Lent Week Two Meatless Meal

Tonight I'm trying Becky's slow cooker chili recipe that she posted in my comments last week, but here's another meatless favorite from my recipe files. This one is guaranteed to be 100% kid friendly! It's the easiest homemade mac & cheese I've come across. I first made this for Nathaniel's birthday dinner last summer, as his special meal request was mac & cheese. These days I very rarely buy Kraft mac & cheese for weekday lunches, I like to cook up some noodles and just stir in butter, a little milk, and whatever cheese (finely shredded first) I happen to have on hand. Our current favorite noodles are the Barilla Plus brand, it's multi-grain and has a lot of protein and Omega-3's. I also like to experiment throwing in different spices and occasionally leftover broccoli or cauliflower. The kids still like it, and it's healthier and cheaper too!

Homemade Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
1 8oz package elbow macaroni (or any pasta you want, really)
1 8oz package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 12oz container small curd cottage cheese
1 8oz container sour cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp ground mustard
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil, add pasta, cook until al dente, and drain. In 9X13 baking dish stir together macaroni, cottage cheese, sour cream, parmesan cheese, ground mustard, salt and pepper. In a small bowl stir together bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle topping over macaroni mixture. Bake 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Butterwich, Anyone?

I was on my way back downstairs yesterday after checking email when I heard the drawer close in the kitchen. Mary was napping so there could only be one little munchkin responsible. I thought I had left the gate closed but apparently had forgotten. I turned around the corner, expecting a chocolatey mess because there was a recently baked batch of cookies RIGHT on the counter, and I come upon this scene:


This child of mine doesn't sneak a cookie, instead he breaks open a bag containing an almost finished loaf of bread, gets out the butter, and a butter knife, and proceeds to make himself a butter sandwich with the two heels of the bread.


I said to him, "I thought for sure you were sneaking a cookie". He said, "Oh, I can have a cookie?" Like it hadn't even occurred to him!

The Wheels on the Bus

The other day I captured the kids on video singing their favorite song!

Lent Week One Meatless Meal

This Lent I thought I'd blog about our family's favorite meatless dishes. I'm always looking for more Friday dinner suggestions, so please hook a girl up in the comments section if you have a really good one you'd like to share!

This week's meatless meal is: Crispy Baked Tilapia

Ingredients:
6 tilapia fillets
1 cup cornflakes, crushed
2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you have kids who don't like hot food)
2 tbsp milk
1 egg
tartar sauce or cocktail sauce, optional

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix together cornflakes, parmesan cheese, and cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Whisk together milk and egg in a second shallow bowl or plate. Dip each fillet in egg mixture and then coat with cornflake mixture. Salt & pepper to taste. Bake 12-14 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork. Serve with tartar sauce or cocktail sauce if desired.

Note: You can substitute lemon pepper instead of cayenne pepper for a different take on this dish!

Back From Paradise

We were blessed to spend last week in Hawaii with Jeff's parents for a much appreciated hiatus from our Minnesota winter. The kids did superbly on the flights. After every single leg (we had a total of four due to a connection in Salt Lake City), fellow passengers around us told the kids what a great job they did! The first day of our trip was a little bumpy, as the kids were adjusting to the time change and sleeping in a new place, but after that we were all able to relax and enjoy ourselves! Here are some photos from our time in the Aloha State, we wish you all aloha (love and affection) today!

This was Mary's first time in Hawaii, the last time we were there Nathaniel was 5 months old.



Our first day after naps we headed straight for the ocean. Nathaniel giggled as the waves knocked him all around! Note that I actually got IN the ocean this time. I have a bit of a phobia about the ocean, and all the strange creatures it contains. :)



A photo of just Jeff and me! The last one was probably before Nathaniel was born, ha ha.


We took a whale watching cruise one morning, as February is the peak time to see them in Hawaii. The kids were really cranky at first and Mary ended up sleeping almost through the entire thing. Nathaniel ended up really enjoying it until the end when he was feeling icky due to the boat rocking back and forth and also fell asleep.



Both my boys with a tad bit of motion sickness at the end of the cruise!

Nothing more beautiful than a hawaiian sunset!

We went for a few late night beach boardwalk strolls.


Jeff and I went to a luau one evening. It was a fabulous date night out! We attended this same luau last trip and I missed almost all of it while I paced back and forth in the back with a tired infant.



The next day the kids liked trying on the leies we received at the luau!


For another date night out we drove to Sea House, a restaurant on the ocean a little north of where we were staying. I discovered a wonderful drink there called the Lava Flow. It's basically a pina colada with strawberries blended in. YUM.

Out of all of us, Nathaniel probably had the most fun. He is SO in love with Maui that his eyes got all watery and his bottom lip pouted out on the way to the airport when he realized we were leaving. He has been telling everyone that he's "going to go back in just a little bit".


Mary made QUITE a few new friends on Maui. She made adult friends wherever we went because they all thought she was quite adorable in her sunhat and sunglasses. She made baby and toddler friends wherever we went by walking up to them, pronouncing them a "Baby!" and then insisting on pointing out his or her eyes, hair, shirt, etc. One of the toddlers she came upon started pointing out all Mary's features as well! Mary liked this friend the best of all, and tried going home with that family instead!

We had lots of fun in the pools around the resort, and Nathaniel tried out the new pirate ship splash pad. He didn't like the water spraying him from everywhere, but he enjoyed pretending to drive the ship and be a pirate! I wasn't sure Mary would like swimming in Hawaii. The two times we tried last summer she screamed and wanted OUT. The resort has a baby wading pool so she was able to warm up to the idea first. By the end of the trip she was jumping into the big pool into our arms just like her big brother!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!