Honey Mustard Lentils & Rice

Original Recipe HERE

 

I took a risk on this one, not sure if it would have enough flavor to appeal to my family nor whether the texture would sit well with them.  The kids all ate some as a side dish - I think the sweetness of the honey was key.  It was a little bland for me...I think fresh onion would've been better.

 

Next time I will add smoked sausage or something else to turn it into a one-dish meal.  Also, it made a TON of food.  I will definitely cut the ingredient amounts in half.

 

Ingredients

1 lb green lentils

1 cup brown rice

3 Tablespoons dried minced onion or 1 cup chopped fresh onion [I used dried]

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup mustard [I used Dijon]

1/3 cup honey

 

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) In a large mixing bowl, combine lentils, rice, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

3) Pour 7 cups hot water into the lentil mixture.  Stir gently.

4) In a small bowl, combine mustard and honey.  Gently fold into lentil mixture.

5) Pour lentil mixture into a 9x13" glass baking dish.  Cover tightly with foil.

6) Bake 60 minutes, or until rice and lentils are soft.

 

Kid Participation:

* Measure dry ingredients

* Stirring.  Lots of stirring.

Honey Beer Bread

Original Recipe HERE

 

I do not like beer.  Any kind.  Not even those that claim to be fruity, spicy, or pumpkin-y.  Nothing about it appeals to me.  I am a solid wine lady for life (though in my past life, I was a [multiple] vodka-and-cranberry lady...but those are stories for another time).  However, I know it has its place in cooking. I just never think to use it, despite there always being an ample supply on hand thanks to Husband.

 

But I was making broccoli cheese soup and wanted some sort of bread product to accompany it.  I was going to make my standard pizza dough recipe and let the kids make "snakes" out of it, brush them with melted butter/garlic powder/Parmesan, and hope it turned out well.  That recipe will (also) have to wait for another time.  Because I looked in my bookmarks and came across this one.  A five-minute prep time, then forget it for an hour?  Sign me up, especially since the kids were happy amusing themselves with making Halloween decorations and I didn't want to rock the boat.

This turned out awesomely.  There is a slight beer taste, but it wasn't offensive to me.  The darker the beer, the better...or so says all the recipes I read.  I used a random Red Hook ESB, which I knew nothing about.  I think there was a little too much butter (we all had greasy fingers at the end), so I decreased the amount a little below.  Hopefully the perfectly crusty crust (is it OK to use the same word to describe the same word?) would still result.  I served this with herbed garlic butter, and we all gobbled it up.

 

Next time I will add some shredded cheddar and dried dill, but since the soup was already cheesy enough, I skipped it this time.

 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup bread flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons honey (warmed if necessary)

1 (12 oz) beer (darker is better)

3 Tablespoons butter, melted & slightly cooled

 

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9x5" bread pan.

(2) In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

(3) Add honey; stir with rubber spatula until well combined.

(4) Add beer; stir until no dry flour is visible.

(5) Pour batter into loaf pan.  Spread so top is flat.

(6) Pour melted butter evenly over entire surface.

(7) Bake until bread is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, approximately 50 to 60 minutes.

(8) Turn bread out onto cooling rack.  Slice when room temperature.

 

Kid Participation:

* Stir dry ingredients

* Pour and stir beer

* Wonder why they are allowed to consume beer, regardless of the form it takes

Slow Cooker Honey-Sauced Chicken

Original Recipe HERE

This is a pretty standard teriyaki-like chicken dish, but I'll never pass up a throw-everything-in-the-slow cooker-and-voila! recipe.  Everyone happily ate this.

I served it over brown rice with roasted cauliflower on the side, but next time I'll roast broccoli or asparagus instead and toss everything together for serving.

Ingredients

3 to 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion or 1/16 cup onion flakes)  [I used flakes]

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tablespoons vegetable oil [I used grape seed]

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

(1) Put chicken in slow cooker.

(2) Whisk together all other ingredients.  Pour over chicken, flipping chicken once to coat.

(3) Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 1.5 hours.

(4) Cut, shred, or dice chicken.  Return to slow cooker; toss with sauce.

Kid Participation: None.

Compound Butters

Original Recipe HERE

 

Why didn't this ever cross my mind? Only the simplest thing ever. I love butter on everything (including things it has no business coming in contact with), so I'll be doing some experimenting. To serve with my mom's incomparable dinner rolls at Thanksgiving, I made the honey and herbed versions.  The honey was fabulous, but the herbed didn't have as much flavor as I'd have liked.  Next time I'll experiment with amounts and different spices.  The vanilla-cinnamon looked intriguing and will be made for breakfast purposes - probably under the guise of "needing to try a new muffin recipe."  However, vanilla extract will be used instead of the bean.

