Licking the bowl clean

Dinner tonight was a gamble. Using up some frozen shrimp and scallops that had been in my freezer for a while. And I served it to five-year old triplets no less. A few adjustments along the way, of course, but don't ask me what they were. I can't remember. All I know is Angel triplet liked this soup so much she literally licked the bowl. Apart from bad table manners, it makes a Mama feel awesome when her kid enjoys the food so much that licking the dinner bowl clean is even thought of.  

In other news, Princess triplet merely smelled it, and Sunshine took 4 bites.

Seafood Chowder

Dinner = Whatever's in the house

It's not always easy to get to the grocery store no matter who you are, right? Just add in the child factor for anyone and it's tougher. In the Tripped Up Family's world, we have to add in the triplet and the special needs factors - as you can imagine grocery store trips are never classified as a quick run or anything easy.

So when it comes to the "what's for dinner" question at our house, there are only 2 options - either you get really organized and pre-plan your menus for weeks & weeks ahead of time or you get super creative with whatever's in the house. I vary between those two options frequently, quite frankly, I bet you do too.

On those days when I have to scrounge around and make something from "whatever's in the house," I find myself relying on a recipe I learned from an old cookbook I don't even own anymore. (I'm old enough to have many "previous lives" - you know, the first marriage, various former jobs as a writer, locations I've lived, schools I've attended. This cookbook, A Taste of Oregon, was from one of those previous lives. Actually it was a wedding gift, from one of my first husband's aunts, and I've long since given it back to him). This recipe has been seared into my memory and I use it as a base for any throw-together comfort food casserole that invariably graces our table at least twice a month. I give it to you below as I remember it, as I use it, but I haven't seen the actual cookbook or the recipe itself in well over 13 years.

You can still find this cookbook on Amazon and I think I may be purchasing a new copy for myself again. After all, if I remember right, there was a pretty good Taco Salad recipe in there as well.

Make Your Own Casserole

Use this as a base and make it yours however you want, with whatever's in the house.

INGREDIENTS

1	Cup Main ingredient (like browned hamburger, cooked poultry, tuna, or pre-cooked beans)
1	Cup second ingredient (like vegetables, a second meat, or another cup of main ingredient)
1 to 2	Cups starchy ingredient (like potatoes, pasta, or pre-cooked rice)
1 to 2	Cups binder (something that holds all things together like a cream soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, tomato paste)
1/4 to 1/2	Cup fun item (like mushrooms, water chestnuts, pimentos, artichoke hearts, olives, whatever you like)
	Onions & celery can be used as part of above ingredients or considered spices and added later.
	Your favorite spices - be creative here!
Optional add-ins for top
	grated cheese (any kind you like), crushed potato chips, bread crumbs

INSTRUCTIONS

1.	Preheat oven to 350. Mix everything together into a casserole dish. If it seems dry as you're mixing you can add in some water or milk depending on your taste. Place your chosen topping over all and then bake, covered, about 30 to 45 minutes or until heated through.

Up to my ears

Click here to get Images & Strawberries Pictures - Pictures

in berries!

My wonderful mother-in-law knows how much her granddaughters love strawberries. Yesterday she made sure we got 4 quarts of ripe berries that need to be used fairly quickly. Since my girls like muffins and the like, I started poking around for a yummy strawberry muffin recipe. Here's what hit our fancy this morning. And I think strawberry cream cheese spread might be awesome instead of butter :-)

A few notes: I used olive oil instead of canola. I added some milk because it seemed way too dry. Others on the allrecipes.com site chose to reduce the amount of flour. I also saw later that others had added some vanilla into the mix, and I wish I had thought to do that. I also added some flax seed meal in the mix for its overall health benefits. For me, the recipe filled a standard 12-cup muffin pan, and we still have 5 muffins left for later this week. In this large family home, I really LOVE recipes that are easy to double, but I don't like to double on the first try. This one is a keeper, and I will double it the next time.

Strawberry Muffins

Source: allrecipes.com

Course: Breads

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oil an 8 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.
3. Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 233
Fat: 8.2g
Cholesterol: 28mg
Sodium: 283mg
Carbohydrate: 35.9g
Fiber: 1.1g
Protein: 4.2g

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Tasty Thursday - Macaroni Beef Skillet Supper

Now that I am a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM) and anticipate becoming more of a Work at Home Mom (WAHM) someday, I realize how much my life revolves around FOOD. Whether it's the planning of a meal, the serving of it, the food consumption management for the speech delayed triplets (this is a whole thing really, and I'll probably do a whole post on it soon) or the cleaning up after it, FOOD takes up hour after hour of every day, I swear.

I think every mom is constantly on the lookout for recipes that are healthy, quick, and tasty. If you can add to your "go-to" recipe box, you would right? So that's what today's post is about - a go-to recipe for your basic hamburger (or ground turkey, ground chicken - I've substituted both before and it works great). This dish is endlessly variable and makes a great starting point when you have to answer the "what's for dinner" question quickly. I personally like to add more Worcestershire sauce than it calls for. I always use fresh mushrooms, like mini bellas, and I often will throw in some veggies hoping my children will end up eating them without even knowing it. Modify it as you wish - add different spices - whatever you'd like. I just firmly believe this is one of those basic recipes you simply have to have in your head/recipe box. I've made this entree regularly since the late 80s, and it originally came from a grocery store recipe handout that the American Heart Association put together. So here it is, a go-to meal that all my kids will eat, is cheap, relatively healthy and easy. Sounds like a Tasty Thursday to me!

Macaroni Beef Skillet Supper

Rich and flavorful!

Source: American Heart Association (Words Worth Eating)

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Cook Time:
45 Min

Total Time:
45 Min

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Elbow macaroni
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 Cup onions diced
• 1 clove garlic mashed
• 2 tablespoons vegtable oil
• 2 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 package fresh mushrooms sliced
• 2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoon italian seasoning

Directions

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling water according ot package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Saute the meat, onion and garlic in oil until the meat loses its pink color and the onions are tender. Add pepper, tomato sauce, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce and Italian seasoning.
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
4. Mix in the cooked macaroni and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 270

View recipe at plantoeat.com