Now, I’m not saying i’m perfect and I’m not expecting families who never eat together to start eating at the table 5 days a week, but you sure as hell can set a goal and go from there! Try two nights a week and build from that. Even if you are crunched for time and have to order a pizza, bring it to the table, it still counts!  Here are some benefits from having family meals together (courtesy of WebMD):

• Everyone eats healthier meals.
• Kids are less likely to become overweight or obese.
• Kids more likely to stay away from cigarettes.
• They’re less likely to drink alcohol.
• They won’t likely try marijuana.
• They’re less likely to use illicit drugs.
• School grades will be better.
• You and your kids will talk more.
• You’ll be more likely to hear about a serious problem.
• Kids will feel like you’re proud of them.
• There will be less stress and tension at home.

And here’s another tidbit, it doesn’t take super mom or super dad to do this. There are so many ways to whip up a healthy meal in a jiffy. I am a stay at home mom and also going back in school myself, so my schedule is super crazy and I still manage to get it done.  Another fun thing we do every night at the table is a game called “Roses and Thorns” it’s a great conversation starter and a fantastic way to find out something about your child’s day that you may have normally never found out about. The game is simple, go around the table and each person states their “rose” or, best part of the day, and then they state their “thorn” which is the worst part of their day. Everyone plays…mom and dad, or grandma, or aunt and uncle…everyone at the table participates.

Here is  a simple, healthy family meal that is easy to make. Combining lean red meat, brocolli, and tomatoes is a great way to get key absorption of iron and vitamin C.

Erin’s Goulash

2 lbs lean ground meat (you can use chicken, beef, pork, turkey) sometimes I  do 1lb ground beef, 1lb sweet italian sausage

1 large chopped sweet onion

2 cups uncooked  elbow macaroni

1- 29 oz can tomato sauce

2 cans diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic minced

2-3 cups of water

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Lawry’s seasoning salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Cook ground meat, garlic and onion in large stock pot or dutch oven, drain grease. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, water, and bay leaves to pot. Bring to a boil, then add uncooked elbow mac. Turn heat down to medium, cover with lid and simmer 20 minutes. Next turn heat to low or off and goulash will thicken.

Serve with fresh steamed brocolli and your kids will have maximum absorption of vitamin c and iron from combining the red meat and veggies!

If anyone has any questions about nutrition and sneaky ways to get healthy foods into your childrens’ diet, feel free to email me at foodtrampdiaries@live.com

So, maybe I watch a little too much “Sopranos” & “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” cause I am ALWAYS craving Italian food lately. Clicking on a blog the other day I saw a recipe for ‘Sunday Gravy with braised meats.’ Well, reading gravy/braised/meats totally sold me. The first recipe called for fennel powder (which I knew I would never find) and white wine. I only had merlot on hand, then it made me wonder if this recipe could vary and boy it sure did!  After looking at about seven different blogs I took bit and pieces from each and compiled a recipe that turned out delicious! Bon apetit!

Sunday Gravy

Ingredients

1 pkg sweet or hot italian sausage
1 rack of baby back ribs
2- 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
5- fresh basil leaves chopped
Handful fresh chopped Italian flat parsely
4 large cloves of garlic put thru a press or finely diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 cup red wine
1 sweet onion diced
1 tsp beef bullion (or one cube)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp fennel seeds crushed up
Salt & pepper

This gravy needs to simmer for at least three hours so be sure to use a dutch oven or a thick bottomed pot.

Strip the membrane off the back of your baby back ribs. If you don’t strip the membrane they will not be as tender.

Season your ribs as you’d like, I used Lawry’s seasoned salt & pepper.

Cut ribs in two rib pieces, meanwhile heat dutch oven to med-high with olive oil to cover bottom.

Sear off the sausage & ribs, in batches if necesaary. Remove meat & turn heat down a bit.

Now, add onion and garlic and sweat down for a few minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, add tomato paste, and allow to cook a few minutes longer while scraping off bottom of pan to get the meaty bits loose.

Add boillon base and red wine. If you have white wine use white, either is fine. Bring to simmer.

