Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup... again

I haven't posted much lately, because we haven't tried any new recipes.  It's been the same stuff lately.  Too hot to cook... Eric has been gone, so I haven't been cooking anything elaborate... I'm lazy... pick an excuse.  But since we have a frequent reader, (Hi, Grandma!) we'll try to post more, even if it's a repeat meal.

We strapped Tommy into his swing (because it's the only way to keep him from climbing onto the counters) and made lunch together.  Katiebug requested tomato soup.  She did pretty much everything for the soup. I just opened the can for her, then walked her through it.  She added the milk and the basil.

I insisted we have grilled cheese with it, because otherwise they'd be asking for a snack ten minutes later.  Katie flipped her sandwich, all by herself!  (and this time, I got a pic of it... kind of...)  She likes her grilled cheese squished, so the cheese melts into the bread better, and she did that on her own, too.

Katie, what part did you like the best?
Adding the soup!
How did you like flipping?
That was fun!  I went oop! then I flipped and it went psssssttt!
Do you think you can make it by yourself next time?
No.
What part do you still need help with?
Squeezing the sandwich real tight.
But you did that part!
Then I can do all of it!  I can read, and I can flip, and I can do the soup.  I can do anything!

Wheat bread was the only kind we had defrosted, but both kids devoured it.  I choked it down.  We added sour cream and cheddar cheese to the soup after it was dished out.  Neither kid left any soup in their bowl.

Pull-apart Garlic Bread

I knew bed rest wouldn't work so well.  But I promise, it was an easy meal! Spaghetti with jarred sauce. We only made the garlic bread.  Katiebug cut two tubes of biscuits while I melted the butter.

We mixed garlic and basil into the butter, then added a little olive oil for good measure.  Katie poured the mixture over the biscuit dough.  After I mixed it gently, she emptied the bowl into a greased bread pan.  We shook some Parmesan cheese over the top and baked it at 350 for about half an hour.











Katie, did you like making the bread?
Yep!
What part was the most fun?
Snipping.
What else did you like?
I like all of the parts!
How about eating it.  Was it yummy?
*big nod*
Should we make it again sometime?
Yeah.
Do you think you can do it all by yourself next time?
I think so!


Result:  Both kids loved it, and couldn't get enough!  Eric and I thought it was pretty damn good, too.

A short break...

A trip to th ER and a diagnosis of a threatened miscarriage has me on "as much bed rest as two little ones will allow."  Therefore, I will be taking a brief interim from cooking.  My awesome husband will be making simple meals when he gets home from work.  I expect a lot of Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese, which is not a bad thing. It's possibly one of the best comfort foods.  It reminds me of the summers my mom babysat about a million kids, and she'd make hot dogs and mac 'n' cheese in bulk, and set a giant jug of Kool-Aid on the counter.  Ahh, nostalgia...

However, since I only have two kids to feed, and dinner is their main meal, I'm going to attempt to still get some vegetables in them.  This is why I'm glad I've been teaching Katie to cook.  The kid wields a mean paring knife, and no broccoli stands a chance against her!  With her daddy supervising, she can make sure we still have something healthy along side our comfort food.  My Bug makes me proud!

Cheeseburger Mac

We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper when  I was growing up and it's something I missed since becoming a vegetarian.  There's beef fat in the sauce mix, so I was thrilled when I noticed this recipe on the back of a Campbell's soup can.  I just subbed vegetable broth for the beef broth and Morningstar Farms ground "beef" for real meat.  It's a little healthier, but not by much!  Katie helped measure the broth.  She's starting to understand measurements, so I'll have to make sure she does that more often.

Katiebug, what part did you like doing the best?
Pouring the broth.
What else did you like?
Stirring.  And putting the shells in!  And putting the soup in!
Was it yummy?
Uh huh!  

We topped it with sour cream (because sour cream goes on everything around here) and both kids inhaled it.

I know, it looks gross, but it's fake Hamburger Helper.  It's not going to look pretty!

Summer is here!

And to celebrate, we had veggie burgers, corn on the cob, and mac 'n' cheese.  An easy meal, but it was Katiebug's first time having corn on the cob.  She loved helping me shuck it.  When she got to the corn on her first ear, she yelled, "Mommy, look!  Corn pops!"  

Hey, Katie, come 'ere so you can answer some questions for me!

I loved making it!

She knows the drill!