 

I didn't care about presentation, so I didn't make them into the rolled logs.  I think in the end it made serving easier since we could just pass the bowl around and scoop out what we wanted instead of having to find a serving dish that would fit an oddly-shaped, unsteady roll of butter.

 

Ingredients

* For honey butter:

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

pinch of salt

1 Tablespoon honey [or to taste]

* For herbed butter:

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried ground thyme

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

 

Directions

(1) Put butter in small mixing bowl.  Allow to soften to room temperature.
(2) When butter is spreadable, add salt and mix-ins.  Use rubber spatula to repeatedly fold mixture together until thoroughly combined.

(3) Transfer butter to dish to be used for serving.  Cover with plastic wrap or lid; refrigerate until 10 minutes before serving.

 

Kid Participation: None.  This recipe was done so quickly, they didn't have a chance to help

Wheat Berry Salad

Original Recipe HERE

 

The only time I've ever seen - and thereafter consumed - wheat berries was at the Whole Foods fill-your-container bar thing.  There was a salad that looked good, so I got some.  I liked it, and then I forgot about wheat berries.  Until the next time I was at Whole Foods fill-your-container bar thing.  Repeat, repeat (probably literally...I go to Whole Foods maybe twice a year).  When I came across this recipe in my bookmarks, I thought it might be a good accompaniment to our Christmas dinner since all the other dishes were hot.

 

The kids ate it but didn't ask for more.  Upon pressing him to rate the holiday menu items, Husband hesitated on this one, which is the indicator that he wasn't a big fan.  However, my mom and I thought it was great.  I really like the texture of wheat berries: you actually feel like you're chewing something instead of the mush of similar grain-based dishes like quinoa and bulgur (and couscous, which has flour, which is made from a grain, so I'll include it here).

 

I didn't have all the ingredients, so I substituted with what was in my kitchen.

 

Ingredients

2 cups wheat berries

6 cups water

2 Tablespoons honey

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice [I used lemon]

1 Tablespoon rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons peanut or sesame oil [I used sesame]

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins or dried currants or craisins [I used currants]

1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

1 cup fresh or frozen peaches or mangoes, defrosted & chopped small [I used frozen mangoes]

1 small red bell pepper, chopped small

1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped [I did not include]

 

Directions

(1) Put wheat berries in medium saucepan.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer, uncovered, for 60 to 90 minutes or until desired tenderness is reached.  Add more water if needed.

(2) Pour wheat berries into a strainer.  Rinse, drain, and cool.

(3) Whisk honey, garlic, lemon/lime juice, rice vinegar, oil, and salt in a large bowl.

(4) Add wheat berries, raisins/currants/craisins, peanuts, peaches/mangoes, bell pepper, and spinach to the bowl with the dressing.  Stir to coat thoroughly.  Serve chilled or room temperature.

 

Kid Participation: None.

Slow Cooker Honey-Glazed Ham

Original Recipe HERE

 

Ham is a ham is a ham.  Unless it's horribly dried out, it's pretty hard to ruin a pre-cooked, spiral-cut ham.  Still, this turned out really well and might just be my standard holiday ham recipe from now on.  Using the crockpot is key because that leaves the oven available for all the side dishes.

 

The smallest ham I could find was 8.5 pounds.  I did my best to jam it into the crockpot, but it was ever so slightly too big.  I hacked away at it to make it fit.

 

Ingredients

5-7 pound bone-in, pre-cooked/smoked, spiral-cut ham
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground thyme

Directions

(1) Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Unwrap ham and discard flavor packet. Put ham into slow cooker.  Slice if necessary to fit.

(2) In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey, butter, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and thyme. Pour mixture evenly over ham.

(3) Cover.  Cook on low for 6 hours, or until heated through.  Quickly baste 2 or 3 times during second half of cooking time.

 

Kid Participation: Eat lots of it.  And feed bits of it to the cats.

 

Baked Blueberry & Banana Oatmeal

Original Recipe HERE

I threw this together on a night when I had no idea what I was making but didn't want to resort to pasta or egg sandwiches yet again.  *N* was eating dinner at a friend's house, so the remaining four of us pretty much polished off the entire dish.  I was shocked to see it disappear before my eyes so quickly - and disappointed, since I was hoping to make the next day's morning routine easier by having breakfast already made.  I will definitely make this again.

I assume that other berries could be substituted.  I have a bag of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries in my freezer right now that would be worth a try.  Also, pureeing some (or all) of the bananas and mixing them into the wet ingredients might make for a moister, more uniformly-flavorful dish.

 

Ingredients

3 to 4 medium ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2" rounds

1 to 2 cups blueberries [I used thawed frozen berries]

1/2 cup honey or agave

2-1/2 cups uncooked oats [I used old fashioned] 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans [optional; I did not use]
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ [optional]

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2 cups milk

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

yogurt for topping [optional; I used fat-free French vanilla]

 

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish.

