Foodie Friday: Crispy Brown Rice

As this past week was my turn to make dessert for our weekly dinner group, I went on my usual quest for something sweet that the kiddos would enjoy but with a health-nut edge to it. I usually include a lot of whole grains - oats or whole wheat flour - coconut sugar or honey instead of cane sugar and often peanut butter is included because... well... it's delicious. 

Peanut Butter Crispy Brown Rice Bars
courtesy of 86lemons

• 3 C organic Erewhon crispy brown rice cereal
• 1/2 C organic, fresh-ground peanut butter (no salt added)
• 1/2 C local honey
• 2 tsp organic vanilla
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• Organic dark chocolate bar
• Melt PB, honey, vanilla, and salt on stovetop until creamy and combined
• Stir PB mixture into cereal
• Press into parchment-lined 8x8 glass baking dish and let sit until cool
• Once bars are cool, melt chocolate and spread over the top; let cool/harden in fridge

The bars were tasty and I'm looking forward to making them again. I had leftover cereal so, for dinner last night, I made baked crispy chicken but subbed the crispy brown rice cereal for the bread crumbs. Big hit all around! This cereal will be making a regular appearance on my shopping list from now on, whether it's for breakfast, dinner, or dessert!

Baked chicky-chick

Dinner tonight was a perfect combination: simple, get-in-my-tummy-yummy, and clean. You're dying to know what it was, right??? First check out this beautiful little birdie that we spied yesterday at Gran and Grandpa's. Yes, it snowed again. Yes, it's almost April. But we're kind of trying to teach the children that throwing ourselves on the floor, kicking and screaming, is not how to handle disappointment. So we didn't do that. Mother Nature - aren't we being good role models? Care to reward us with SPRING????

Back to the food... Dinner consisted of chicken, stovetop potatoes (organic red new potatoes chopped and sauteed in olive oil with salt/pepper until browned), and a lovely salad. I'm so delighted to see the girls eating salad - but when all four of our plates look exactly the same, as they do day in and day out - here we are again with the role model concept...Parents are powerful people. The chicken - this was possibly my favorite baked chicken tender/finger recipe. It couldn't have been easier and the coating had a nice crispness to it all the way around. 

Oven-baked Crusty Chicken
courtesy of Table for Two

• 3 antibiotic/hormone free chicken breasts
• Each breast sliced into 3-4 pieces that resemble pre-cut tenders
• 1 C whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 local, organic eggs
• Whisk eggs in a flat dish
• Combine bread crumbs and seasonings in separate dish
• Dip chicken pieces in eggs, dredge in bread crumb mixture, and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet
• Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes then broil for 3-5 minutes more

Salad Dressing (the girls really liked this one!)

• Fig balsamic vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Honey
• Olive oil
• Pepper
• Salad - all organic produce: lettuce, red pepper, cucumber, carrot

Whole-Lotta-Enchilada!

It's summertime. It's hot. And I'm boycotting use of the oven, except before 9:00am or on a cloudy day. No, I did not fix enchiladas for breakfast. It was, however, cloudy and cooler on Monday. I think John was pleasantly surprised to come home and smell dinner cooking in the oven! Nothing but the best for my man!

Sweet Potato, Chicken, and Black Bean Enchiladas:

• 2 local, antibiotic-free, free-range, chicken breasts
• I tossed these into the crockpot with a small can of green chilies and some olive oil around 2:30 (I think). Cranked the crockpot to high for about 30 minutes, then down to low for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Shredded the chicken and it was ready to go.
• 1 organic sweet potato - chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 organic onion - diced
• 1 can organic low-sodium black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 can green enchilada sauce (again, make sure it has no MSG)
• 1/2 C sour cream
• Shredded cheese
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Saute onion in olive oil
• Add sweet potato, cover and cook until tender
• Uncover and let sweet potato brown a bit
• Add black beans until heated through
• Butter the bottom/sides of a 9x9 oven-safe pan and pour 1/3 can enchilada sauce in bottom
• Mix remaining sauce with sour cream
• Assemble enchiladas - fill with black bean/sweet potato mix, add shredded chicken, sprinkle some cheese, pour in a bit of enchilada sauce/sour cream 
• Once enchiladas are rolled in the pan (I think I filled 4-5), top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese
• Bake uncovered at 350° for 25-30 minutes

Then, as soon as dinner is done, run immediately to the bedroom, strip off your current outfit, and return decked out in glitter, frills, glass slippers, and crowns. That's what these enchiladas will do for you. Now get cookin'!