Mother's Day Brownies

My little Bug helped me celebrate Mother's Day by baking brownies from scratch with me!  She actually did most of it, while I supervised.  We measured the ingredients together, but she added all of them.  She's my official egg cracker!

Katiebug, what part did you like the best?
stirring and beating it up* and cracking the eggs!
Did you like tasting the batter?
*nods* I love tasting the batter!  It was so good and so chocolaty! 

*she got to run the beaters

The brownies are cooling now, then we can frost them with the buttercream I whipped up while the kids were previewing the brownies.

So far, they approve!

Bubble Up Pizza

Katie helped make one of my favorite meals from when I was younger.  There's not much to it, but it's a comfort food.  We got caught in a burst of hail this afternoon.  We needed comfort food.

Katie helped me cut the biscuits and she got to add the garlic.  She did a pretty good job judging how much to use!  She got to add the cheese on the top, too.She's getting better about spreading it out.



Katiebug, what part did you like the best?
eating
What about making it?
snipping!  I got to snip with big scissors!


Recipe:

3 packages (7.5 oz. each) buttermilk biscuits
1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 clove garlic - pressed

Preheat oven to 375° F. Quarter biscuits with kitchen shears.  Stir in one cup of the pizza sauce and two cups of the cheese,  Add the garlic and mix well, taking care not to mash the biscuits together.

Pour into greased 9x13 pan.  Top with remaining sauce and cheese.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until sides are golden brown.  

Spaghetti!

Spaghetti night!  And by that, I mean homemade noodles.  Katie cracked the eggs, and had lots of fun getting her hands messy squishing the eggs and the flour.  I will be more than happy to pass that task to her!

We also made cheesy garlic bread.  (Thank you, Pioneer Woman, for the recipe!)  Katie was ecstatic that I let her play with the cheese grater.  She also helped me chop the onions.  I'm still amazed at how far she's come with that!

What was you favorite part about making dinner tonight?
Mixing with my hands and making line cheese!*
Was dinner tasty?
Yeah!  Just the spaghetti.  That's all I liked.


*Line cheese is what she calls shredded cheese.


Results:  The bread was good, but I think that will be a rare treat.  It's not exactly the healthiest.  The homemade pasta is worth it when we have the time to make it.  It's something one of the kids will eat, so it automatically gets a pass!

You can find the recipe for the cheesy garlic bread here.

Her first kitchen injury...

Tonight Katiebug helped me make sweet potatoes, mashed with brown sugar and topped with marshmallows, broccoli and cheese, mashed white potatoes, and fake chicken patties.

We started with the sweet potatoes.  I showed her how to hold and peel them, then passed her the peeler.  She got a little overzealous though, and peeled her nail.  Poor kid.  She was a trooper though, and refused to cry.  Banned from peeling for the evening (and mildly pissed off because of it) Katie was given a new job.  I handed her a knife and we cut the potatoes together.  When they were done boiling, she got to add the butter.  With a little guidance, she was allowed to decide how much to add.

Now she's helped me cut broccoli a few times before, so I had her grab some from the fridge, gave her back the knife, and let her do it on her own.  She did really well!  I had to stop a few times to help her, but for the most part, I didn't touch the broccoli.  I'm immensely proud of how much my little Bug has progressed.  Two weeks ago, I never would have trusted her with that task.



Katiebug, which part was the most fun?
Dropping the potatoes and putting them in the pot.
How did you like getting to add the marshmallows?
Good!
What did you do with the broccoli?
Chop 'em!  I love to cut!
Which part was the hardest?
Cutting the potato.
What was your favorite part to eat?
Marshmallows.
Is there anything else you want to say?
*nods* I loooove your marshmallows!


I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that.

Results:  The sweet potatoes came out great.  Even Eric, who usually hates sweet potatoes, ate them.  Katie picked at the food as usual, but really enjoyed the marshmallows!

Spaghetti Sauce

We were feeling adventurous and decided to make spaghetti sauce.  From scratch.

Well, close enough.  We used canned tomatoes and tomato paste.  Katie helped me cut the mushrooms and onion, and she got to squish the canned tomatoes.  She even added the seasonings!  She did a great job, and I really enjoyed not having to squish the tomatoes.

Cutting onions with Katiebug was an interesting experience.  She decided to separate them before putting them in the food processor, drawing out the onion sting.  My eyes are still burning!

So what was your favorite part, Katie?
The noisy part!*  And squeezing tomatoes.  That was fun.
Was it messy?
Yeah.
What else do you want to say about making the sauce?
They're all my favorite parts. 