(2) Arrange banana slices in a single layer in the dish. Sprinkle blueberries over bananas.

(3) Dust 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon over fruit.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons honey.

(4) Cover with foil.  Bake 15 minutes.

(5) Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine oats, nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

(6) In separate bowl, whisk together remaining honey, milk, eggs, and vanilla.

(7) Evenly spread oat mixture over fruit.  Slowly pour milk mixture over oats, distributing as evenly as possible.

(8) Bake oatmeal for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set. Serve warm from the oven, with yogurt if desired.

 

Kid Participation: Eat it and love it.

 

Bulgur with Tomatoes & Honey

 

I came up with this recipe after my mom brought me a big container of bulgur (which we prefer to call "cracked wheat" because for some reason - perhaps because of her time spent in Turkey with the Peace Corps - her particular pronunciation of "bulgur" is offensive to my ears).  I was trying to figure out what to do with it, but all the recipes I was coming across online used ingredients I didn't have or took too long to cook or didn't sound like something my kids would eat.  So I mish-mashed this one together.  Apologies if it's actually a copyrighted recipe.

 

I thought this was great, and *N* and *J* both ate their portions, with *N* asking for more.  No way was I trusting *P* with something like this; the mess would've been of epic proportions.  We've had too many couscous travesties in this house; I know better now.  I doubled the recipe, and it fed us all at dinner plus gave me lunch for the next few days.  I thought it tasted just as good cold as hot.  I might throw in a littel garlic powder next time, but other than that, I liked the unholy trio of onion, honey, and tomato and how they worked well together.

 

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup bulgur

1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

1 teaspoon dried basil [I used Italian seasoning]

1-1/2 cups broth

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

salt & pepper

 

Directions

(1) Heat broth until hot.

(2) In a large skillet, heat olive oil.  Add onion; brown until tender.

(3) Add garlic; cook 1 minute.

(4) Add bulghur; allow it to get slightly toasty.

(5) Add tomatoes and Italian basil. Stir until well combined.

(6) Add hot broth.  Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 5 minutes.

(7) Add honey, tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well.

(8) Cook approximately 25 minutes or until broth is completely absorbed.

 

Kid Participation: None...the entire preparation involved shart knives or hot burners.

BBQ Pasta Salad

Original Recipe HERE

 

I love me some pasta salad.  And barbecue sauce.  And onion.  And cheese.  And garlic powder.  And honey.  And yogurt.  So...this recipe was clearly created with me in mind.

 

It was easy to prepare and assemble, and it held up well until the next day when I finished off the leftovers.  I liked that it was different from the traditional pasta salads accessorized with oil-and-vinegar or bottled salad dressing.  The fresh vegetables made it seem lighter than it probably was.  All in all, a solid pasta salad recipe that I hope comes to mind the next time I ask a host if I can contribute anything.  It can easily be adjusted based on what vegetables and cheeses and other add-ins you have available.  Update: I've subsequently made it using thawed frozen peas and mixed veggies, snow peas (not so good), caramelized red onions, steamed broccoli, etc.  Also, one time I had some homemade mustard sauce to use up...so I put in a splash of regular BBQ sauce and used my own stuff for the rest.  Turned out just as well.

 

I used cellentani pasta, which was a good choice because it held up well against the crunchy vegetables and didn't turn to mush upon lots of stirring.  However, it didn't trap the sauce very well, and along with all the above-listed things I love, I love when sauce (of whatever kind) is trapped in pockets of my pasta so I get a little bonus every few bites.

 

Ingredients

1 pound elbow macaroni or other pasta shape

1/2 cup diced onion

4 green onions, sliced thin

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon chili powder [or to taste]

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder [or to taste]

pinch cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 to 1 cup of any combination of mayonnaise, sour cream, and Greek yogurt

2/3 cup barbecue sauce

2 cups corn [fresh, frozen, or canned]

1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese [not the finely shredded kind]

2 cups quartered grape tomatoes

 

Directions

(1) Cook pasta according to al dente directions, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Drain.  Rinse with cold water until cool; drain again.  Transfer to a large bowl.

(2) In a separate small bowl, whisk together vinegar, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and honey.

(3) Add mayonnaise/sour cream/yogurt and barbecue sauce to spice mixture.

(4) Pour sauce over pasta; mix well.  Add in onions, corn, cheese, and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper as desired.

 

Kid Participation:

* Whisk together sauce ingredients

* Stir all ingredients

* Complain about having tomatoes in your dinner yet again

Roasted Peaches with Yogurt Sauce

Original Recipe HERE

 

My mom brought several peaches to us during her last visit.  I can always use fresh fruit to make meals for *P*, but I figured we all should enjoy the bounty this time.  I was going to serve these post-dinner one night, but my meal planning skills failed me and I was left without enough food to serve.  I decided that these weren't too dessert-y and made them as part of the main meal.  They were a hit, and in the future I think they'll be a good way to get some fresh fruit and protein and calcium into my kids.

