Macaroni and Peas

I love the sweet, caramelized flavor of roasted veggies. Fall is the season for many great roasting veggies like butternut squash and sweet potatoes. Roasting doesn’t have to be reserved for a special occasion - you can serve roasted veggies on a weeknight with a little planning. Better yet, roasted veggies are great in tons of other dishes.

What You Need

Any combination of the following veggies:

• Sweet Potatoes
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Carrots
• Turnips
• Beets
• Parsnips
• Butternut Squash
• Acorn Squash
• Pumpkin
• Any Winter Squash except Spaghetti Squash

Other Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Various Spices (see below)
• Garlic
• Salt & Pepper

Supplies

• Cookie Sheet, 9 inch x 13 inch Cake Pan, or Roasting Pan
• Sharp Knife
• Vegetable Peeler

Let’s Roast Some Veggies!

Wash all your veggies really well in cold water, even if you’re going to peel them. These veggies grow in the ground or sit on top of it for a good chunk of their growing season, which exposes them to quite a few microorganisms. Since your knife or peeler is going to be touching both the outside (where the dirt is) and the veggie flesh, you need to make sure the outside is as clean as you can get it.

Peeling is optional for all of these except the squash. The peels on those aren’t edible…they’re usually so tough you need to peel them with a knife. I kinda like the peels on both for texture and appearance, but it’s totally a personal preference.

Dice all the veggies into 1/2 inch pieces. If you’re using several different kinds of veggies, the shapes can be a challenge. The small pieces will cook more quickly. Try to keep the pieces all about the same size. That’ll  ensure they’re all done at the same time. Trust me, no one likes biting into a raw potato when they were expecting a delightfully roasted potato.

Cleaning, peeling, and dicing these veggies is the most time consuming part of this process. I like to do this part on the weekend. Just put all the prepared veggies in a gallon size freezer bag and stick it in the fridge.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

If you didn’t prepare the veggies ahead of time, put them in a gallon size freezer bag now. Pour about 1/4 cup of olive oil into the bag. Add a few minced cloves of garlic, salt, and pepper.

Now’s the time to talk seasoning. You’ll want to stick to dried herbs for this. Here are my favorite combos: rosemary & thyme, chili pepper & cumin, curry powder & cumin, 5 spice powder*, garam masala*, herbes de provenece*, sage, and nutmeg.

*Yeah, you could make these blends, but the specific herbs and spices used vary widely and some of them are hard to get a hold of here in the US.

Toss your seasoning into the bag. Zip it up and shake away. Then pour the veggies out onto the pan and pop it into the oven.

Check the veggies after about 15 minutes. Move the veggies around in the pan to make sure they get cooked evenly. The total cook time varies depending on the type of veggies selected (squashes take longer than carrots and onions) and on the size of the pieces.

Now What?

I like to serve these fresh out of the oven when they’re all golden and caramelized. They’re also good at room temperature, so leftovers are a good thing.

Add the veggies to your favorite veggie soup recipe for an extra punch of flavor. Whether you serve it chunky or blended, the roasting adds a ton of flavor.

Last, but definitely not least, roasted veggies make a great salad. Mix them with fresh red onions, tomatoes, and toss them with your favorite vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. For some reason, this fall season has flown by. I can’t believe it’s almost time for turkey and crack-o-dawn shopping.

We generally spend Thanksgiving here at home in Iowa. We’re not having any relatives come visit this year. That’s good because our house is…let’s just say the house is not clean. All of our relatives are at least a thousand miles away…so we don’t do a lot of weekend visits.

Duncan’s class has recently started talking about Thanksgiving, its history, and being thankful. I thought I’d share some thoughts about this very food-centric holiday.

Family Ties

My mom was very interested in genealogy. She traced our family back to the 1500’s. Well, as much as one can trace one’s family back that far. Tony’s dad is pretty into genealogy too, although he tends to focus on the Civil War. So we know a fair bit about our history.

Both of my parent’s family names are German. My dad’s family name, Kessler, means cheese maker. My mom’s family name, Lieser, means lover. Yeah, I love cheese.

Despite all this German-ness, I’m mostly Scottish, albeit from tons of different sources. Most of my Scottish ancestors come from the Highlands. One of them claimed to be descended from William Wallace (aka Braveheart).

My husband and I find it rather amusing that his family descends in part from the McDonalds and mine from the Campbells. These clans were the Hatfields and McCoys of Scotland. Yeah, that’s the first feud that springs to mind…followed promptly by Romeo and Juliet’s families: Montague and Capulet. But then I laugh and realize that Tony and I are not likely to kill ourselves over something as silly as what our parents want.

By far, my coolest ancestor was a privateer in the employ of Queen Elizabeth. Yay, Pirates!

