Yes, I use dessert to get my kids to eat “good” food.

I had way too much mushroom, leek, ricotta stuffing left over from the raviolis so I was trying to think what to do with it.  My husband suggested stuffing chicken breasts, which would have been wonderful, but I’d already decided: I would incorporate it into a lasagna.  It became one layer that would normally have been mostly ricotta.  Most of the remaining ingredients were from Trader Joe’s. I used their Spinach, Fontina and Roasted Garlic chicken sausages, Quattro Formaggio shredded cheese, plain ricotta organic tomato basil Marinara.I also had some left over cooked spinach that I chopped and put in with ricotta.

Let me digress: so many advice columns, books, blogs, etc that pertain to child nutrition/feeding tell parents not to have “bad/good” words about food and tellparents not to threaten kids with not getting dessert if they don’t eat their good food.  Sorry, but, I don’t agree with this.  I want my kids to learn what “good” food is and what is junk.  And I don’t always give dessert.  I don’t think it’s a given every day/meal. And I do sometimes use dessert to get my kids to eat well; especially my youngest two who are such sweet-tooths and if it’s something that I know they should eat/will like and they’re just not touching it.  

I think sometimes we need to “use” whatever we can to overcome the natural desire in most kids for sweeter foods.  For instance, I never put chocolate in their milk just to get them to drink milk and now I don’t have to.  I want them to develop the taste for the more bitter, sour or less-sweet foods (especially many vegetables).  I remember in my university psychology classes the studies showing babies reactions to foods— sweet foods: happy faces, bitter foods: scrunched up and sticking out their tongues in disgust. Babies are born with a natural affinity for their mother’s sweet milk and distaste for bitter so that they won’t ingest poisonous plants.  As parents we need to teach our children what foods are safe and good for them.  So, I think part of teaching is using verbiage like good and bad— just like we would with sharp objects, hot stoves and drugs. 

Anyway, I  had all guns blazing the other night when I made the lasagna and my two youngest were initially refusing to eat every part of it (besides just the noodle).  My eldest ate it without taking a breath!  I had chocolate covered ice cream bars for dessert.  The night before they didn’t get them because they didn’t eat all their vegetables, so they knew I meant business. Well, it worked.  Not only did they eat it, they liked it. And they were so happy to have that ice cream.

Everything’s better with bacon!

This idea is so simple.  Take some favorites and combine them into an awesome meal.  I can practically guarantee that your kids will eat it.  I suggested dinner’s ingredients to my husband because I knew we would all like it.  Of course, I don’t have to tell him how to make it, but I also know it will be great— and different than the way I’d make it. (Actually when we discussed the recipe, I found out how differently I would have made it!

I was off dinner duty as there was a typical huge mound of laundry to fold/sort and my husband was luckily not disagreeable about cooking (sorry, I mean, I didn’t feel guilty about asking him to cook dinner when he’s off work from cooking).  He’s usually always agreeable about cooking, I just don’t want to have him regret it. 

Chicken Mushroom Bacon Pasta

Boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces

5 bacon strips, diced

1 quart shiitake and/or crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 leek, cleaned and sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 handfuls baby spinach

1 plum tomato, chopped

½ cup chicken stock

¼ cup white wine

½ cup heavy cream

pasta of choice (we used fusilli)

Salt and pepper

Sauté the bacon until about halfway done.  Add leeks until the leeks are soft then add the garlic until done. Leaving fat behind, take out bacon, leeks and garlic.  Add wine to fat and reduce for a couple of minutes.  Add the cream and reduce until thicker.  Add chicken, stock and mushrooms— cook until mushrooms are soft.  Add tomatoes. Cook another minute then set aside. Cook pasta and drain.  In the larger pot add spinach in with pasta then throw in rest of mixture. Toss until well coated.

So, the dinner was delicious and the kids loved it!  I love getting a meal where they all like it, eat it all and not one complains.   Pasta, chicken, bacon, leeks, mushrooms, cream…as my eldest said “Everything’s better with bacon”. Funny thing was that my middle son said at one point, “But I don’t like mushrooms” so I reminded him that he’s said before that he likes mushrooms when in a cream sauce with chicken. “Oh, yeah.”  He continued to eat it all… mushrooms included.

 

Comfort to some

Something about this time of year— it seems like I’m all about comfort food. Recently I came across the ultimate in comfort food— bacon and egg pie.  I mean, really, it’s got bacon, need I say more?  Oh wait, it’s also a pie.  No, not a quiche, a pie.  With two crusts.  My mother sent me an online article about her friend, Alison Holst, a famous New Zealand chef who’s penned something like 100 cookbooks and is New Zealand’s version of Julia Child.  She’s even got Julia’s stature, voice and also warmth.  Alison visited here a few years back and she is just lovely.  So this article was how she came to make bacon and egg pies and it gave her recipe. 

