonight for dinner turning down the burner and taking my time. In addition, I've also thought about just making each part of the recipes and keeping the toast separate from the egg due to the fact that my daughters don't care for mixed foods. Maybe if I take this one step at a time, I will have a better result. 

I know I have a long road ahead of me. Part of me knows I've created this mess that I am currently in with my children, but the other part knows that I don't typically offer processed pre-packaged foods to my kids and yet they have grown accustomed  to these processed sugar & sodium laden foods. I am trying to make changes within my home, but I also feel frustrated about society in general which will reinforce my daughters poor eating habits. When they were younger, I didn't want to have the dinner time battles we had during my childhood between my dad and my younger brother. I want peaceful dinners and to NOT create certain eating disorders within my children. Instead I feel I have failed and I'm still fighting to have a peaceful dinner time meal where I can have all 3 of my kids at least give the food on their plate a fair shake.

Julie Julia Week 1 Recipes

My three princesses have picked the first week of recipes for my Julie Julia makeover from the Meal Makeover Moms. Of course, there was a snag to start it all off. 


Sunshine, aka Lead Picky Leader, chose three breads/desserts as her first 3 recipes. Grrr. When I asked her to look at the cook book, I skipped the requirement of picking 1 breakfast/lunch item, 1 dinner item and one other item. Nonetheless, mommy will persevere.


Round 1:
Princess chose the Nest Eggs for a breakfast item. Naturally, Princess loves eggs and toast. Throw in some syrup and we've got a yummy breakfast. This recipe seems to be within my cooking abilities and I'm quite optimistic about it.


Hollywood chose Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells. When I asked her to pick her recipe of the week, she simply stated, "Just look for anything with shrimp and that will be fine." She's a seafood junky. How will the other two take it? Well, they tend to like plain pasta and occasionally will eat fish. So there is some small glimmer of hope. 


Sunshine chose Peppermint Meringue Snowballs for a dessert item. Hahah. No surprise. Now this recipe scares me. Meringues? Really? Doesn't she realize her mommy has limited cooking abilities? I have to say they sound delicious. So I guess I'm up for the challenge. 


Let the cooking begin! I will be making the meringues over the weekend because I'm sure they will stress me out and require way more time than necessary. The Hidden Treasure Shrimp & Shells will be our dinner on Thursday night since that is the only night when Hollywood will be home before 7 pm from Madrigals and dance team practice. Nest eggs ? If I wake up and I'm fully aware tomorrow morning, I can make the Nest Eggs for breakfast tomorrow. 


It should be an interesting week trying to get my Julie Julia Project started. Wish me luck!

MMM: Meet the Judges

Good things come in small packages. That's the saying, right? Imagine my surprise when I opened my special delivery from our local postmaster. Drum roll please......

I know of at least one person who is excited (ME ME ME ME!); however, I must say not everyone in our family was excited about mommy's new project. So, I thought it would be appropriate to have you meet the judges and see if mommy can predict how well this whole venture will go. 


I've asked each of my daughters to select a recipe which we will begin making next week (Nov 8th). For each recipe, they will be required to eat at least 3 bites and when the meal is complete, they will give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down on each recipe. As long as we can stick to the plan, we'll complete all 15o recipes in 50 weeks. This is my Julie Julia project.

MEETING THE JUDGES 

Our Julie Julia Judges: Hollywood, Diva Princess in front,
Me, Camo-Man, & Sunshine

First, I'll give you a little run down on me. I'm the active mommy who likes to plan healthy meals for my kids, but somehow in our busy lives they don't always get implemented. I'm constantly struggling to find new methods to make this crazy life of mine more sane when it comes to balancing nutrition and exercise.

Camo-Man: As of this Saturday, my dear hubby and I will have been married for 17 years. Camo-Man is not a picky eater. All he wants to know is that there will be a meal of some sort on the table. He doesn't particularly care what it is. Just so long as we have a family meal.  Camo-Man would be happy eating hamburgers with fries or pizza every night of the week. He doesn't particularly care to watch calories or fat grams. He simply wants food on the plate which he can enjoy. Of course, he'd also be happy if the meal contained his weekly hunting kill and that is not my favorite meal. Ack!

Hollywood: Oh if the dear Lord in Heaven had given me three fantastic eaters like Hollywood I would not have a care in the world. If given a choice between cookies and a bowl of fruit, Hollywood would pick the fruit. She's very good at trying various foods and rarely turns her nose up at anything I put in front of her....as long as it's not too freaky looking or overcooked. And, yes, that happens.

