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

I found this recipe on the wildly popular Crock Pot Girls Facebook page. They do a crock pot video on You Tube every Monday. This was their recipe last Monday. I use creamed corn instead of regular or frozen corn.

This is basically a kicked up chilli. It has the best flavor and I’m pretty sure we will be making this instead of regular chilli forever more. It is THAT good!

Taco Stew

1lb cooked & drained ground beef (you can cook with half a chopped onion as well, I prefer with the onion)

1 can Rotel

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can Ranch Style Beans (any flavor)

1 can Ranch Style Pinto Beans

*NOTE* For my friends out east and in the midwest you could use a can of Busch’s southwest flavor grillin beans and then a regular can of pinto beans since you don’t have Ranch Style brand out there.

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix

1 can creamed corn

Spray inside of crock pot with non stick cooking spray. Add cooked ground beef and all ingredients into crock pot. Cook on low 4-6 hours. I usually turn to ‘Warm’ after five hours. Serve with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips or Fritos.

I got this recipe from my aunt who is a great cook and baker. She even said that she would not normally use instant potatoes for anything, but it works great in this. It is very delicious and an easier version of a twiced baked potato.

Ingredients

2 pouches of Idahoan original mashed instant potatoes

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

5 slices bacon- cooked and chopped into bits

1-pkg of dry ranch dressing mix

Shredded cheddar cheese- approx half of a bag

Prepare instant potatoes according to instructions. Add sour cream, cream cheese, ranch mix, bacon, and generous handful of cheese. My measurements of the sour cream and cream cheese were approximate amounts, as I did not measure it. Please taste this and make adjustments if necessary. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Top with more shredded cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.

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!

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I created this recipe today out of necessity and it is delicious. I had chicken breasts, frozen broccoli, and needed to make a one bowl dinner that my kids could eat before soccer.

Ingredients

4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
1- 12 oz bag frozen broccoli
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1/4 cup sour cream
3 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar/jack blend)
1 cup hot water
3 cloves garlic put through press
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 tsp Chef Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic seasoning
1/2 tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt
Fresh cracked pepper

Cube chicken (mine was still quite frozen) and place in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle seasonings on chicken. Pour frozen broccoli into crock pot. Mix cream of chicken, cheddar cheese soup, and fresh garlic with the hot water. Add this to crock pot & stir mixture. Cook on high (1 & 1/2 hours) until the chicken is cooked, then turn to low. On stovetop add noodles to boiling water, only cook for 5 minutes on stovetop, no longer. Drain noodles and add to crock pot with sour cream and shredded cheese. Continue cooking on low until you are ready to enjoy!

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

4-6- boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1- bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
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.

This recipe will serve 4-5 people

2 pkgs of crescent rolls

4- small chicken breasts cubed

5- pieces of bacon (cooked crispy and chopped)

12 oz ( 1 and 1/2 blocks) cream cheese

3- green onion sprigs diced

2- garlic cloves put through a garlic press

salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon to crispy, set aside. Pour most bacon grease out of the skillet, leave enough in the pan to coat the bottom of the pan. Place chicken pieces in skillet on medium high heat with garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook chicken 3-5 minutes or until fully cooked.

Add cream cheese and green onion, mix well.

Crescent rolls have 8 triangles or 4 rectangle shapes. Leave the 2 triangles together and use the rectangular shape. This means with 2 packages of rolls you will have 8 chicken squares.

Place spoonful of mixture into rectangular dough and pull corners together to enclose the mixture.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

They look like happy little presents of chicken, bacon, creamy goodness when they are done