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Clean out the fridge chicken pot pie

May 13, 2010 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 11 Comments

What do you do when you have a bunch of stuff clogging up your fridge and freezer drawers?  Toss them in a pot, stir ‘em up and cover them with some straight from the freezer pastry dough!  My Ma used to make stew, I make a creamy version then cover it and bake it till it bubbly good and the hubs and kids are in hog heaven.  Give this one a try.

dinner Clean out the fridge chicken pot pie

1 thawed sheet of pastry dough

3 large chicken breasts

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 T butter

4 cups chicken stock

2 yellow onions, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup medium-diced carrots

1 10 oz package frozen peas

1 10 oz package frozen corn

1 zucchini, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

S&P

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with 1 T olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Cut the chicken into large dice.  Turn up the oven to 375 degrees.

dinner Clean out the fridge chicken pot pieIn a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and remaining oil and saute the onions over medium low heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Toss in carrots, zucchini, and celery and  cook for two more minutes.  Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add S&P and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, peas and corn. Mix well.  Pour into a 13×9 baking dish.  Cover with pastry dough.  Cut a few slits into the dough to allow steam to escape.  I like to sprinkle the top with a bit of fleur de sel (or any other course salt) but you can use whatever you like.  Bake at 375 for 1 hour.  Serve with a side salad.  I dare you not to lick the plate!

Filed Under: Dinner Recipes For Kids, Kid Favorite Recipes, Recipes For Kids, Vegetable Recipes For Kids Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Come Sail Away Zucchini Boats

May 12, 2010 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 20 Comments

So I’ve had this zucchini sitting in my fridge and I’ve been trying to find a unique way of making it.  I’ve roasted it, I’ve sauteed it, I’ve even sliced it thin and served it as a salad, but what would be a fun way to get the kids to eat it?  Hmmm, a boat!  Let’s stuff it and call it a boat.  Did they go for it?  Aye aye captain.

side dishes Come Sail Away Zucchini Boats

2 large zucchini squash

Olive oil

S&P

1 T butter

1/2 t red pepper flakes

8 oz mushroom chopped fine

1/2 onion chopped fine

2 cloves garlic chopped fine

1 t dried oregano

2 T chopped parsley

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 shredded mozzarella cheese

juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cut your zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the centers to create a canoe like boat.  Sprinkle boats with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Pop into the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Sautee your onions, mushrooms, and the zucchini that you reserved until soft.  Season with S&P and a dash of red pepper flakes.  Add in your garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Toss in bread crumbs, oregano, parsley, and your cheeses.  Stir together and allow to cook for an additional few minutes.  Remove from heat and squeeze in your lemon juice.

side dishes Come Sail Away Zucchini BoatsRemove your boats from the oven and transfer stuffing into the canals.  Put them back into the oven and bake at 400 for 10 minutes.  Serve and enjoy.  You can even make little sails for the boats out of toothpicks and flags!  You can even make this into a meal by making your stuffing more hearty.  Try it with ground beef and rice or even turkey or sausage.  Mmmmm.

Filed Under: Healthy Side Dish Recipes For Kids, Kid Favorite Recipes, Recipes For Kids, Vegetable Recipes For Kids, Vegetarian Recipes For Kids Tagged With: , , ,

Baby’s first veggie platters

February 16, 2010 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 6 Comments

Ok my pureeing prima donnas, here it comes…

…your pumpkins first meal after rice cereal!  Yea!  We’ve hit the big time.  They’ll be off to college before you know it.  They’ll graduate, move out, shack up with some yoga instructor and start ignoring your texts.  And then you’ll be a Grandma in no time…ok wait, back it up…let’s at least get their first meal into them before they sprout some teeth.

Ok, first things first.  You need some supplies.  I recommend a steamer, a potato ricer or mouli, a food processor, and some ice cube trays.  You can pretty much make any baby food you need with that gear.  The ricer or mouli is only to make potato and sweet potato with (they tend to get gummy if you run them through a food processor) so you can skip those if you’re low on funds.  Ok, fire up that steamer because here we go…

We’ll be making potatoes first.  Why?  Because potatoes are nice and mild and a great way to begin the process of introducing the vast world of flavors and textures to your child.  Plus you make a big batch, freeze them, and store them in plastic freezer bags and then combine them with other less baby appealing veggies (ie broccoli) they’re more likely to adjust to the stronger tastes.  So smart huh?

4 large russet baking potatoes cleaned, peeled, and chopped

Liquid (you can choose to use breast milk, formula, or the steaming water.  You’ll need enough liquid to make the potatoes smooth and almost runny, like thinned yogurt.)

Place chopped potato in the bowl of your steamer and cook for 15-20 minutes, until they are very soft.  Remove the potatoes place them into a ricer or a mouli (you could even just press them through a colander if need be).  Strain the potatoes into a bowl and combine with enough liquid to make a thin and smooth puree.  Serve as is or combined with rice cereal.

You can save some in the fridge for the next few days and spoon the rest into clean and sterilized ice cube trays to freeze for future use.

You can use this recipe to make a number of vegetables including carrots, parsnips, butternut squash, sweet potato (avoid the food processor), rutabaga, and zucchini.  Just clean, peel and steam as above, and puree in the food processor until smooth.  Voila!

Filed Under: Vegetable Recipes For Kids, Vegetarian Recipes For Kids Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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