Last night, the boys and I came home from visiting at Briana's to find a tired and hungry Aaron, and I had no dinner plan. I did, however, have a produce bin sitting on my doorstep, which always makes my heart beat a little faster. Jack and I brought it inside and opened it up to find several treasures, one of which was a pound a very fresh green beans. There was also a pint of lovely cherry tomatoes, and the wheels in my head started turning...
I put some water on to boil for some ravioli I had in the fridge, and while the water was heating I chopped parsley, tomatoes, lemon and garlic. When the ravioli was done I poured it into a colander and returned the pot to the stove; I added butter and olive oil, and sauteed the garlic. After a minute or two I added the cherry tomatoes, and cooked until the tomatoes just gave up their juices. I turned off the heat, and squeezed half a lemon over my tomato-garlic mixture. I returned the ravioli to the pan and tossed everything together, then topped it with parmesan and parsley.
I steamed the green beans while the ravioli cooked, the entire thing took about fifteen minutes from start to finish. I was pleased enough with how quickly the meal came together, but even more gratifying was the fact that it was extremely delicious.
There was also a lovely little hubbard squash in the bin, so I sliced it in half and roasted it in the oven while dinner cooked. I wasn't in the mood for squash after dinner, so I just wrapped it up and put it in the fridge. This morning my usual breakfast of oatmeal and coffee just wasn't appealing, so I got out the squash and stared at it for inspiration.
I put half a cup of flour in a bowl, with a pinch of baking powder and a dash of baking soda. A generous pinch of sugar, one egg, a dollop of vegetable oil, half a cup of cooked squash, and several splashes of milk. Oh my goodness...I tried the pancakes with syrup, and they were great. Out of respect for the squash, I decided to try them with brown sugar and butter: it was a life-altering experience. I'm not sure I can make pancakes without squash now. I suppose sweet potatoes or pumpkin would work equally well. The squash does something amazing for the texture; it makes them substantial and very chewy, but somehow keeps them light. It was almost the consistency of a donut, and with nutty undertones from the squash. Jack loved them, even after I told him there was squash in them. He doesn't even like squash, but he ate half my breakfast(after eating his usual oatmeal).
Despite some popular trends involving hiding pureed vegetables in their boxed macaroni, Aaron and I have found that the best way to get our kids to eat vegetables is to be honest. Our garden was a big hit, and the carrots and cucumbers were regularly devoured by the boys. We had Jack help us plant the seeds and help water, and explained that if we took good care of the garden then our seeds would grow into vegetables. I think being part of the process made a huge impact and helped Jack form a connection to the vegetables; they were the fruit of his labor, not just things that showed up randomly on his dinner plate.
I put some water on to boil for some ravioli I had in the fridge, and while the water was heating I chopped parsley, tomatoes, lemon and garlic. When the ravioli was done I poured it into a colander and returned the pot to the stove; I added butter and olive oil, and sauteed the garlic. After a minute or two I added the cherry tomatoes, and cooked until the tomatoes just gave up their juices. I turned off the heat, and squeezed half a lemon over my tomato-garlic mixture. I returned the ravioli to the pan and tossed everything together, then topped it with parmesan and parsley.
I steamed the green beans while the ravioli cooked, the entire thing took about fifteen minutes from start to finish. I was pleased enough with how quickly the meal came together, but even more gratifying was the fact that it was extremely delicious.
There was also a lovely little hubbard squash in the bin, so I sliced it in half and roasted it in the oven while dinner cooked. I wasn't in the mood for squash after dinner, so I just wrapped it up and put it in the fridge. This morning my usual breakfast of oatmeal and coffee just wasn't appealing, so I got out the squash and stared at it for inspiration.
I put half a cup of flour in a bowl, with a pinch of baking powder and a dash of baking soda. A generous pinch of sugar, one egg, a dollop of vegetable oil, half a cup of cooked squash, and several splashes of milk. Oh my goodness...I tried the pancakes with syrup, and they were great. Out of respect for the squash, I decided to try them with brown sugar and butter: it was a life-altering experience. I'm not sure I can make pancakes without squash now. I suppose sweet potatoes or pumpkin would work equally well. The squash does something amazing for the texture; it makes them substantial and very chewy, but somehow keeps them light. It was almost the consistency of a donut, and with nutty undertones from the squash. Jack loved them, even after I told him there was squash in them. He doesn't even like squash, but he ate half my breakfast(after eating his usual oatmeal).
Despite some popular trends involving hiding pureed vegetables in their boxed macaroni, Aaron and I have found that the best way to get our kids to eat vegetables is to be honest. Our garden was a big hit, and the carrots and cucumbers were regularly devoured by the boys. We had Jack help us plant the seeds and help water, and explained that if we took good care of the garden then our seeds would grow into vegetables. I think being part of the process made a huge impact and helped Jack form a connection to the vegetables; they were the fruit of his labor, not just things that showed up randomly on his dinner plate.
1 comment:
You should write your own cookbook. I'll buy it. I agree that there's no need to hide the veggies in the food )see my post on that terrible cook book). My kids too like a decent number of vegetables (carrots and peas being the most popular).
Jack did a very good job on his drawing. Cecilia only started to really draw recently, after turning 5. Now she draws and draws and draws and I think she's getting better every day.
Those dinosaurs are great. They remind me of Teddy's drawings when he was little.
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