Crockpot Lettuce Wraps

Nothing too fancy here this evening. Life has been busy! I thought these Crockpot Lettuce Wraps were worth sharing - this is more of an idea than a recipe, as I did no measuring whatsoever. But they turned out great and we all gobbled them up!

Crockpot Lettuce Wraps

• 2-3 local, free-range chicken breasts (diced into small pieces before cooking)
• Organic, low-sodium soy sauce
• White wine
• Hoisin sauce
• Finely diced organic shallot
• Dice chicken and shallot
• Combine soy sauce, wine, hoisin sauce
• Add all to crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours, until chicken is done
• I mixed up a quick peanut sauce that I found online (basically organic peanut butter, low-sodium soy sauce, a bit of water to thin, fresh lime juice)
• Serve on a large piece of lettuce with brown rice and a drizzle of peanut sauce on top

In between and around working part-time, I just finished my first month teaching Baby Sing and Sign classes. I am super excited about the idea of really establishing these classes here in Lawrence - this first session was a great learning experience for myself as an instructor but it was so rewarding to be in a position to provide parents with some additional tools to support their child's development. My job is rough right now - the students' needs are high and the parent involvement is low. Baby Sing and Sign is a definite boost that I need to help build my faith in the notion that there ARE parents out there who will go above and beyond in order to meet the needs of their child.

My children, however? Super-fun times two right now. I'm sure I've said that  before, but I am not joking! I cannot keep up with their imaginations right now - Elise spent all day as Cinderella (they saw movie #2 with their besties Sydney and Madi last weekend) and Abby spent the day as Mr. Fixit (from the Richard Scarry books). And they say things like:

• Abby, talking about how Lana and Jamey's pool might be cold when we first start swimming this summer: "That's okay. It's really not a problem for me."
• Elise, driving by Hy-Vee and seeing their Xmas lights still on: "What are they THINKING?"
• And bedtime - several nights a week, we separate them - one in our bed, one in theirs. This just helps get everyone to sleep faster on those nights when the extra 30-minutes or so is needed. They figured out how to talk to each other through the vents. I couldn't even be mad - both of them, blankets on the floor, laying down and carrying on an in-depth conversation about the day... through the floor vents. We find it to be pure genius. :)

For Valentine's, Grandma sent them a box of wind-up toys. What great entertainment for my little lovebugs. Thank you, Grandma! Elise is sporting her Olivia tshirt from us while Abby was on day #2 of 4 wearing her snow overalls. Like I said, LOVE does not justify our feelings for these gals.

Sweet Potato, Swiss Chard, and Sorghum

A home-cooked meal, from start to finish, it such a wonderful thing. For those who enjoy these meals on a daily basis, it's easy to take them for granted. And that's part of what I love about blogging like this - after baking or cooking, I get to stop and look at what we've made, take pictures of it, and then relish in the beauty and taste. 

Last week, we had one of "those" dinners, the kind of dinner that I stopped to admire because of the health factor, the homemade factor, and the yum-o factor: Chicken, Black Bean, and Sweet Potato soup with Swiss Chard and fresh Whole Wheat Bread. Now it's time to share!

Whole Wheat Bread
adapted from Zesty Cook Easy Whole Wheat Bread

• 2 tsp local honey
• 2 2/3 C warm water
• 4 tsp active dry yeast
• 3 T organic sorghum
• 5 C organic whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 C wheat germ
• 1 T oats
• Stir honey into 2/3 C warm water
• Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let rest for 10 minutes
• Combine sorghum with 2/3 C warm water; combine with yeast mixture
• Stir into flour; add salt, wheat germ, and 1 1/3 C warm water
• This is a very sticky, gooey dough
• Pour into non-stick pan, smooth top with wet fingers or spatula, and sprinkle with oats
• Cover with towel and let sit until rises to top of pan (less than 1 hour)
• Bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes

Chicken, Black Bean, and Sweet Potato Soup

adapted from our very own Gran's recipe box

• 2 local organic chicken breasts
• 1 box organic low sodium chicken broth (with extra water, if needed)
• 2 small-medium organic sweet potatoes
• 1 small organic onion
• 1/2 organic pepper (red or green)
• 1 can green chilies (I had whole chilies and chopped them myself)
• 1 can organic black beans, rinsed
• Mild salsa
• Organic sour cream and fresh cilantro for garnish
• Saute onion, pepper in organic olive oil
• Add chicken breasts and chicken broth; simmer until chicken is done
• Remove chicken and shred or chop; return to pot
• Add diced sweet potatoes; simmer until cooked
• Add green chilies, salsa, black beans - extra salsa, salt, and pepper are good flavor boosters
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro

