Trying New Things

I've been doing a lot more cooking around here lately thanks to Pinterest. (I'm seriously in love with that site. I'm not as addicted as some folks I know, but I'm borderline.) Thanks to my picky eaters (and I'm talking about the kids and the one I married) we stuck to our usual standy-by meals, and some weren't exactly healthy. Now don't get me wrong, some of the things I've made haven't been the healthiest, either. But I'm so darned determined to get the kids to expand on what they'll eat that I'm trying lots of new things.

Some of Logan's favorite meals have been Schwan's Oriental Style Boneless Wings, pizza, fried chicken strips/nuggets, tacos, and PB&J. Colleen's favorites included fried chicken nuggets/strips, macaroni & cheese, PB&J, quesadillas, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Oh, they both like to have breakfast foods - bacon, sausage, pancakes. Actually, everyone in the house likes that. My attempts at getting them to eat things like grilled chicken, grilled pork chops, or steak have not been received well. Many nights Patrick and I have gotten so frustrated with them for not eating. I don't think it's not so much that they don't like it.. but rather why eat it grilled when it can be breaded and fried. Hey, I get it. I'm a southern girl. Fried is yummy! But I'm trying to raise children who aren't picky eaters. I don't want them to find themselves in a situation where they can't eat because they've never learned to like different things.

So, that brings us to the last few weeks. I've tried out some new recipes. Some have had greater success than others. Colleen has been more open to these meals than Logan. She has actually thanked me for making such great food. Logan still picks, but he doesn't complain as much.

I made some honey-glazed chicken that was phenomenal, but a little spicy. Colleen loved it, though she drank a lot of tea with her meal. Logan didn't like the spice. I'm making it again tonight, but this time with less chili powder. I had already omitted the red pepper flakes, and I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of the chicken thighs it called for. Here's the recipe, in case you want it. http://www.nutmegnanny.com/2011/07/27/honey-spiced-glazed-chicken/

Last night I made chicken tacos. That was a huge success! And it was pretty healthy, too. Logan ate three tacos; Colleen ate one. Logan also ate some Caesar salad, which he has decided he loves. http://mychocolatetherapy.blogspot.com/2012/01/crockpot-chicken-tacos.html

They are still working on getting used to eating a wider variety of foods, and they don't like everything. But I'm keeping at it. I feel like we had a huge success the night I made steak. I served it with corn on the cobb and green beans. Both kids liked the green beans. Wow! Not only are they trying new things, but they're finally accepting a veggie! Woohoo!!!

By the way.. the web address for this blog has changed. Just in case you wondered or need to know. :-)

Holy Cow! It's been a while, huh? Oh, and some strawberry muffins.

I guess I should try and update this thing more than once a year. I started it so family could keep up with what's going on with Patrick, the kids, and me. Yeah, guess that didn't work so well.

I bought some strawberries and blueberries at the grocery store the other day with the intention of making a fruit pizza. I've never rolled out cookie dough to make a pizza, and somehow I managed to get the cookie stuck to my stone. The sugar cookie ended up going in the garbage, and the fruit sat lonely in the fridge.

Until tonight.

Colleen wanted some strawberries, and Logan got all excited. He'd forgotten I had them. Off to the kitchen I went to rinse the fruit for the kids. Logan was very disappointed that strawberries bought in the winter at the grocery store aren't anywhere near as sweet as the ones we picked at the farm last spring.

After the kids went to bed, I got to thinking about the strawberries from last spring that I still had in the freezer and decided to make something with them. I posted on Facebook asking for some ideas, and strawberry muffins were suggested. Off I went to find a recipe. I found one on allrecipes and tweaked it.

So here are the ingredients, plus sugar. I had it sitting on the other counter.

Strawberry Muffins

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped strawberries

1. In a small bowl combine milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat lightly with a fork.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Toss in strawberries to coat with flour mixture.
3. Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until the tops bounce back from touch.