Sunshine: Otherwise known as The Lead Picky Eater. My theory with Sunshine is that she came into this world at a time when our family was participating in meat locker delivery service. We would get various steaks and chicken breasts delivered every other month. So what do you think she likes? Grilled meats. She's not like most kids. She doesn't care for dipping sauces. She doesn't even like ketchup. So casseroles are difficult. She's finally tried fish a time or two and I've had some success there, but that is only on a rare, good moment. On the topic of produce, you can forget it. She used to eat strawberries and I couldn't figure out why at the age of five she wouldn't eat them anymore. She very sweetly looked at me one day at the dinner table and explained, "But momma, taste-es change". Hmmm, maybe they will change again. 


Diva Princess: My 2nd picky eater. If she knew what it meant, she would probably claim that she is vegan, except she doesn't really eat vegetables. Apparently, I've done something wrong as a mom and cook. When she was younger, Diva Princess would eat more. At one dinner meal when Sunshine was staying at a friend's house, Diva Princess took a look a Hollywood, saw her eating and just gave it a try. Unfortunately, when Sunshine is around pouting about food, Princess tends to follow suit. Now I call her my all carb girl. She's reverted to eating like a toddler preferring mac-n-cheese over just about anything else. 


I grew up as a picky eater. I didn't eat salads until someone made fun of me and even then it took a bit. After a while, I decided to give salads a try and now I eat one just about every day. My theory is that my kids should be exposed to healthy foods, but I am not going to force them to eat everything on their plate. As they mature, I hope they will choose to eat more healthy meals just as I did. Unfortunately, I am battling a society who loads their food down with sodium and sugar. Naturally, they chose to eat what they "know" - salty or sugary foods. Kids are exposed to snacks at just about every event they attend. Snacks at choir. Treats after tumbling. Snacks at Awanis. I used to go round and round with Sunshine. If she didn't eat, her only option was a fruit or vegetable. She would choose an apple which is great, but then she would leave the house for an activity and they would provide pre-packaged foods to my children! How am I supposed to battle this when every person out there thinks children need to eat at every activity?


So, here I am today with 3 daughters, two of which won't eat most of the food I put on their plates. I've purchased "No Whine with Dinner" from the Meal Makeover Moms in order to expose my family to healthy food without intimidating by the strangeness of the ingredients.   I'm hoping that by getting them involved with the selection of recipes, the preparing of the food and judging of the result they will start to buy into a somewhat healthier attitude towards. 


Here's hoping. It's definitely going to be an uphill battle. 

Julie/Julia: No WHINE with Dinner

I ordered my copy of "No WHINE with Dinner" today from the Meal Makeover Moms. I've been waiting at least two months to order this recipe book.


Why? Have I mentioned two of my little lovies, Sunshine & Diva Princess, who stick their noses up at every meal I put in front of them? Sunshine won't eat anything which may be referred to as "healthy". She likes grilled meats and carbs. That's about it. Diva Princess, who can eat like her oldest sister, Hollywood, under the best of circumstances, has recently followed in Sunshine's footsteps; however, she's decided now that she "doesn't like meat" and only wants to eat carbs. Grrrrr. 


So why would I once again put myself through the torture of cooking meals which could possibly remain uneaten? Because I am a mom who believes in eating healthy, every day  meals. I will not force my kids to eat outlandish-out-of-the-norm foods, such as: portabella burgers, eggplant lasagna or Adzuki Bean Tacos. When my three little princesses grow up and want to explore their options, I will be more than happy to help them try some of the exotic foods out there, but I have enough trouble trying to get three kids to eat chicken let alone offering foods which would cause a temper tantrum even before we set the dinner table.


As a result, I am taking Liz & Janice up on their offer of "No Whine with Dinner". I'm going to try the great experiment of testing each of their recipes in our home. Each child will be given a grading sheet where they can provide feedback to my husband and I on each recipe. Every week each child will pick one new recipe for our family try to try. Hopefully, by having them do the picking, they will feel a degree of ownership in the recipes and want to give them a fair shake AND we will create a repertoire of recipes which I can make again and again. 


Have I mentioned that I love the movie Julie & Julia? Think about it! First off, Julie Powell sets a goal (you know I love goals!) to attempt all 542 recipes from Julia Child's "Masting the Art of French Cooking" in a one year time span. 542 brand spanking new recipes in one year and these weren't EASY recipes by any means. 


Now not only do I lack the culinary skills of Julia Child, but I don't even have the desire of Julie Powell to master skills such as boning a duck, steaming a live lobster or fixing boeuf bourguignon. I am a modern wife & mom of three with very little time who lacks virtually any cooking skills other than the desire to provide my family with healthy meals served on a platter of family memories created at the family dinner table.  


Combine my desire for healthy meals with too much whining at our dinner table recently and you'll see why I've decided to embark on my own Julie Julia project with the Meal Makeover Moms new cookbook, "No Whine with Dinner".  We'll make three new recipes a week, a total of 150 recipes, so the entire project should take 50 weeks. The project will start as soon as the cookbook is in my grubby little hands which should be before November 1st. 


I'll keep you posted the moment it arrives and what the first recipe picks will be!

Bon appétit!!