Fresh Tomato Penne

Fresh Tomato Penne

I had planned on making pasta tonight because I found an awesome quinoa pasta and I was excited to try it. And it just so happened that a good friend of mine had gone to the farmers market and pick up some tomatoes and may have gotten too many. She didn't think she would finish them so she gave them to me, SCORE! I included them along with some Vine ripe tomatoes and two handfuls of spinach stirred into Hunt's organic pasta sauce. a couple splashes of organic chicken stock and 1 splash basamic vinegar and a couple pinches of sugar, salt, & pepper. 

Alana's Review 

Ease: 5/5

Taste: by itself 3.5, but with (a lot) Parmesan 5/5

Comments: More Cheese Please! 

Toddler Review: I don't know if he was just enjoying playing with the food and then eating it but he ate almost all of it! 

Summary: Toddler Approved! 

Cucumber Party Snack

Cucumber Party Snack

With summer parties right around the corner, it's a great time to start stocking up on some refreshing and easy party snacks, sides, and appetizers recipes and ideas. This one is not only nice and cool, but it also takes only a few minutes to prepare!

3/4 cup  plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 tbsp Mayo

Pinch: salt and pepper

Sliced cucumbers

I made mini sandwiches by putting a dot of the mix in the middle between two cucumber slices, then cut it in half.

Put the extra in the middle in a Ramekin.

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Comments: none, as a snack for a party it's perfect

Toddler Review: He loves cucumbers. He loves cheese. He loved this. It was definitely messy for him though! 

Summary: Toddler Approved!

Egg White Breakfast Sandwich

Egg White Breakfast Sandwich

My (sappy) Back Story

My husband and I are very much equals when it comes to pretty much everything. There are chores he enjoys, there are other chores that I enjoy. And when it comes to our kids we put in equal amounts of time and effort. We have a great relationship, and one important hinge of that relationship is being appreciative of each other, especially when the other makes our day easier. Whether it's something they always do or something they're going out of their way to do, we take notice with appreciation just the same.

Anyways, our toddler and 2 month old woke up insanely early the other day, and while I was getting ready to start my day (get dressed, etc) he had put the baby back to sleep by the time I went to go get her and then let me go back sleep while he got up with our son. Right now, I'm on maternity leave, and his job can run for 12hrs at a time, sometimes longer, and is physically demanding. Him giving up the precious extra moments of sleep he needed was such a nice gesture. I wanted to make the next morning special for him. I let him "sleep in" (a WHOLE extra 30min) and when he got up and rushed to get ready for work, I had a coffee to go and this sandwich wrapped, both ready and waiting for him. We're not huge breakfast eaters because we're always in a rush, so I thought it would be a nice surprise.

Here's my sandwich. It's pretty basic, and I've done variations of it on here before, but it's extremely delicious.

Eggs:

1 cup finely chopped spinach

1/2 cup cheddar cheese (extra fo' my man)

8 Egg Whites

1/4 cup Lactaid Milk (my son has lactose allergies)

Pinches: salt & pepper

Mix and cook on the stove top with heated extra virgin olive oil. 

I cut a mini loaf of bread in half, and split them in two. Toasted then topped with the egg and tomato.

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Comment: I'm not a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches, so when I make it again, I'll probably leave off the bread on mine. Otherwise, amazing. 

Toddler Note: He LOVED it. He ate a whole huge bowl full (just the eggs) and kept going "Mmmm" with each bite.

Broccoli Tots

Broccoli Tots 

http://gimmedelicious.com/2015/05/17/healthy-baked-broccoli-tots/

Let me first just say... I LOVE broccoli. And after years of carefully including it into my tastiest dishes, my husband finally likes broccoli too! Our toddler, however, does not... yet! So, in effort to recruit him to the broccoli-loving side I decided to try these broccoli tots. If you ask me I'd say I much prefer plain steamed broccoli, but this post is for my little buddy. 

I altered the above linked recipe a little.

2 cups steamed broccoli, chopped finely 

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

3/4 cup finely "chopped" unsalted saltine crackers

To taste: salt & pepper

3 eggs

Mix 'em, mold 'em, bake 'em.

22-25min @ 450 degrees

Alana's Review 

Ease: 2/5

Taste: 3/5

Comments: It was good, and my son ate it. So, it's a win. BUT like I said I like the broccoli by itself better. One nice thing about this is that I was able to freeze the left overs to heat up for baby boy when I'm short a veggie for him come dinner time.