Swiss Chard

• 1 big bunch organic swiss chard (ours was homegrown from Gran and Grandpa's garden!)
• Olive oil
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt
• Organic lemon
• Heat approx 2 T olive oil over medium
• Add red pepper flakes (more or less depending on desired spice-quotient)
• Add roughly chopped swiss chard and cover
• Cook until swiss chard is wilted and tender
• Squeeze lemon over before serving

I loved everything about this meal. I've made the soup many times and the girls eat every drop. This was my second attempt with the bread recipe - I used sorghum this time (the original recipe calls for molasses) and I increased the salt. We thought it was much tastier and, as far as a no-knead whole wheat bread goes, it's great. And the swiss chard? Loved it. Thank you for enjoying this little walk down meal-memory lane with me - I'm so thankful for this kind of dinner. 

Spring = Blog slacking

It's raining right now. Thundering and lighting, too. My babies are sleeping soundly and I've been looking through oodles and oodles of pictures from the past couple of weeks. And I promise that the faces looking back at me are. not. starving. :)  But the pictures of food are. definitely. lacking. I found one set of food pics, though, that I want to share. It shows the ease of making a "kids meal" out of a "grown up" meal.

I wandered around the grocery store alone a few days ago and as I meandered to the check-out, I took notice of a mom beside me. More accurately, I took notice of her shopping cart. There were lunchables. And those frozen PB&J sandwiches, with no crusts and what appeared to be white bread. And fruit cups - the kind with canned fruit: peaches, pears, and an occasional cherry. I saw juice boxes and kool-aid. Frozen pizzas and frozen chicken fingers. Pop-tarts. In theory, that shopping cart hit many of the food groups: meat, grains, fruit. Each and every bit of which was contained in a box, with an ingredient label, and a whole lot of unnecessary. 

My point is that cooking for your kids doesn't mean buying food that is made for kids. Does it mean adapting some of your tastes and preferences in order to make sure your littles ones eat a hearty meal? Absolutely. Here's where I'm going with this:

On Mother's Day Eve (I personally view Mother's Day as a 3-day event), John fixed us dinner. We had fresh spinach from the farmer's market, some local chicken, and organic sweet potatoes. John and I were going to have a nice spinach salad; the girls are not really into leafy greens yet. So they got some green beans as their veggie, strawberries, mashed sweet potatoes, and chicken. Couldn't be simpler... or tastier.

And how about a few reasons why, on this Mother's Day, I continue to be the luckiest momma around:

• At the dinner table, after telling a story about a little boy who had a bee in his shorts, stinging him:
• Abby: "What you talking about?"
• Me: "A little boy who got stung by a bee."
• Abby: "Oh. What color?"
• Me: "The bee?"
• Abby: "No, the little boy's shorts."
• While heading out to run errands with just Elise, after dropping Abby off at Gran and Grandpa's for a playdate:
• Elise (on the pretend phone): "Hi Gran. This Elise. I running errands with Momma. Abby stay with you but if I don't go running errands, Momma be too lonely."
• At the library. I was down one of the aisles looking at books, when I heard a familiar little voice talking to the librarian, Ms Jane:
• Abby: "Ms. Jane who wrote Mary?"
• Ms Jane: "Excuse me?"
• Elise: "Who the author that wrote Mary?"
• As I came around the corner, there are my two little ladies, behind the circulation desk, at the librarian's computer, inquiring about who wrote Mary Wore Her Red Dress. Ms Jane kindly told them the author's last name and took them to find the book. Sweet Ms Jane - thank you for sending a book home with us... AGAIN... to be read 14 million times. Oh, how we love Mary and her red dress. :)

Kale, corn, and curls

Happy Spring Break! (well, to me, anyhow!). It is sunny, windy, warm, and the hairs in this house are a-curlin', the most tell-tale sign of warmer weather and returning humidity. Along with the springy locks, this time of year brings a whole new feel to cooking, which often times is a feeling of "Do I have to turn the oven on?" and "Do we have to come inside in order to get dinner ready before bedtime?". Last week I threw together a super simple Chicken and Couscous dish. It was a big hit and took very little time. I served it with kale chips, which the girls devoured (thanks, Liisa, for the kale chips idea!).

