Healthy Family Hangout

Last week Millard brought home a big bag of swiss chard.  His farmer connection said that it wasn't selling because no one liked it. Apparently locals boiled the chard and found it too bitter. Millard bought home a big bag and as you can see Alexander was definitely impressed.   We sauteed our swiss chard with some balsamic vinegar, onions, garlic,  pine nuts and fresh mushrooms. We served it with Christian's Lasagna Roll-ups Myself and Millard love our swiss chard this way... and there is no bitterness.  The kids however do not like swiss chard.  Christian attempted, but truly didn't like it.  He picked out his mushrooms and ate them only. 

Ok, so it seems as if I have a little bit of a 'stuffed' theme happening here.  A few weeks back we made Crab Stuffed Mushrooms .  I had found some nice mushroom caps ideal to stuff and couldn't pass them up.  Christian, being the seafood fan that he is, wanted to stuff them with crab.  I cannot remember exactly how we made them, but I do know that we used canned crab.   They turned out good, but next time we will use 'lump crab' to get more crab flavor. I just wanted to share this photo of Christian stuffing the mushrooms.  As you can see he really enjoys helping in the kitchen and he is also trying to piece together his own recipe ideas.  He even made his own soup one evening!

In our attempt to eat healthier we are testing new ingredients that we've never tried before. A little while ago I was trying to figure out the whole 'grain' thing and I learned that Quinoa was a common suggestion. I bought some at the Bulk Barn and it sat in the pantry forever... until now! Menu: Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Mango-Avocado Salsa w/ BBQ Chicken & Poppyseed Fruit Salad I found a recipe at Kraft that I adapted to what ingredients I had. About mid-afternoon one day I put my quinoa in the pot to boil and started prepping my veggie mixture in a bowl. Once the dressing was added it was yummy enough to serve as is. I put the salad together about 15 minutes before serving. I didn't have much lettuce left in the fridge so next time I will use more lettuce. When Christian walked into the kitchen and saw the salad on the platter he got very excited. He said that it looked delicious and couldn't wait to try it. I guess it is true that we eat with our...

I was at the Bulk Barn last week and decided to try out one of their rice blends. It is Aztec Blend #1656. It includes colusari red rice, long grain brown rice, split peas, and amaranth. I had no idea what some of those ingredients were but figured anything's worth a try, right? When I got home I looked up colusari rice & amaranth. Colusari rice is a burgundy-colored chewy rice that has a light nutty-popcorn-like flavor and amaranth is actually an herb. It was very simple to prepare & actually pretty good. The peas were a little crunchy which added nice texture. I was surprised that both kids really liked it.

We've never tried boy choy before, but we are trying to pick out new things. We only bought 3 baby bok choy to give them a try. I washed them and cut them in halves. I put a little olive oil in the pan with some finely chopped garlic and tossed in the baby bok choy. Simple-Easy! Christian had a friend over that evening for dinner and we had burgers. I put the baby bok choy in a serving dish in the middle of the table and I was so proud of him for trying a taste. Unfortunately he got a hold of a bitter piece and he was done. I was just happy that he tried it. That's all I ask.