Add rest of ingredients except meat. Bring to low simmer, then add meat. Keep on low simmer for 3 to 5 hours.

Serve with pasta, green salad, and crusty Italian bread. Hope you love it as much as my family did!

Here it is…after a few Miller Lites, a cereal dinner was not gonna hold me.

What is your go to late nite snack?

Here is the sweet n tangy chicken I made last night.

I’m now at a point in mommyhood where my two oldest go to two different schools and my daughter is in all day school. With sports/activities starting next week I’m going to be using my crock pot A LOT. I’ll share my favorite crock pot recipes along the way. I’m also meeting with a publisher to get a cookbook started…all about fast & easy recipes for families on the go. Just because the day is jam packed doesn’t mean you have to eat unhealthy fast food.

Today I am making sweet n tangy chicken, compliments of Allrecipes.com. I usually end up making a few revisions to every recipe I cook, so it is not exact.  Enjoy!

Please leave a comment below, what are you making for dinner tonight?

Sweet n Tangy Chicken

6- boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2- bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce (I always use one Kansas City style & one honey)
1- can crushed pineapple
1- sweet onion sliced
1- red pepper sliced

Place chicken breasts at bottom of crock pot. Pour sliced onions over top. Pour pineapple and BBQ sauce in. Use spoon to lightly mix together.   Cook on low for 6 hours and during the last hour add your peppers. I add them last or else they will be too mushy.  If this cooks longer than 6 hours the sauce will burn onto your crock pot, but it is okay, just tougher clean up. Serve over white rice and enjoy.

love this furniture

 The games in their game room are very child friendly.  My three and four year old had no problem understanding how to play these games and they had a ton of fun.  My favorite aspect of Chip and Ruby’s was their décor.  The one of a kind ice cream/waffle cone tables and chairs are totally nostalgic and bring out the little girl or boy in every person that walks through their door. They are just too cute. Even down to the soda cups and ice cream bowls, everything is so well thought out and chosen for such a fun theme.

fun and easy games

 You can book your child’s birthday party at Chip and Ruby’s and not pay that much more than what it would cost at Peter Piper. However, at Chip and Ruby’s you’re getting a way cleaner atmosphere in a more quaint space with more privacy.  They will even bring over pizza from the neighbor pizza joint Best of Italy. Your child and his/her friends will get a delicious ice cream treat, tons of tokens and of course fabulous prizes after they count up their tickets.  Contact Chip and Ruby’s for more info at 480.990.6000

yummy ice cream

 My children had a really great time at Chip and Ruby’s and I got to enjoy some of my childhood with their unique ice cream flavors. We can’t wait for a chance to return.

You can never go wrong with Anthony Redendo’s joints.  Redendo’s Pizzeria and Sofrita are two great places where you can always be assured to get great quality, delicious food.  Sometimes I want something different, and although I know my husband would love to talk me into hitting up the Senior Taco drive-thru, I decided to try something different.

I would have to say Middle Eastern/Greek cuisine is my all time favorite food to eat.  Give this girl lots of garlic and slow cooked meats and I’m a happy camper. I’ve been wanting to try the Pita Room in Fountain Hills for awhile now.  Previously it was dubbed The Pita House, and I wasn’t very impressed by take out I got from there before, so I never rushed back to try the Pita Room.

So happy I finally went in for some take out last Friday night.  I was craving a gyro and boy did I get one. Their menu is simple: gyros, falafel, pitas, hummus, lamb kabobs, chicken kabobs, etc.  The do have a website, but no menu on the website, so you have to just walk in your first time, bring home a menu, then from there you can order by phone.

So, I got a lamb gyro and “medi fries”.  I get my gyro very traditional, just meat, red onion, tomato, and tzatziki sauce.  This gyro was so full of meat that I had to give half of it to my husband.  It was tender, fresh, and oh so yummy.  The Medi fries however, were the highlight of my night. Let me just start by saying the french fries at the Pita Room are something you will become addicted to.  They are double fried, like french bistro style fries, golden brown and heavenly.  If you get them “Medi” style they are tossed with fresh dill, fresh chopped garlic and a little bit of salt. OMG, I actually had to go back again on Saturday for dinner just to have those fries again.