Couscous with chicken, green beans, and corn

• 1 Cup Israeli couscous
• 1-2 organic/free range chicken breasts
• Organic chicken broth
• Frozen organic corn
• Fresh organic green beans
• Local honey
• Balsamic vinegar
• Organic olive oil
• Toast couscous in a dry pan until it starts to brown and smells toasty; add 2 1/2 cups chicken broth and simmer, covered, for 10-12 minutes (can add more broth if needed; simmer until couscous is done)
• Slice chicken into strips and marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes
• Marinate with honey, balsamic vinegar, and a splash of chicken broth
• Cook chicken on stove top with a bit of olive oil; remove from pan when done
• Cut fresh green beans into 1 inch pieces; saute until they start to soften
• Microwave the frozen corn a bit; add to green beans
• Add cooked chicken
• Serve over couscous

Kale Chips

• Wash organic kale, dry, and tear into pieces about the size of chips
• Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt
• Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes until crisp - be careful as it's easy to burn these little babies

Homemade chicken broth

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the world would be a better place with 4-day work weeks and 3-day weekends. There is a day to take care of chores around the house, a day to run errands around town, and a day to hunker down and cook!!!! I think we wrecked and repaired the kitchen 5 times today: carrot-kale smoothies and porridge for breakfast, granola, chicken broth, pretzels (courtesy of John), and spinach-cashew pesto. I'll share the others later, but right now I want to rant and rave about homemade chicken broth.

Broth is definitely a pantry staple and the organic brands can cost a pretty penny. It couldn't be easier to make and, when made this way, you reap huge benefits because you also have this wonderfully moist chicken that can be used for a couple meals during the week! So do this:

Homemade Chicken Broth

• Buy a local, free range whole chicken (rinse before adding to the pot)
• 3-5 organic carrots, washed and roughly chopped
• 2-4 organic celery stalks, washed and roughly chopped
• 1 organic yellow onion, washed and roughly chopped without removing skin
• 2 bay leaves
• 2-3 tsp peppercorns
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Place rinsed chicken in large stock pot
• Toss in all other ingredients
• Add water until top of chicken is just underwater
• Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours with lid covering majority of pot but leaving an opening to allow for some reducing
• When done, remove chicken and pull meat off of bones; refrigerate or freeze for future meals
• Pour broth through a fine mess strainer, cool and refrigerate
• Skim fat off top of broth and use or freeze in 2 C proportions (Gran recommends using ziplock freezer bags as they store easily and thaw quickly in a pinch)

While a large portion of our day was spent in the kitchen, we also managed to squeeze in a monster tea party and a stroll in the snow!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

While I did my fair share of baking over the holidays, I pretty much got a free-pass on fixing meals (thanks, Mom!). So, now that we're back to the ebb and flow of a normal schedule, it's time to feed the fam. We rarely eat out and, when we do, it's often either Freestate Brewery or sushi. That being said, some of the less-often prepared tastes, like Chinese cuisine, are still fairly new to the girls. I'd like to change that, so this little dish was a good start:

Sweet and Sour Chicken

• 2 local, free range chicken breasts
• Fresh organic broccoli (approx 2 C. chopped)
• 2 organic carrots, sliced into thin strips
• 1/2 organic yellow onion
• pineapple (canned or fresh, cut into small chunks)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• fresh ginger, minced
• For the sauce, whisk together:
• 1/4 C. low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 C. rice vinegar
• 1/8 C. organic cane sugar
• 1 T. local honey
• 1 T. organic hoisin sauce
• 1 T. cornstarch
• splash of pineapple juice, from canned pineapple if used
• extra soy sauce and vinegar if dish needs a big more sauciness
• Cut chicken in 1-inch chunks; saute chicken and veggies in olive oil over medium to medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender
• Add garlic and ginger; saute until fragrant
• Stir in sauce and add pineapple
• Simmer all together until ready to eat
• Serve over organic short grain brown rice

This was super easy to put together, it is a great way to use any veggies you have, and I made it a bit in advance so the girls and I could go out walking before John got home. If only we'd had enough leftover for dinner again tonight!

We love our hats and mittens, Auntie Sara!

Potato chips

Hello! Let me tell you - a hobbyist like myself just doesn't have enough hours in the day! I haven't blogged in a week, but I have made another hat, an awesome wreath (pics to come), and fed the fam some new and some old recipes. But, as I've said before, when blogging is another hobby, it sometimes has to take the back seat..