Now, if you’ve lived in (or even visited) England or a former British colony, you may have learned to love meat pies, fish and chips, sausage rolls and other foods that most foodies would turn their noses up at.  But me, I love them all. They are comfort food and bring back such wonderful memories.  Like when I lived in Wellington I used to go to brunch at the Brooklyn Deli (named for the area of Wellington not New York) and luurved their bacon and egg pie.  Reading about the article made me remember those days.  And it made me want a bacon and egg pie, so I printed the recipe and brought it to the kitchen. 

I couldn’t believe it took me so many years to make this.  The crust was super easy to make in the food processor.  I made the crust and put the potatoes on the stove (on med-low) then dashed off to pick up my eldest from his school’s Kindness Klub (where they help raise money for charities, help fill food pantries, or create gifts for soldiers, etc).   When I returned I rolled out the dough (which was chilling in the fridge while I ran to the school), cooked the bacon, sautéed the leeks and finished assembling the pie.  (Leeks are my addition.)

Alison Holst’s Bacon and Egg Pie

1 1/4 cups of flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 stick butter, chopped into pieces

1 tsp white vinegar

1/2 cup cold milk

4-6 strips of lightly cooked bacon, chopped (nitrate and nitrite-free)

1/2 cup frozen peas

1-2 cups chopped cooked potatoes

6 large eggs

1 leek sliced, well rinsed and lightly sautéed (optional)

salt and pepper to taste (careful since bacon is salty)

Preheat oven to 390F.  In food processor mix together the flour, baking powder, and cold butter until butter is at least pea-sized.  Add vinegar to milk then drizzle both into top of processor while on.  When it becomes one ball, stop and place in fridge to chill for 10 minutes.  After, divide in two and roll out on well floured surface. Place bottom crust into pie plate. Spread with half to three quarters of the chopped bacon, peas, leeks and potato. Mix eggs in bowl with a fork until the yolks are broken, but the eggs look streaky. Pour about half the eggs over the mixture in the bowl, then add the remaining bacon, peas and potatoes, and dribble the rest of the egg over the top.

Moisten the edge of the pastry in the plate, then place the second pastry sheet on top of the filling, trimming the edges if necessary. Crimp the edges if you like. Make a slit in the top and brush the top with milk.  Bake at 390F/200C for about 40 minutes.

Now, what really surprised me was my kids’ reactions.  My eldest, of course, loved it.  But my middle son said he hated it but still ate most of it.  And my youngest refused to try it without coaxing and actually putting a tiny forkful to his mouth.  He actually asked if he could just have his salad and skip the pie.  Bacon.  I reminded him that it was in there.  Oh well, maybe you have to learn to like comfort foods or maybe what’s a comfort to you is poison to someone else.  I even had some Wattie’s Tomato Sauce with mine (the NZ version of ketchup) like I was back at “varsity”. To me it’ll still remain a favorite.  Now to tackle creating a mince pie— as long as I don’t start putting back the freshman fifteen.

Three Potato, Four

(Continued from One Potato, Two Potato)

This is honestly one of our family’s favorite recipes.  It takes time, so don’t try it if you don’t have any time.  I usually only make it on Sundays or when there’s a holiday. 

Mushroom and Leek Scalloped Potatoes

5-6 peeled potatoes (I like Yukon best)

2-3 leeks (white and light green part)

quart Shiitake mushrooms

quart Crimini mushrooms

3 cups cream

salt and fresh ground pepper

1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

tsp olive oil and Tbsp butter for sautéing

Highly season (nutmeg and lots of salt and pepper— only time you’ll be adding any) and lightly reduce cream (bring to boil then turn down to med-low heat) for 15 minutes.  Set aside.  Slice leeks into rings and soak in cold water to remove dirt.  In a sauté pan heat olive oil and butter sweat the leeks (lightly sauté covered) making sure they don’t brown.   After couple of minutes add mushrooms and continue until both soft.  Using a mandolin slice the potatoes into thin slices (about 1/4 inch).  Layer in 9×13 oven dish potatoes until bottom is covered.  Add a layer of mushrooms and leeks.  Add another layer of potatoes. Repeat.  Pour cream over top so that it just reaches top layer.  Cook in preheated oven at 350 for an hour.  Place a cookie tray or piece of tin foil on rack beneath to reduce overflow spill cleanup.   This is such a delicious treat.  The flavor combination is heavenly.  And it’s enough for a couple of meals. The kids and every adult that’s ever tried this has loved it.   My youngest tends to pick out the mushrooms first because he loves them so much.  He also tends to leave the leeks on the plate.  My middle son leaves his leeks behind too, but he makes a little more noise about it.  Whereas my eight year old just wolfs it all down as it should be enjoyed.

 

And they were so happy with dinner that it led to an impromptu family dance.  Think it started as a broccoli dance, but they all got a little carried away!