Friday, November 03, 2006

This is how we know he is sick............


He never just "falls asleep". Not in the car. Not at church. Never.
All it took was a fever of 104 degrees and some cold medicine. He was SO sick that day.
I got SO MUCH done...................

Friends,

I need inspiration. Derek will be gone ALL week next week (sigh) and I am determined to make a menu, stay on my grocery budget and have yummy food to make the evenings not quite so desperate. We will go out at least one of the nights, but lately, that is more of a challenge then staying home with cranky kids. It is also finally cold and blustery here, so soups and casseroles are right up my ally. Have a favorite soup or casserole? Please share the link or just give me the title if you don't want to type the whole recipe. I can google it (chances are that someone, somewhere has put it on the net....). Many, many thanks!

21 comments:

Julie said...

Seriously, come to my house! nathan will be gone all week, too. And the whole next week, too. Anyway, I just made our menu for next week. As far as soups, I've got 2 faves: Salsa Bean (mostly black beans and salsa and SO good even though it looks awful) and a broccoli cheese that's way good. Next week we're also having Bruschetta Chicken Bake (foodandfamily.com), orange mandarin chicken (maybe I'll wait until Nathan's here for that, actually), Crockpot Italian Chicken and tuna Casserole.

Julie said...

and P.S. Poor Cubby!

But I have to admit, I kind of love when they're that sick and they just "check out". Isn't that awful?

Miriam said...

Our fallback recipes often involve cream of mushroom soup-based casseroles (Tuna noodle, hashbrown bake, wild-rice parmesan risotto) because you open the soup and stir in what you like and you're DONE, and because they freeze well.

Sorry your little guy's on the fritz. Ours is too, and laid down on the floor this morning directly after waking up for the day. I seriously thought about grabbing the video camera- that's how rare stillness is!

I'm happy I found you (Nablopomo rules!). Nice writing, plus we're researching adoption and I love finding folks who've done it. Cheers.

Lisa said...

If only you lived HERE. . . sigh

I found a new chili recipe that couldn't be easier:
3 cans great white beans
1 jar salsa (like Pace)
1 bag monterey jack/cheddar cheese shredded

Heat together-serve with crused tortilla chips and sour cream. Amazingly, my kids actually ate it.

Bek said...

Yeah all!! Keep them coming. This is great inspiration. :-)

Celebrate Woo-Woo said...

I'll post my chili recipe for you sometime this weekend...hope you've got a crock-pot/slow-cooker;> It's even pretty healthy except the sodium is a bit high.

tracy m said...

I have the recipe for the wor won-ton soup from Tao Tao in Sunnyvale- best wonton soup EVER. If you want it, I can e-mail it to you...

Christy said...

I'll second Julie's suggestion of Bruschetta Chicken Bake. We love it! However, I bake the chicken first and then just stick it in the hot oven for less time (just to warm it through and melt the cheese). Otherwise, my chicken gets all dried out. I hate that.

I also made a vegan black bean soup from a recipe on allrecipes.com (I think that's the site). Delicioso.

Carina said...

My favorite clam chowder ever:

1/4 lb bacon
1-2 leeks, white parts (+little green)
2 carrots
2 celery
1/4 c. flour
2 bay leaves
Thyme
6 potatoes (I leave skins on, just scrub)
1 large can chicken broth
3-6 cans chopped clams (how many do you like?)
1/2 c. chopped parsley
1 pint cream

Chop veggies. Chop bacon, render in soup pot, add chopped veggies, herbs, little salt and pepper, and saute for few mins, sprinkle with flour, saute for couple mins, add potatoes and chicken broth. Simmer for 15-20 minutes (potatoes tender.) Add cream. Add clams (you can drain or add with liquid) and add parsley. Cook for 2-5 minutes, serve!

I like to add some worchestershire sauce, the kids like oyster/fish crackers in the chowder. So easy, so healthy, not too 'fishy,' just divine. Mess around with the seasonings until you like.

QueenScarlett said...

Just made this 2 nights ago... one of my favs for the crock pot:

http://serranosavories.blogspot.com/2005/12/white-chili-with-chicken.html

Kalea will even eat it...
Enjoy!

Susy Q said...

Aw, poor baby! I hope he feels better soon.

CKW said...