On Saturday I got chicken kabob in a pita with the medi fries. Again, my pita was chalk full of delicious marinated grilled chicken pieces and is by far my favorite pita now.  Here is a picture when we went for dinner on Saturday.

chicken kabob pita with Medi fries

I look forward to many more trips to The Pita Room and urge all of the locals or even people visiting Fountain Hills for the day to try it.

Today I want to roll out the Sonic Drive-In  giveaway that I was suppose to do a good month ago.  Luckily, the people of Sonic are AMAZING and totally understood my situation as to why I was tardy with this.

Who doesn’t love Sonic??? I have never met a single person that would turn down a cherry limeade or some amazingly crunchy tots.  Sonic is America’s Drive in and their food is undeniably addictive.  My favorite you ask? Popcorn chicken and chili-cheese tots of course, with a diet cranberry limeade for the most delicious refreshment.

too much yumminess to choose from

Enter today to win a $25.00 gift card from Sonic.  For being so patient I am also sending the winner the remainder of my Sonic gift card, which is for $23.00 , that’s a lot of tots folks!!

Entry into this giveaway is easy, just follow these few steps and you’re entered to win. You may enter as many times as you like until Friday. If entering more than once you must refer a new friend to my facebook fan page.  Thank you so much.

1) Like Sonic Drive-In here on Facebook and here if you’re on Twitter

2) Like Food Tramp Diaries hereon Facebook and here if you’re on Twitter.

3) Suggest the Sonic Drive-In facebook page AND the Food Tramp Diaries facebook page to one friend (for every new entry you must suggest to a new friend)

4) The most important step: you must post a comment to this post as your entry and include your email address.  If you don’t comment, you haven’t officially entered. 

Good luck! I will choose a winner on Friday with the help of random.org

I went on a Saturday morning and it was packed…a line of people waiting outside as well as people waiting  on chairs inside.  I had to be back to my hotel at a certain time to get to my event so I was wondering if I would even have time to get breakfast?  The food smelled so good in there, I wasn’t leaving without at least putting my name on the list and giving my all.  I told the hostess it was just a party of one and I got seated  up at the breakfast bar right away, no waiting!  I really felt bad because there must have been about 20 people or more waiting for tables, but that’s just how they roll and I was happy.

I already knew what I was going to get, crazy I know. However, I had read a ton of Yelp reviews on this place and saw many pictures and decided from there what I would have. I think the server was a little shocked that I ordered right away, so I explained I had come from Arizona and was prepared.  I didn’t know when I would ever be coming back here again, the old adage, “go big or go home” came to mind so I obliged.  I ordered the “Raphael Saadiq” good morning breakfast which came with 2 eggs over medium,  grits, wing drumettes, and cornbread which I passed on since I was getting a waffle as well.  In retrospect, I totally should have gotten the cornbread that came with the meal, to try a bite.  I just didn’t want to appear too overzealous.

Im in breakfast heaven

Talk about some perfect grits…these were it.  Loved that they used margarine as a topping instead of butter. I seriously felt like I was sitting down in in my grandma’s kitchen instead of a restaurant.  It was really great.  The wings were unlike any I have ever eaten.  I liked that they were simply breaded, no sauce.  The breading was super crunchy and perfectly seasoned and you could tell it was a homemade batter.  My waffle was a whole other magnificent story.  It was soft and slightly chewy with a light crunch around the outside of the waffle. The sprinkle of cinnamon on top totally rocked it, with a dab of margarine and warm maple syrup…OH MY!

whoa, what a waffle

Before I paid my bill I was running over the weekend plans in my mind to figure out when I could get back here again?  What an amazing, homemade, and delicious meal.  Unfortunately, too much vodka that same evening made it near impossible to return the next day However, I will be back Serving Spoon, mark my words. If you’re in West Hollywood, type their address into your GPS and just go, no excuses or you’re missing out.