Sunday 25 March 2012

Pasta Casserole

I know other people have probably made their own versions of this, but I wanted to share my version, because it's awesome and delicious. LOL.



3 cups pasta
1 can of Hunt's Thick & Rich mushroom and basil spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground pork
6 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon parsley
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook pasta according to directions on package, drain and put in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Cook pork in large skillet until no longer pink. Drain. Add mushrooms, green pepper, onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and spices, stir well. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Spread sauce evenly on top of pasta in casserole dish. Cover evenly with shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350F oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and hot. Remove from oven and let sit for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Monday 5 March 2012

Ginger Beef Stir Fry

I wanted to try something a little different tonight. I had a steak and a package of frozen stir fry veggies, so I went looking for a decent stir fry recipe to try. I found this, and in spite of me not liking ginger that much, it was quite tasty and I'd make it again.

1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup plum sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin 2-inch strips
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
4 green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons salted peanuts, chopped
Hot cooked rice
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Stir in the plum sauce, ginger, soy sauce and pepper flakes; set aside. In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry beef in oil until no longer pink; remove and keep warm.

In the same pan, stir-fry the red pepper, broccoli, carrots, onions and garlic until tender. Return beef to the pan. Whisk the plum sauce mixture; stir into skillet. Cook and stir until slightly thickened. Stir in peanuts. Serve over rice if desired. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Notes: I used 1/2 cup water instead of 1/4. I didn't have fresh veggies, I used frozen ones. I didn't have plum sauce, so I used about sweet and sour sauce. I used a lot more garlic than it called for, and I didn't have fresh ginger, so I used the ginger from my spice rack. It's got a bit of a kick from the ginger and red pepper flakes, but like I said, it's quite good and I'd make it again.

Friday 2 March 2012

Adventures in Baby-Led Weaning Part 5

I haven't posted about BLW in quite awhile, mainly because there's not much to talk about. But tonight I'm going to.

Back around Christmas, I stopped directly breastfeeding. Between Charlie biting me constantly and his poor latch causing open sores on my nipples, I had just had enough. I couldn't relax, and I wasn't enjoying it anymore. So, I started pumping and mixing what I pumped with whole milk and giving him that in addition to his food.

In the past couple of months, because I'm getting ready to go back to work, we've actually gotten him onto a type of schedule and it works out really well for us.

When he wakes up early in the morning (usually between 6-7 a.m.) he has about 5-6 oz of milk and goes back to bed. We get up for the day around 8-8:30 and at that time he has a couple more ounces of milk, half a banana and a cup of Minigo yogurt.

Lunch is usually between 11:30 and 12:30 (depending on his morning nap) and consists of about 4-6 oz of milk followed by sharing whatever I'm eating for lunch that day. Admittedly, our lunches aren't usually that great (but I try). It's usually things like hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, soup, macaroni and cheese (not KD, although he has had that too) or if I'm really lucky, something left over from supper the night before.

His afternoon snack is usually around 3-3:30 p.m. (again, depending on naps) and is usually another 4 or so ounces of milk along with a dish of applesauce or some canned fruit (such as peaches...he loves peaches...). If his nap is late and his snack ends up being late, I just give him the milk.

We all sit down for supper around 6:30ish every night. Charlie drinks another 4-6 oz of milk, and shares whatever we're having for supper. A typical supper meal for him will be about 5-10 bites of mashed potato or rice, some vegetables (we usually have either carrots or green/yellow beans...he will eat 5-10 bites) and 5-10 bites of whatever meat we're having. I never really count how many bites he eats. His favorites are pork and chicken. Pretty much immediately after supper is bedtime for Charlie...it's usually around 7 p.m. If he wakes in the evening (which he's been doing a lot of lately), sometimes I'll give him a couple ounces of milk, sometimes I won't.

He's not afraid of spicy stuff, either. He loves the Mexican and curry recipes on this blog. He might make a face the first time he tries something like that, but he has never turned down more.

He's been getting really, really good at feeding himself. I cut everything up into bite-sized pieces and let him feed it to himself. However, we learned the hard way that if we want him to eat (which we do) we can't put more than one piece of anything on his tray at one time, or 99% of it ends up on the floor. If we give him one piece at a time, he will eat most, if not all, of his meal. We also know when he's done: he starts playing with it and smushing it into his clothes. What a kid.

There are some things that I spoon-feed him: yogurt, mashed potatoes, soup, and applesauce. He likes to grab the spoon and help me do it, and I let him sometimes, but not all (depends on what it is he's eating and how much of a mess I have time to clean up). For instance, he fed himself his mashed potatoes last night, but I generally won't let him feed himself soup unless I know we have time for a bath (because he'll need it, especially if it's tomato or vegetable soup...it gets EVERYWHERE...).

I'm really, really happy that we went the BLW route for introducing solids to him, instead of going the pureed, jarred baby food route. I have a child that will eat pretty much anything (he doesn't like plain pasta, but if it's got cheese on it, he'll eat it) and who is a total foodie just like his parents. I also know that when I got back to work in a few short days (yikes!) and he starts spending most of his time with Nannie and Grampie, they won't (or shouldn't) run into any issues feeding him.

And that's pretty awesome.

Mexican Rice

Found this recipe in a different issue of the magazine I got the vegetable mash casserole recipe in. We love Mexican-type stuff, so we had to try it. I made a couple of small changes (nothing major). My notes and changes will be at the end, but here is the recipe as printed in the magazine.

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 garlic cloves and 1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup long-grain rice
1 1/2 cups corn kernels
1 1/2 cups salsa
1/2 cup water
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

In a large sauce pan, saute garlic, onions, green peppers and beef in melted butter.
Add spices and saute for 2 minutes.
Stir in kidney beans and rice and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the corn, salsa and water. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 20-25 minutes.
Serve in bowls and garnish with the shredded cheddar cheese

Notes: Alex doesn't like corn, so I omitted that and instead I used chopped red and yellow peppers (about a half cup of each). When I did the first step, I included them. I also didn't use a whole green pepper, I used about a half cup.

We also put some sour cream on top as well as the cheese.

I would highly recommend cooking the rice at least partially before adding it to this recipe (or else use pre-cooked long-grain rice). Because I used uncooked rice, I had to add probably an extra 3/4 cup of water and cook it longer to try to get the rice to cook.

Overall, all three of us LOVED this, and will definitely be making it again. Next time, in addition to pre-cooking the rice, I'm planning on making it with diced chicken instead of ground beef.