Barbacoa Pork (a la Cafe Rio)

1 pork roast (or beef...if you prefer0
1 jar medium slasa
1 cup brown sugar

Crock pot it all day (appx. 6 hours on high. 8 on low) until you can shred it with a fork. Serve on salad or in tortillas. I can also get you the cilantro ranch dressing recipe if you want. If you have never had this pork before, then we need to schedule a date to cafe rio in Dec!

Sister Pottymouth said...

My oldest would never cuddle unless he was sick. And I always felt slightly guilty for looking forward to those occasional sick days.

La Yen said...

We are huge fans of theh imitation Marie Calendars potato cheese soup with honey butter corn bread. Just google it--everyone has posted a recipe for it. Also, ~J's tortilla soup rocks. If she doesn't post it, I will email it to you. (Don't want to steal your thunder.)

By the by,cyndi k wren, in the EP barbacoa is not barbeque, but a cut of meat. The face. Cow face. Just so you don't get surprised as I did.

wendysue said...

I wasn't sure if that was a sugar crash picture after too much candy or a sick kiddo. Poor guy. Actually I kind of like it when my older kids are sick, I can drug them and prop them up in my bed with a throw up bowl and with the tv on and they're good to go. It slows them down for once right?

Bek, here's one that my kids just gobble up, even Whitney.

I call it "Puttin' on the Ritz chicken"
4-5 Chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
16 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of Chicken soup
1 pkg. ritz crackers
prepared rice (just as much as your family likes--for us, it's a lot)

That's it.
Cook the chicken and place it in a 9x13 pan
Add 16 oz. sour cream and 1 can cream of chicken soup
crush 1 pkg (roll) of Ritz crackers (I let the kids do this part--put them in a ziploc and let them hit away with the wooden spoon)
mix the crackers with about 1/2 stick butter and put on top of the mixture
Cook at 350 for about 25 minutes, until heated through and serve over the rice.

You could add anything else to this too...veggies are easy to sneak inside.

More Caffiene, Please said...

18 is out of town for two weeks and CJ and I are both sick. Fun times - we here you there!

Anyways - we love this easy recipe for Navajo Tacos and left-over scones:

-Frozen Rhodes Dinner Rolls
-1-2 cans of your favorite chili (I buy the Nally bean and cheese)
-Shredded lettuce
-Chopped tomatoes
-Shredded cheese
-Diced olives
-Sour cream

Let the dinner rolls thaw out according to directions (they always seem to take a bit longer than the package says). Then just simply flatten them out to about 1/4" thick and fry them in hot oil, turning on each side. They make small, perfect scones. Top with the chili and other toppings for the navajo tacos. We always make extras and eat them with honey butter.

Bek said...

These all look GREAT. I can't wait to eat dinners this week (and then scrape it off the carpet later after Jacob "eats").

I LOVE Navajo tacos. Great ideas.

Wendysue--Ritz chicken is for dinner tomorrow.

There are a lot of husbands out of town this week.........

liz said...

a non-healthy option that is EASY:

1) cook pasta noodles (we prefer curly ones! whole wheat barilla if you please)

2) microwave frozen (or steam fresh) broccoli florettes

3) toss hot/ drained noodles with parmasan cheese and butter and top with broccoli

Meal complete, my toddler loves it!

liz said...

oh yea- and crock pot chops!

put 1 can salsa and pork chops into crock pot. low for 6-8 hrs.

serve over rice.

Anonymous said...

Another excellent casserole crock pot recipe:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotvegetables/r/bl91c15.htm

This is, if you like butternut squash. The dish tastes surprisingly sweet without added sugar. Hardest part is cutting up the squash (several times I feared my husband losing a finger), though I've seen it pre-cut at the grocery store. Wait, I live in the NE, do they have butternut squash out there? If not, please disregard....

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I don't think the link worked. Below is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
•1 butternut squash, about 2 pounds, peeled, seeded and diced
•1 can (14-1/2-ounce) diced tomatoes, undrained
•1 can (12 to 15-ounces) corn, drained, or 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
•1/2 cup chopped onion
•1 clove garlic, finely minced
•1 sweet green bell pepper, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
•1/2 cup chicken broth
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon black pepper

PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients except tomato paste in slow-cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, until squash is tender. Serves 6.