Potato chips. I am obsessed with homemade baked potato chips. They are so easy, so tasty, and are a perfect accompaniment to soup, which the weather has turned and soup season is upon us. Get slicing and baking:

Sweet Potato Chips

• 1 large organic sweet potato
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel sweet potato and thinly slice (maybe 1/4th - 1/8th of an inch)
• Coat with approx. 1 T olive oil
• Sprinkle with kosher salt
• Spread in single layer on cookie sheet
• Bake for 15 minutes; flip chips over; increase oven temp to 400 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes, or so
• Baking time varies - approx 25 minutes total, but depends on oven and thickness of chips

Served with an organic kiwi and a gouda and apple grilled sandwich! 

We made these again last night with a little chicken and rice soup. The girls caught a little cold and I needed something hearty and full of goodness in their bellies last night. I don't have pics of the soup, but here's the simplicity of it:

Chicken and Rice soup

• Cook brown rice separately 
• Saute onions, carrots, celery in olive oil
• Push veggies to side of pot and make room to melt some butter
• Add 1-2 T. flour, whisk until thickens
• Pour in chicken broth (I used 2 C. homemade broth and 1 C. water)
• Add shredded, cooked chicken 
• Salt/Pepper
• Stir in cooked rice 

Gran saved the day yesterday - she had fresh homemade chicken broth as well as the meat off of the whole chicken she had cooked while making the broth. John and I both commented at dinner what a difference homemade broth makes. I think it will be on my list for the weekend, so I'll get the camera ready!

Hopefully another good night's sleep and leftover soup for dinner, and we'll have these faces back in no time:

Riding hand-me-down horses from the neighbor named
"Dapple-gray" and "Moo-choo" wearing "helmeys"

Cards, hats, and horses... OH MY!

As you may have noticed, the blogging has slowed lately.  I can promise you that I am still cooking... still baking... still feeding my family. But, as the weather changes, so do my hobbies. I consider blogging a hobby; it's a great thing to do when I have time but is not a "must do" in my day. Added to the already long list of hobbies that I love, sometimes I must take a hiatus. I definitely have the "craft" gene (thanks, Mom!) because I find handmade to be simply wonderful. 

The girls have 2 new (not pink!) stocking hats. I handed over 4 gorgeous (did I mention that I 
take great pride in my creations???) packs of cards to Grammy. And as I sit here and look at these pictures, the less I want to be typing and the more I want to be doing!

**Quick sales pitch... the cards make GREAT gifts (insert testimonial here from repeat buyer... hmmm... I wonder who that could be??? Linda). I make packs of 4, they are lined - which actually makes them reusable as the receiver could take the liner out and tada! - The holidays are rapidly approaching... if interested, email notemailcards@gmail.com **

In addition to the frenzy of paper and yarn, our family of five (don't get carried away... I'm including the dog here) have been visiting the Farmer's Market on these lovely fall Saturday mornings. Fresh, local goodies. For lunch last weekend, the girls had a bit of everything in this bowl:

And we really enjoy this homemade buttermilk ranch dressing recipe. I used lowfat buttermilk and substituted Greek yogurt for the mayonnaise.

To top off fall, we spent Saturday afternoon at the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin, complete with a festival of meats courtesy of one of John's buddies. As we walked up the driveway, Abby saw the smoker and said "Wow! Look momma - choo choo train!". It...was...huge. A steam-engine sized smoker and a merry-go-round made for a splendid Saturday, I must admit.

           

While I'm lacking pictures of my own, here are a couple of recipes that we consumed in the past week - one was breakfast and one was dinner. We LOVE steel cut oats - John discovered these a little over a year ago. Thank you, darling! I sometimes wonder how Abby and Elise manage to eat a bowl as big as ours without exploding. The other recipe involves the crock-pot. Yes, it is crock-pot time. Could fall bring any more enjoyment to our lives???

• Apple cinnamon steel cut oats
• Chicken tacos

Living right...

You put the chicken in the coconut...

Grocery shopping without a list, without the girls, and in an unfamiliar store naturally leads to impromptu buys. I wander. I get distracted. I buy random things. This week, it was coconut milk. So last night, it was coconut chicken.

