What I Made for Dinner: August 27, 2009

Tofu stir fry with peas, corn, and carrots over whole-wheat noodles.

I know this goes squarely into the "no one else cares" category, but: WAHOO!!! ELI ATE TOFU! ELI ATE NOODLES! WOOT WOOT!

See, for months he subsisted largely on whole milk and Pepperidge Farm goldfish. He ate the very occasional chicken nugget or tablespoon of macaroni. Our pediatrician told us to switch him to low-fat milk and/or cut back on the amount he drank. But really? At 24 months, the child weighed 26 pounds. I was too scared to cut out the only part of his diet I could depend on him to ingest regularly.

(Plus, I had a nagging feeling, based partly on a vague memory from Alex's toddlerhood, that eventually, all on his own, he would start favoring solid food over milk.)

(Embarrassingly, my solution to the dilemma posed by ignoring the pediatrician's advice was to quit telling the pediatrician how much milk Eli was drinking.)

Anyway, lately Eli's been more interested in chewing his food and joining the rest of the family for meals. And, as I suspected would happen, he's taking in less whole milk. So now on a regular basis he's accepting waffles for breakfast, for example. Chicken noodle soup. Peanut butter sandwiches. Not a really challenging repetoire, but such an improvement.

And then tonight! Noodles coated in orange-soy stir fry sauce! And most astoundingly, stir-fried tofu! And he said as he chewed it: "Mom! This tofu is gooooood."

What I Made for Dinner: June 28, 2009

Pork burgers, sauteed potatoes, pickled green beans, served with fruit and coleslaw.

Today we went to a birthday party for my niece and nephew. It was hot and Josh and Alex played outside the whole time. My sister arranged for one of her friends to dress up as Darth Maul and have light saber duels for two hours. Eli, however, rejected this plan: "Don't you want to see Darth Maul?" "NO! I HATE HIM!" So we alternated supervising light sabers outside and chasing the baby all over the house to make sure he didn't open all the presents.

So yeah, we're worn out. We actually would have gotten takeout but we'd already defrosted the meat and needed to use it.

These pork burgers were easy to make and tasty. The potatoes require very little effort and are a crowd pleaser (because they are, essentially, homemade thick-cut potato chips). Slice a lot of red potatoes--maybe a pound?--about 1/4 in. thick. Melt two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat; add potatoes and leave them there until brown, turning once or twice. When they're done, sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little fresh thyme, if you have some (which I do! Herb garden is still alive!). Eat copious amounts, walk dog and do push-ups to assuage guilt.

What I Made for Dinner: April 1, 2009

Whole wheat pasta with chicken, peppers, and green beans.

I baked the chicken breast tenders and the veggies in a foil packet with soy sauce, sesame oil, and lime juice, then poured the whole mess over the pasta. It was pretty: red and yellow pepper slices, bright green beans, a few carrot shavings. The best part: The kids ate it! Even Eli ("good noodles, Mommy.")!

I feel happy beyond all proportion when they eat something like this. Yes, it's nice that it's healthy and there are lots of vegetables involved, but that's not really why. It's because it gives me hope that someday in my future, every dinner will be like this, when everyone in my family eats the same meal without whining at me about it.

What I Made for Dinner: March 17, 2009

Tofu stir-fry.

Back to the DK Kids Cookbook for this recipe. The boys first found and requested it several months ago, and since then it's a periodic favorite. They freaking love tofu. Who knew? It also has snap peas, shredded carrots, bell peppers, green onions, and baby corn.

Dinner's over now, but Eli keeps running back to the pan on the stove and telling me, "I need more noodles!" There's a little trail of noodle detritus from the stove to his trucks in the family room.

What We Made for Dinner: February 17, 2009

Teriyaki flank steak, stir-fried bok choy and mixed vegetables, roast sweet potato sticks with sesame and soy.

Well, that was fun, wasn't it? The Great Pneumonia Caper of 2009 seems to be over, or at least waning, thank God. So! Right back to the business of doing everything else besides cuddling a moaning, hot baby and freaking out.

Tonight we had my parents over for dinner, and we all collaborated on this Japanese-ish meal. My mom came up with the menu and shopped. My dad grilled the steaks, which came out perfect--maybe the trick to perfect flank steak is grilling it when it is 42 degrees outside. I did the veggies based on the kind of thing you get at a Japanese steakhouse. They were so good even Alex ate them!! Alex ate bok choy and bean sprouts! Alert the--okay, no one but me cares. But I was excited.

And little Eli, well on the mend this evening, demonstrated a new phrase he's learned to use at the table. Said with tremendous sweetness: I don't like it, Mommy.

What I Made for Dinner: January 30, 2009

Curry-marinated chicken, Greek salad, falafel, served with hummus, yogurt sauce, and pita bread.

We all like Mediterranean food, even persnickety Alex.

The chicken recipe came out of the DK Children's Cookbook, of all places. We got it for the boys a few years ago when they started to get interested in cooking. Everything we have made from it has been fantastic. This chicken was no exception. Strictly speaking, Alex made the marinade; I just supervised. The chicken got marinated in yogurt, tomato paste, lemon juice, olive oil, and curry powder.

Here's the cookbook on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/DK-Childrens-Cookbook-Katharine-Ibbs/dp/0756605970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233368158&sr=1-1


I made the salad. I make great salads, if I do say so myself. I am exceedingly proud of my salad skills. I have learned how to make some good vinaigrettes and I haven't bought a bottle of salad dressing in years. (I am not counting the Ranch dressing the boys dip carrots in. I have no idea how to make it and wouldn't want to if I did.) So once you know how to make the dressing, Greek salad is an easy one.

My favorite part of this dinner was actually beforehand. We gave Eli some hot chocolate. He took a cautious sip and yelled, "I LIKE IT!" while it ran down his chin because he'd been too excited to swallow it.

Nestle's inspires the first grammatically correct and complete sentence in my son's young life. A sign of things to come.