Cookbook Recommendation

I've blogged half a dozen times before on mom-a-licious cookbook and I still love it -- her swiss chard recipe came out great last night and was surprisingly good but here's another recipe book which has come to my rescue. America's Complete Source: Better Baby Food by Daina Kalins, RD CNSD and Joanne Sasb, RD. It really is a complete guide to feeding your little ones and getting them off to a good start, giving fact and advice on nutrition, introducing solids, table food and the toddler years as well as dealing with adverse reactions to food. I referred to it a lot with my firstborn and have dug it out again to refresh my memory and inspire me for meals that will pick the interest of my twenty month old who has limited himself to eating, bread and toast, apples, grapes, almond clusters, cherry tomatoes, turkey, chicken, a variety of crackers, pasta and the occasional bit of fish -- these however cannot be combined without a protest.

Stuff In My Kitchen and Why I've Blogged About Successful Dinners

When I blog about a "great new recipe" or "great dinner" it is borne out of sheer excitement and gratitude that for one night, I was able to get dinner just right. I've come a long, long way since I was first started cooking for myself let alone my family. There was a time where frozen pizza and supermarket pasta were my signature dishes. Thankfully I've come a long way since then, though I am still known pull out the supermarket pasta or rely on my dialing fingers to order in meals.

Despite my previous entries of meals -- I try, try and try even harder to consistently provide healthy meals for my children but often fail miserable and am so glad my kids happily down their vitamins. Just tonight for example, my children had their cardboard mac and cheese for dinner and I consider it a good week if I only eat or offer my kids fast food for dinner just once. Sometimes, just deciding what to cook completely overwhelms me. Looking at my list of "Stuff in my Kitchen" however, reminds me of how far I've come and makes me feel that perhaps I'm not doing quite so bad afterall. Tomorrow, I'm plannning to cook up some tacos in honor of Cinco De Mayo.

So without further ado; the contents of my cupboards, fridge and freezer....

A List of my must haves in the kitchen -:
Olive Oil
Garlic
Ground Cummin
Granulated Garlic
Dried red pepper & Chili Pepper
Fresh herbs, (I'm growing thyme and oregano)
Kosher rock salt
Ground pepper
Tamari Sauce
Hot Sauce
Malt Vinegar
Whole Grain or nine grain bread
Flax Seed
Potatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Canned black Olives
Parmesan cheese
Rice crackers
Avocado
Artichokes
Fuji apples
Frozen fruit (for fruit smoothies)
Natural yogurt
Maple syrup
Honey
Some type of fish (tilapia, sole, salmon, trout)

(psst..kids eat free at chick-fill-a on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at El Torito)

Asparagus and Sole

Just had to post a quick entry about dinner last night. Asparagus and sole are a definite favorite in this house. On first bite Maggie said, "Mummy the fish came out great tonight". She had more than one serving size of sole and ate her way through fifteen asparagus spears and half their stem. Ryan also enjoy some spear heads and a few bites of fish. The best part, next to seeing my kids eat something that was healthy, was that it took all of fifteen minutes to put together and only created two cooking dishes to clean up afterwards :-) This dinner will become a staple for the week. It has always been a hit with the kids and Eric. The big plus factor with this dinner is that Maggie performs beautifully at the supermarket as she races along the aisle (literally) and says, "Let's get some sole mummy! Oh yummy fish! And asparagus too please!"

Sole -: Lightly cook in pan with olive oil and finish with a sprinkle of black pepper.

Asparagus -: lay on baking sheet, drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with rock salt; bake @ 400 for 8-10mins depending on thickness of asparagus and your preference for crunchy bite or soft bite (recipe from Dominica Catelli's kitchen)

Pork Tenderloin

I had a major success with dinner tonight with Pork Tender with Savory Fruit from Domenca Catelli fantastic family recipe cook book mom-a-licous.

Ryan (19 going on 20 months) requested for more, more, more as if it was cookies. Maggie (4yrs and 3/4) sung praise for it and hubby announced that he was halfway through it before I even got to sit down at the table myself.

It was so exciting to see everyone enjoying a meal together with such enthusiasm. A meal that I had put together. This is one I will be sure to do again -- especially when all it took was twenty minutes of my time!

pictures courtesy of mom-a-licous website