• Local free-range chicken breasts cut into chunks
• Coconut milk
• Bread crumbs
• 1 Egg
• Unsweetened shredded coconut
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• Pierce raw chicken breast with fork; marinate in coconut milk in fridge (1-2 hours)
• Dredge chicken in egg, followed by bread crumb/shredded coconut/salt/pepper mixture
• Pour a bit of coconut milk into bottom of greased pan (I used an organic olive oil cooking spray)
• Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes
• Once chicken is done, turn on the broiler for a few minutes to give the coconut crust a nice browned color and taste

We ate this with a simple veggie pasta, made with steamed broccoli, sauteed carrots and onions, wilted spinach, and a sauce of white wine, milk, mozzarella cheese, salt, and pepper, topped with a few fresh cherry tomatoes.

Dessert is ALWAYS a killer reinforcer for eating a good dinner; the girls chowed on the chicken! Abby isn't typically a fan of pasta (I can relate), but she ate up this tasty whole wheat mini-bowtie pasta - will buy again. Oh, back to dessert... homemade raspberry frozen yogurt. Yes, the counter-top is now jam-packed because the juicer was added to the mix, right beside the ice cream maker, which has earned its spot atop the counter! 

POM and Nutella (Recipe #11)

I am a self-proclaimed recipe junkie. I LOVE to jump from one site to the next and blog to blog reading about what people are cooking, baking, and eating. And then I take great pleasure in re-creating said recipes in our kitchen.

Tonight, POM juice met chicken, rice, and spinach for the first time in our house. Here's the recipe:

http://greenlitebites.com/2010/05/20/pom-chicken-brown-rice-spinach/

My only changes were excluding tarragon (we didn't have any) and adding a dash of dried oregano and basil instead. This was quick, easy, and yum-yum-yummy. Abby dined with Daddy while Elise snuggled with me, missing out on the POM chicken due to an upset tummy. I know she'll enjoy it next time, as there will indeed be a next time for this recipe.

After the girls went to bed, out came the mixing bowls.

We are no strangers to nutella, so when I found this, I immediately added the chocolate hazelnut spread to my grocery list.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_nutella_cookies/

Changes to the recipe included: part whole wheat flour and part whole wheat pastry flour instead of white, pecans instead of hazelnuts, and I used dark chocolate chips. I cut the recipe in half and it made about 2 dozen SCRUMPTIOUS treats! I told John that I was making cookies with a secret ingredient and he steered clear of the kitchen while I was creating. He then went on to identify the secret ingredient (nutella, of course) on his first (or maybe second) bite. His refined palate wins again! (I will add here that one last modification to the recipe was a wee bit extra nutella - seemed like a no-brainer to me).

Now, in a chocolate-hazelnut-butter laden cookie, one might wonder if the use of whole wheat flour really makes any kind of a health difference. My answer: not really. That's not why I sub in a situation like this. Personally, I prefer the heavier, grainier consistency of whole wheat.

Evening cooking verdict: POM chicken and Nutella cookies will again be invited to dine with us.

Recipe #4: More rice!!! (with chick & veggies)

We eat a lot of brown rice in this house, so be prepared to buy in bulk. It's fresh veggie season here in L-town and my parent's gardens are abundant with tasty goodness, year after year. I started my rice cooking around 4:30 and at 5:00ish opened up the fridge to see what might join: grilled chicken breasts, eggplant (from the garden), peppers (from the garden), onions. Perfect! I highly recommend grilling extras when you've got it fired up - nothing makes cooking simpler than eliminating the handling of raw meat! Speaking of meat... while it doesn't typically fall on the "Dirty Dozen" lists to buy organic, it is one that we buy hormone/antibiotic free, and when we can organic and local as well. If you've seen 'Fast Food Nation' (among several others), you probably do the same. Okay, here's the recipe:

Recipe #4: Sauteed Fresh Veggies with Brown Rice

Cooked brown rice

Olive oil

Eggplant, onion, peppers

Salt

Pepper

Salsa

Cooked chicken slices

Shredded cheese

Avocado

Fresh cilantro or Italian parsley

• Cook brown rice ahead of time
• Thinly slice eggplant; saute first, allowing eggplant to turn golden and even crisp a bit (so yum!)
• Add thinly sliced peppers and onions to eggplant; allow all to saute until tender
• Add sliced chicken
• Season with salt, pepper, and salsa
• Cover bottom of oven-safe dish (8x8 inch square) with rice
• Add veggies/chicken
• Top with shredded cheese
• Place under broiler until cheese melts - Now, I could get away with simply broiling this because my timing worked out that the rice was just finishing and hot, veggies/chick were hot, etc... so I did not need to heat, just melt.
• Top with avocado slices, cilantro/parsley, and salsa

Are these the faces of children who had a skimpy dinner??? I think not!

They feasted like champions!!!!