My oldest son is pretty good about food. He likes most things. I think it may have something to do with my then wife and I eating a lot of Mexican when she was pregnant and in his first year of birth. Once he was born, when we would go to Mexican restaurants, the staff would just gush over him. With his size, blue eyes, pleasant demeanor and long eyelashes, it was easy to do. They would take him and carry him around the restaurant, showing him off and taking him back in the kitchen where I presume they fed him chile peppers. I presume this because he enjoys his spicy food.
His brother on the other hand, is of the mold of my parents. Only one spice is any good and that is salt. My youngest is extremely picky and it is a chore to come up with healthy meals that he'll eat.
I do have a staple, though, that works well for the both of them. It is a variation of pasta carbonara. My recipe is real easy but doing it how I do it takes some dishes which requires a little cleanup. It's not too bad, though.
First get some water boiling for noodles. Any noodle is fine. I tend to use whole wheat spaghetti.
Then get some bacon cooking in a frying pan. This is bacon we're talking about so the more the merrier. I think most carbonara recipes call for pancetta but we're cooking for kids here so save the high end meat more when you need to cook for a date or something.
Next get some broccoli cooking. I'll either steam or boil it.
Lastly, make the sauce. Whisk a cup of hard grated cheese (parmesan, romano, etc.) with four eggs.
Once the bacon is done, take out the bacon and drain most of the grease from the pan. Drain the noodles and put them in the frying pan with the reserved grease. Pour the sauce over the noodles. Drain the broccoli if necessary and put the broccoli on top. Add the bacon. Stir it all around. The residual heat from everything (pan, noodles, broccoli) will cook the egg of the sauce giving it this flaky, eggy, cheese that coats everything. Once the sauce is thoroughly cooked, plate and serve.
You have all your food groups. Can substitute other veggies as necessary. Best of all, it's a quick dish and can be thrown together after a practice or something. If you have kiddies, give it a shot.
2 comments:
Bacon (the more the merrier); reserved bacon grease; 4 eggs; cup of cheese; You have all your food groups; What are these groups - bacon, grease, cholesterol, and saturated fat?
You certainly 'loves you your foods'
Oh, come on! Bacon!
Besides, if you're really concerned, use turkey bacon. The eggs and cheese are broken out over the entire dish so you're talking an egg and a third cup of cheese per person roughly. The hard cheeses tend to be lower in fat. The remaining grease is just enough to give the noodles some extra flavor. About what you would have if you took some cooking spray and coated your pan.
I also didn't give the amount of broccoli I use which tends to be a lot. When I made it time before last, I think I had more broccoli than noodles.
Lastly, Dr. Mom, this is one meal. Did you read my other cooking posts? Veganomicon?
You would perhaps prefer we have Hot Pockets and mac and cheese every night? Maybe chug some high fructose corn syrup to wash it down?
Grrrrr......I get irritable when my parenting gets called into question (which suggesting I don't provide healthy meals suggests).
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