The point of all this is that Thanksgiving makes me think of family. And in doing so, I am reminded that the Rancks, a family from Southern Britain, came to America shortly after the Mayflower. These were the first ancestors of mine and of my son’s to set foot in America. I like to share the stories of our ancestors with Duncan so he feels a little closer to his history.

Food History

We watch a lot of Food Network, History Channel, and Discovery Channel around here. That means we see a lot of shows about the history of food, especially this time of year. We learn about what the pilgrims really ate for Thanksgiving (more on that later) and when certain American staples like pie and turkey came into the picture.

I enjoy telling Duncan all about the history of the foods he’s eating. For me, Thanksgiving dinner isn’t complete without mashed potatoes, but the pilgrims didn’t have potatoes at the first Thanksgiving.

Potatoes are originally from the Andes Mountains in South America. It was first cultivated about 7,000 years ago by pre-Columbian farmers. It wasn’t discovered by Europeans until the early 1500’s. The potato made its first trans-Atlantic trip in the 1570. Even then, it wasn’t used in everyday meals until the 1780’s. Finally, in the 1800’s, the potato made it back to the Americas and found a home in American kitchens.

I like to share stories about the ways the Irish might have cooked potatoes and why the Europeans were so reluctant to eat it (its leaves really are poisonous). I make sure Duncan is involved in cooking Thanksgiving dinner and we talk about what we’re making while doing it.

Traditions

When Tony and I got married, we talked about starting our own traditions as well as keeping certain family traditions alive. Both of our families celebrated Thanksgiving with tons of food and family.

However, his family also enjoyed football. Growing up in Alaska, football wasn’t exactly popular in my family. I’ve become a fan of football in the course of our 12 year marriage and look forward to watching the Thanksgiving games each year. Heck, I even enjoy the turducken that John Madden dishes up each year.

I know a lot of folks who don’t eat breakfast or lunch so they’ll have room for a bigger dinner. Tony falls into that camp along with most of my family. I’m that person who MUST have breakfast every morning. Duncan got that gene from me, so we eat breakfast together. I usually make oatmeal with fruit and nuts to make the meal last.

We try to get outside for a while both before and after dinner. It’s always nice to let Duncan work off some steam at the playground across the street before dinner. Being cooped up all day can be rather boring. After dinner, we enjoy the chance to get some fresh air. The exercise does us all good and it feels better to be moving than lying on the couch digesting.

I’ll share some fun activities as well as great recipes between now and Thanksgiving.

Image Credit: Dori O'Connell

For me, fall is all about soup. I love sitting down to a steaming bowl of soup when it’s cold out. It warms me up like nothing else. Homemade soup doesn’t have to be as time consuming or complex as you might think. Here are some tips for getting a delicious homemade soup on the table in just a few minutes.

Ingredients

A good stock or broth makes all the difference in your finished soup. Don’t be ashamed to buy canned broth or stock. Check out a few different brands to see which ones you like best. Try to stick to the low sodium varieties. You can always add salt…you can’t take it out of the broth.

Next, you’ll want great veggies. I usually start with celery, carrots, onions, and garlic. Many soups also have corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and beans. To save time, feel free to use frozen and canned veggies.

Some soups have meat - chicken, beef, even meatballs. Whatever you choose to use, keep the pieces really small and cook them thoroughly before adding them to the soup. It saves time to buy pre-cooked meats, but they can be more expensive.

You can also add herbs, spices, seasoning packets, pasta, or rice. If you use pasta, make sure the pieces are small so they’ll cook up faster and be easier to eat. I love using packets of seasonings made just for soup. It takes all the guesswork out of seasoning your soup.

Preparation is Key

Dice all your fresh veggies so they’re about the same size. Smaller pieces will cook faster. Microwave your frozen veggies and drain them before adding them to the soup. Drain and rinse any canned veggies you’re using.

If you’re adding potatoes, dice them up and boil them first. I generally do this on a weekend day so I can throw everything together quickly after work.

Putting It All Together

Saute fresh veggies with cooking spray. You want to do this on the night you’re going to cook the soup. You can do almost all the other steps ahead of time, but the flavor you get from this step is priceless.

Add the stock, other veggies, and meats. Because everything’s precooked, you just need to heat everything up. To speed the process up, cover the pot and turn it up to medium high.

About ten minutes before you want to serve the soup, add the pasta or rice (if you’re using it). If you add them too soon, they’ll be mushy and overcooked by the time the soup gets to the table.

Serving Tips

Spoon the soup into bowls and add any toppings you want. Cheese, crusty bread, croutons, and sour cream are all yummy (depending on the soup).

Let me know how your soup turns out!

