The Wills Family: Portman, Harper, Roman, Caitlin, +1

Tonight Harper and I made Giada’s Pastina with Peas and Carrots for the second time, with a few of our own touches. The first time that we made this recipe was the first time that Harper ever ate a carrot voluntarily. It is a huge hit and I think it is just “deeee-wicious,” as Harper says!

Harper has proven that she is 100% a more adventurous eater when she gets to help make the meal, so unless we are having fish sticks, she is in there cooking with me. As far as tonight’s meal goes, we follow the recipe exactly, using tiny shell pasta, except that we add one minced garlic clove after the onions have sautéed for a few minutes and we add about 1/3 cup of parmesan with the rest of the cheeses. It’s outstanding, and a perfect toddler meal!

Roman even gobbled it up this time, except that he picked all of the carrots out. Unfortunately tonight’s meal coincided with him learning a new word, “toss,” or “tah” as he says, so he “tah’d” all of his carrots one-by-one onto the floor. Oh well, maybe next time!

A few nights ago I made one of the kids’ favorite meals and it reminded me of how nice it is when they eat what I make and don’t complain! Harper is usually a good eater, but Roman can take one look at something and push it aside and wait for me to cave in and give him a yogurt. As a rule I never make them something else if they don’t like what I serve them, but I will give them a yogurt as long as they at least try a bite. Anyway, on to the good stuff. For some reason this meal never fails to please and it’s adventurous enough that Portman and I love it too. I definitely recommend it to anyone with toddlers!

Parmesan chicken tenders:
1 lb chicken tenders
Dijon mustard
Italian breadcrumbs
Panko bread crumbs
Fresh grated parmesan – finely grated
Fresh chopped herbs – I use rosemary & parsley
2-3 tbsp melted butter
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. In a pie plate, combine about 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs, about 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs, about 1/2 cup parmesan and 2-3 tbsp finely chopped herbs (any combination) – just guess on the measurements until it looks like enough stuff! Drizzle the butter and olive oil over it and stir until everything is moist. You can add more olive oil if necessary. Use a basting brush or a spoon to thinly coat the fronts and backs of the chicken tenders with mustard (Harper does this part):

Press the mustard-coated chicken into the breadcrumb mixture and use a fork to make sure the breadcrumbs are nice and stuck on there. Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat. Bake at 400 for about 12-13 minutes or until golden brown & crispy.

Note – I’ve started keeping all of our fresh herbs in the freezer because I found that I was throwing them out too often. They actually do really well in the freezer, especially rosemary, parsley and cilantro. You can’t use them as a garnish once they are frozen, but they work perfectly well if they are cooked into anything.

Lemon-Parmesan Risotto:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot or half of an onion, finely diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (you can use more if you love garlic)
1 1/4 cup Arborio rice
1 cup white wine
3 cups chicken broth, simmering
1/2 cup+ fresh grated parmesan
1 small lemon, zested & juiced

Heat olive oil & butter in a skillet or Dutch oven. Saute shallot/onion and garlic until soft, add a little salt & pepper. Add rice and saute for a couple minutes. Add wine and cook until completely absorbed. Reduce heat, add simmering chicken broth about 1/2 cup at a time, waiting until each 1/2 cup is completely absorbed before adding more. Keep adding chicken broth until rice is creamy and cooked through. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, and more salt and pepper if desired. You can add chives or chopped green onions as a garnish, but the kiddos might not like it!

Note – When I made this with red onion, Harper insisted that she “didn’t like the pink stuff.” Once she tried it she liked it, but it was a little bit of a struggle to get her to try it. If I use shallot or yellow onion, she doesn’t bat an eye.

Tonight Harper made “pasta cupcakes” for dinner. My inspiration was from an episode of Giada that I watched recently, but we took a fairly different approach to the project. Giada used chopped veggies in her cupcakes, but my kids would just pick those out and eat the pasta plain, so instead I made some homemade marinara sauce with lots of veggies in it. Harper did the rest of the work:

Step 1: Load pasta into cupcake tins coated with non-stick spray. While Harper did this I layered shredded cheese in with the pasta to make it stick together.

Step 2: Spoon sauce on top of the pasta and pat it down (that part is not necessary, but Harper thought it was).

Step 3: Add more cheese on top, then sprinkle store-bought Italian breadcrumbs on top of that. Drizzle a little olive oil on top of the breadcrumbs (Mommy did that part).

Step 4: Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Sit on stool and watch.

Step 5: Let them COOL, then eat! If you don’t let them cool sufficiently (at least 5-10 min), they fall apart. When cooled they should stay together like a cupcake with a cute sauce “frosting.”

Today after we finished a delicious lunch of nectarines and edamame (seriously, my kids consider the strangest things to be “meals”), Harper wanted to make some of “Mommy’s Favorite Bread.” MFB started earlier in the summer as an attempt to get the kids to eat more vegetables. Most of you know it as Zucchini Bread, but Harper insists on calling it MFB. We’ve been experimenting all summer and have the perfect recipe. It has tons of zucchini and the kids love it!

I’m not a huge fan of recipe books, so most of my “recipes” start as something I find on the internet and end up as a fairly original recipe. I like to make variations to suit our tastes. I’ve found that the kids like a ton of different things as long as they are prepared in a simple way. No giant concoction of herbs and spices and no fluffiness and they will eat it! MFB is a great recipe for kids because there are lots of steps that they can help with. Harper likes to use the sifter so she usually gets that job. So, without further ado, here’s our recipe for “Mommy’s Favorite Bread:”

Ingredients:

•  
  • 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 snack-size container unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
  • A few good shakes of nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 large handfuls of shredded unpeeled zucchini (shred in food processor), squeezed over the sink to get out excess water
  • 1 lemon, zested

Cream butter, oil, applesauce and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg and mix well. Sift in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well. Stir in zucchini and lemon zest. Bake in loaf pan coated with baking spray at 350 for about 40-45 minutes, or until done in the center.