*chopping the onions in the food processor.



The sauce is simmering on the stove now. We tasted it already, and she did a great job! We'll post the official results after dinner.




After dinner:
The sauce came out great, but Katie didn't eat it.  We served it over spinach and cheese ravioli (from the freezer section).  She helped me make stuffed mushrooms and garlic bread to go with it.

The mushrooms were stuffed with cream cheese and vegetarian sausage.  Katie scarfed down the filling, but didn't care for the mushrooms themselves.  She loved the top of the garlic bread, too.

Eric and I really enjoyed the entire meal.  The kids picked at it.  Little critics.

Omelets

This morning we made omelets.  Mushroom, "sausage", and cheese omelets.  Katiebug cracked the eggs for me, and somehow managed to make the egg slip out of it's shell upon impact with the counter.  Fortunately, my counters are clean, and we managed to save the egg.  Once I taught her how to mix the egg and milk with a fork, she was able to do that well, and I didn't have to finish mixing for her.

Okay, Katiebug, what part did you like best?
Mixing the eggs!!
Were the omelets yummy?
Uh huh!







Results:  For the first time, they didn't brown on me.  I'll give the credit to my favorite kitchen helper.

Yeah, that's sour cream.  We put sour cream on everything around here.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

This was a few nights ago, and I don't have much for this meal, since she made it with her daddy, but I wanted to include it, because she was so proud of herself for helping to flip the sandwiches.  You'd think I'd have a picture of that, but no.  I do, however, have a picture of her opening all the cheese!


So yeah, pretty simple.  Grilled cheese and canned soup.  She added basil to the soup though!  It counts as homemade.

Bread Sticks

Tonight we made spaghetti (actually, it was a noodle that looks like a flower) and bread sticks.  We enhanced a jarred sauce by adding mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes.  (Katie was allowed to slice the mushrooms and add the garlic.)  The bread sticks were the highlight of the meal though.  We made those from scratch, using a recipe I found online.  Katie helped me measure and add all the ingredients, then she spread the butter over the top and added the Parmesan cheese.  


Katie, what part did you like the best?
Stirring
Did you have fun spreading the butter?
Yeah
Were the bread sticks yummy?
Yep!
Is there anything else you want to say?
Nope!  I wanna type!
daddymommymon


She clearly enjoys being interviewed.  




Results:  They had a good flavor, but they could have been fluffier.  Definitely something to make again.

Unfortunately, we don't have a picture after they came out of the oven.  We were too excited to eat them!

Recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup milk
6 tbs. melted butter
4 tsp. sesame seeds

In a small bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Gradually add milk and stir to form a soft dough.Turn onto a floured surface. Knead gently 3 to 4 times. Roll into a 20x5x1/2"rectangle. Cut into 24 breadsticks. Place butter in 2 13x9x2" pans. Put breadsticks in butter and turn to coat. Sprinkle with seeds.
Variations: Chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme, etc. can be added, if desired. Add 2 tablespoons minced garlic and sprinkle with garlic powder before baking to make garlic bread sticks. Bake at 450°F for 14 to 18 minutes.


*We seasoned the hell out of them and added Parmesan cheese right before baking them.  We also left out the sesame seeds.

Baked Potato Soup

Tonight was a simple one.  We enhanced a can of Campbell's Cream of Potato soup.  We diced a potato and baked it before adding it to the soup.  Katie was allowed to use a sharp knife to dice!  She added some shredded cheddar cheese, fake bacon strips (we're vegetarian) and chives.  We served it with sour cream and more cheese.

Katie, what was your favorite part?
Stirring!
What else did you like?
That's it.
How did you like the soup you made?
A lot!
Is there anything else you want to say about making the soup with me?
I liked it a lot!


She's a bit wound up right now. ;-)


Results:  The kid is a natural.  She usually hates potatoes, but loved the soup.  Success!

Let's get started...

My little girl is four, and loves to help me in the kitchen.  She's also learning how to read, so I thought this would be a fun project to do together.

Katiebug is going to help me cook all sorts of meals, and then she's going to help me blog about it.  We'll start simple and work our way up.  I'm hoping to simultaneously curb her picky eating and make some special mommy-daughter memories. 

Katie, what do you think about this?

That's good!  Can you put it on my lap, so I can write?

*passes laptop to Katiebug*

mommyhrejfkodp

That's my smart girl!  And now we're off to the kitchen.