Pasta is one of my family’s favorite foods. We eat it once a week almost without fail. This week, I decided to try something different.

I should probably preface this post with a disclaimer. I’m not affiliated with Barilla in any way, shape, or form. I love this pasta. The quality is exceptional. Barilla Plus has long been our standard because it contains extra fiber and protein without losing any of the great pasta taste or texture.

Barilla Piccolini

Instead of picking up our regular Barilla Plus, I asked my son to pick out a box of the Barilla Piccolini. These are tiny versions of your favorite shaped pastas. He chose the mini wheels.

I like the tiny pasta largely because tiny food is fun food. However, I picked it up this time because it was on sale. Finding out how very quickly it cooks was a bonus.

We also picked up a bag of frozen mini meatballs, baby broccoli florets (his choice, I swear), corn, and a basic marinara sauce. I cooked the pasta according to the directions on the box. It cooks in just 7 minutes! We nuked the broccoli and corn and I baked the meatballs for 20 minutes at 425 degrees F.

Rather than toss everything together, I opted to create a pasta bar. Each item was set out on the counter in its own container. Everyone picked what they liked and dished up only as much as they wanted.

My husband opted to skip the broccoli, but added extra corn and meatballs. I chose more broccoli and my son had a little of everything. Since he dished himself up, he couldn’t really complain that he didn’t like it or that he had too much food. Not surprisingly, he polished it all off without a problem.

Here are some other ways I’d use this quick cooking mini pasta:

Cold Pasta Salad: Toss cold mini pasta with mini veggies (like halved grape tomatoes, diced bell pepper, corn, or peas), tuna (a water packed can or a pouch), and your favorite vinegrette.

Bonus: This can all be prepared ahead of time and tossed together at the last minute.

Soup: About ten minutes before your soup is done, add a handful of your favorite mini pasta.

For an easy chicken noodle soup, add shredded chicken to your favorite low sodium chicken broth. Toss in a pre-mixed chicken noodle soup seasoning packet and bring to a boil. Add your pasta and you’ll have a fun, comforting soup.

Creamy Pasta: While you’re waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, whip up a delicious homemade cream sauce.

I know it sounds complex, but it’s super simple. My mom taught me how to make this one when I was in 5th grade. If a ten year old can master it, you won’t have any problems.

Mix equal portions of butter or margarine and flour in a sauce pan over medium high heat. You’re trying to create a whitish paste…keep stirring and don’t let it get too brown. Once it’s thick, like peanut butter, add milk in small quantities. Whisk and whisk and whisk. Eventually, you’ll end up with a thick, creamy sauce. If you want to add cheese, take it off the heat first and then stir it in a little at a time.

Finally, mix the cream sauce with the cooked mini pasta and your family’s favorite veggies. Top with grilled chicken slices for a fancy gourmet style meal.

Your Turn

These “recipes” are the type of basic instructions I provide with all my meal plans. If you have any questions about how to prepare something, just holler (either via email or in the comments). I’d also love to hear stories about how you prepare pasta with your kids.

I know you’ve heard it before, but there’s a reason it’s been said so often: it’s true. After a night with no food, your body and brain need something to get them jump started for the day. This is especially true when you’re talking about the body and brain of a school age kid. While our adult days might be taxing, it’s nothing compared the stress of growing up and going to school.

The morning routine around here is crazy hectic. However, my son is adamant about having breakfast at home. I suspect this is because he’s not a morning person and likes to have the time to wake up before he has to get ready for school. He gets cold cereal without milk (his preference) and orange juice. We’ve been trying to get him to eat an egg with breakfast too, but it doesn’t always work out.

Protein gives a breakfast staying power and helps growing bodies…well, grow. Include some complex cards for energy throughout the morning. Try yogurt with fruit, oatmeal with an egg, peanut butter toast and orange juice, or cold cereal with skim milk. For a super quick, but really impressive breakfast, try french toast.

Fast and Fabulous French Toast

Ingredients

• whole grain bread
• eggs or egg substitute
• toppings of choice - light maple syrup, fruit, etc.

1. Whip up the eggs in a shallow bowl that’s big enough to hold a piece of bread.
2. Heat up a non-stick frying pan and coat with non-stick spray.
3. Dip the bread in the egg mixture and turn to coat.
4. Fry the bread until golden and crispy on the bottom - around two minutes.
5. Flip and cook the other side. It will cook faster - about a minute and a half.
6. Plate it up and add your favorite toppings.

For young kids, one slice is a decent sized meal. My six year old likes two slices with fruit - bananas or strawberries are a big hit. I use three eggs to coat four slices of bread.

Try it and let me know how your family likes it. I love being able to put an awesome breakfast on the table in less than 10 minutes. It’s a great weekday treat.