Last spring, we were navigating some food issues and intolerances and in need of simple family meals free of gluten, dairy, soy and a whole host of other ingredients. It was a challenge to say the least, but there were a few good new recipes that came out of it. Tamari-honey chicken drumsticks were one…
easy family meals
Arugula, Basil and Avocado Pesto
We’ve evolved a bit this year. Now that our dinners are centered around a gluten-free and dairy-free main dish, we’ve started changing up some of our favorite recipes so they’ll work for our family. This arugula, basil and avocado pesto is one of the happy outcomes of months of recipe testing and tweaking. Arugula was added to the mix…
Weeknight Dinners: May 8-12
MONDAY Breakfast for dinner! We need something easy and fast, and my youngest requested hash browns for dinner, so why not? We have three dozen farm eggs in our refrigerator that are begging to be whipped into a strata or frittata. I’m considering making two different frittatas, one that’s dairy-free and one with goat cheese, both…
Weeknight Dinners: April 23-28
SUNDAY It’s gorgeous in Houston, cool and crisp with a full blue sky. A good grill night for sure. Since I already have pre-marinated carne asada from Trader Joe’s, I’ll just doctor it up with some fresh lime juice. It wakes up the flavor and makes it taste brighter. I’ll let it sit at room temperature…
Pork Chile Verde
Earlier this year, we had an interesting run in with food allergies around here. After a blood test showed that our oldest had 20 class III food allergies, I had to cook pretty creatively until we could get her into Texas Children’s Allergy and Immunology Center. During that time, I scoured cookbooks and the internet to…
Weeknight Dinners: April 17-21
MONDAY Meatless Monday is happening — we need to pay for all the chocolate and jelly beans. On deck: Veggie stir fry with ginger, garlic and Tamari with steamed rice and edamame on the side. There are plenty of recipes online for stir fries, but you really don’t need one. I like to sauté veggies and…
Weeknight Dinners: April 10-14, 2017
MONDAY Since we are spending Sunday afternoon at a Little League carnival, I’m thinking we’ll all need some nutritional redemption. Like a soup full of beans, lentils and vegetables. Enter this beans and greens soup from Bon Appetit. I’ll be using organic canned beans and garbanzos (from BPA-free cans), instead of dried, to make things faster and easier….
Weeknight Dinners: March 6-10, 2017
MONDAY Whole chicken in the Crock Pot. This is such an easy way to cook a whole chicken, especially if you need to cook it around 2pm before heading to carpool and doing afternoon sports-tutoring-nutritionist appointment carpool. You can crisp up the chicken skin under the broiler before you serve it, or just dish up…
Super Simple Salad Dressing
If you do one simple thing to change your diner game, make your own salad dressing. You heard me, right? Just checking… It takes five minutes and uses only four ingredients that you should have stocked in your pantry or fridge. The return on flavor (not to mention the health benefits of ditching bottled salad dressing) are immeasurable. I won’t lecture…
Spatchcocked Chicken
Spring is here, which feels like riding a bike downhill with no handlebars. We’ve been running in circles at our house, getting to Little League games, dance recital rehearsals, planning two April birthday parties and trying to figure out what everyone will be doing this summer before all the decent day camps are full. Our dinner routine has…