 

Also, the yogurt sauce can stand on its own as a great fruit dip.  Hence why this recipe has the labels "dip" and "appetizer" applied. 

 

Ingredients

4 peaches, ripe but firm

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt [or whatever type you have]

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon [or to taste]

1/2 to 1 Tablespoon honey [or agave syrup]

 

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 450 F.  Line a baking sheet or casserole dish with foil.

(2) Wash peaches.  Cut in half; remove pits.  Place cut-side up in pan.

(3) Mix together cinnamon and sugar.

(4) Brush butter on peach halves.  Sprinkle each with pinches of cinnamon-sugar mixture.

(5) Cook peaches about 10 minutes, or until they are softened and easily cut.

(6) Meanwhile, mix together yogurt, vanilla, cinnamon, and honey.

(7) Serve peach halves in individual bowls.  Pour several spoonfuls of yogurt sauce over each.

 

Kid Participation:

* Brush butter

* Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture

* Whisk yogurt sauce ingredients

Chickpea, Peanut Butter, & Chocolate Chip Bites

Original Recipe HERE

I was eager yet apprehensive to try these.  Eager because I was intrigued by the chickpea element; apprehensive because I was scared I would like them a lot and eat them all and go back and make more.  I am nothing if not self-aware.

The original writer insisted that they were better warm and would be too chickpea-ish if eaten at room temperature.  I didn't have that experience.  All I tasted was the peanut butter with a nice hint of honey.  Most were eaten the night they were made, but 24 hours later the remaining ones were delicious and still ever-so-slightly gooey in the center.  They will remain soft after baking; don't wait until they get crispy.  Mine had a barely detectable crust on the top when I took them out.

Update: I made these again, and they DID taste too chickpea-ish (FYI, when something has chickpeas in it and I don't like it, I refer to them as garbanzos because that awkward, alternate name seems to fit my impression better than the benign "chickpea").  I eyeballed the amounts and probably didn't put in enough peanut butter or honey.  Next time I'll also try a bit of ground cinnamon in my quest to perfect this recipe.

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups canned chickpeas, rinsed & patted dry

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons peanut butter [I used Smart Balance creamy}

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt (if peanut butter doesn't have salt in it)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

(2) Combine all ingredients, except for chocolate chips, in a food processor.  Process until very smooth.

(3) Add chocolate chips.  Process until just combined. Mixture will be very thick and sticky.

(4) With wet hands or a mini scoop, form dough into 1-1/2" balls. Place onto Silpat or piece of parchment paper lining a baking sheet.  They can be close together; they do not expand much.

(5) Bake 10 minutes. Yields about 30 1" bites.

Kid Participation:

* Add ingredients to food processor

* Operate processor

* Use scoop to place dough on cookie sheet

* Eat too many of them because they're so small that Mama would allow, "OK, just one more."

Honey Bars

Original Recipe HERE

These were an easy thing to make since I had all the ingredients on hand.  I'm not a fan of dried fruit or nuts in something that looks like a dessert-ish bar; it confuses my taste buds and my brain cannot decide whether it's processing a sweet treat or a healthy snack.  In the cup of dried fruit the recipe calls for, I mixed craisins, golden raisins..and mini chocolate chips.  Next time I'll leave out the raisins (which I only included because my kids like them) and go with more chocolate.  I used pecans for my nut selection and thought they worked fine.  Husband remarked that he could detect the honey flavor, and I could smell it while baking, so the "honey" element doesn't get lost.

I used a 9x9 silicone pan, so my bars were pretty thin.  They baked for 19 minutes (should have been 18, but I was feeding the baby) and were done upon removal from the oven.  I let them cool a few minutes and then cut them into two large slabs.  I removed them from the pan (much easier to do than from a regular metal or glass pan) and put them on the rack to cool more quickly.

Ingredients

3 egg whites

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)

1 cup dried fruit

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup all-purpose white flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 chopped nuts

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 350.  Grease an 8x8 baking pan.

(2) In a large bowl, whisk together salt, flours, nuts, oats, and cinnamon.

(3) Add dried fruit; stir until well-coated.

(4) In a separate bowl, whisk together honey, vanilla, and oil.

(5) In a third bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

(6) Combine dry and wet ingredients until well-mixed.  Fold egg whites into mixture; do not overmix.

(7) Pour batter into pan.  Bake 25 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting.

Kid Participation:

* Whisk together dried ingredients

* Whisk together wet ingredients

* Crack eggs

* Pour batter & smooth in pan