Halloween 2009 Dinner Date!

It's time to start thinking about what to serve to your little ghouls and goblins on Halloween night! We gave the girls a little "trick" with some spaghetti n' eyeballs for dinner, and a "treat" with a fall-flavored cake for dessert.

Spaghetti and Eyeballs

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 handful canned black olives, chopped
20 or so large pimento-stuffed green olives

spaghetti and marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 425F.
In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, and chopped black olives. Do not add any salt - the olives make these salty enough! Grab one or two tablespoons of the beef mixture and flatten it into a circle. Place a green olive in the center, sideways, and wrap the beef all around. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining meat and green olives.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the meat is well-done. Use a serrated knife to slice each meatball in half to reveal the "eyes"! Serve over some cooked spaghetti that has been well-bloodied with marinara sauce :-)

Maple Cake with Cinnamon-Chocolate Frosting

Cake
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp maple extract

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter for about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in the two eggs.

Whisk together the milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and maple extract. Add the milk mixture and the flour mixture to the sugar-butter mixture, alternating between adding the wet and dry ingredients. Beat until well combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.

Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add the confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon, and beat on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes, until very fluffy. Add the pinch of salt, vanilla extract, and melted chocolate and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 more minutes.

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Looking for more Halloween ideas? Check out Celeste's Halloween Dinner Date from last year, with Candy Corn Pizza and Monster Milkshakes!

Easter Leftovers Dinner Date!

First, I want to thank Kara for all her work taking care of our blog for the past month. I recently had a close family member pass away and just haven't had the wherewithal to think creatively for blogging purposes. I am very appreciative to Kara for keeping our blog active in my absence but also for being a wonderful, supportive friend to me during this hard time. You're the best! I'm back now though and have had some good ideas rolling around in my brain that I can't wait to share with you.

So speaking of playing catch up...

I had planned this dinner date to go up on the blog the week of Easter (before all your Easter dinners had been cooked) but Kara and Co. had the bad stomach flu that has been going around so we postponed it for the following week (and I'm only getting around to posting it now).

The idea was to come up with a creative way to reinvent and use up Easter leftovers. I decided to give my leftovers a Japanese spin and the result was delicious and actually pretty well received by the toddlers!

The meal...

Ham and Pineapple Skewers
(serves 4)

Ingredients:
Pre-cooked ham (I actually used a non-nitrate ham steak) cut into bite sized chunks
1/2 large fresh pineapple cut into bite sized chunks
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
1 tsp. sesame oil
wooden skewers, pre-soaked in water

1. Assemble alternating ham and pineapple chunks onto skewers
2. Line a broiler pan with heavy duty foil and turn the oven on broil
3. Combine the honey, mustard and oil in a small bowl
4. Put all the skewers onto the broiler pan and brush the sauce evenly over all the skewers.
5. Broil until the glaze on the ham starts to brown. Serve! Easy as can be!

Rice Balls
(serves 4)

These rice balls, also called onigiri are often found in those fun bento box meals. I hope to explore these little boxed meals soon on IBB as they are super cute and fun for kids!

Ingredients:
Sushi rice (must be sushi rice because the rice for these needs to be sticky)
2 stalks of asparagus
1 large carrot, peeled
2 tsp hoisin sauce
Gomasio
soy sauce for dipping

1. Cook sushi rice according to package directions. I made the 4 serving size.
2. While the rice is cooking, steam the carrot and asparagus for 5 minutes in a steamer or in a covered saucepan that has about an inch of water in it). Remove from steamer and let cool for 10 minutes. Dice both the asparagus and carrot into small pieces.
3. Mix the vegetables with the hoisin sauce. Set aside.
4. Line a small tea cup (or something similar) with a sheet of saran wrap. Scoop enough rice into the cup to almost fill it.
5. Using the end of a wooden spoon, make a hole in the center of the rice. Spoon in about a tablespoon of the veggies.
6. Bring up the sides of the saran wrap and, holding the ball of rice in the palm of your hand, twist the saran wrap closed.
7. Finish with the rest of the rice. Put all the rice balls onto a plate and refrigerate for at least one hour.
8. When ready to serve, remove rice balls from the saran wrap and sprinkle a little Gomasio on the tops of each ball. Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Bunny Bars
(makes 8 servings)

So after Easter I had leftover sun drops from Neko's Easter basket, leftover marshmallows and coconut from a coconut lamb cake I made (see below!!) and leftover Annie's Organic Fruity Bunnies cereal that I used in some plastic eggs for her egg hunt. I decided to throw all these things together and boy was that a good idea!

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. butter
3 c. mini marshmallows
5 c. Annies Fruity Bunnies cereal
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup sundrops candy

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan.
2. Add the marshmallows and cook over low heat until melted.
3. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
4. Press into a square pan. Cut and serve!

I meant to use those leftover plastic eggs to shape these into egg shapes but am trying to potty train Neko and she decided that she wanted to try a go on the potty right as I was stirring ingredients together. These things set up fast so I quickly pressed them into a pan and ran to the bathroom. Gah!

I hope you enjoy this little japmerican meal as much as we did! :o)

P.S. The lamb cake!

St. Patrick's Day Dinner Date!!

I realize St. Patrick's Day isn't until next week but I thought it wise to put something up this week in case you would actually like to make this FOR St. Patrick's day. ;o) This meal was scrumptious and even both toddlers devoured their meals!

Crockpot Corned Beef with Potatoes and Carrots
(serves 4)

Ingredients:
Approx. 1-1/2 lb. corned beef brisket cut into stew meat sized chunks (I left the fat on for flavor)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 med/lg. carrots, peeled and cut in big chunks
1 can beef broth
2 cloves garlic, chopped

1. Don't let this confuse you. I know it sounds complicated. Add all ingredients to crockpot, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve! ;o)

**warning** Do NOT add salt. Corned beef is salty on its own. You definitely don't need to add any.

Irish Soda Bread
(serves 8)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. light sour cream
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. golden raisins
3 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and olive oil until well combined.
3. In a larger bowl combine all of the dry ingredients.
4. Stir the raisins into the dry mixture.
5. Stir in the sour cream/oil mixture until dough comes together.
6. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 1 minute.
7. Shape into a 6" round loaf. Score an "X" into the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
8. Bake on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray for 40 minutes or until the crust starts to turn golden brown.
9. cool on a wire rack. Serve with Irish butter!

Potato Candy
(makes 12 pieces)

Are these not the cutest things you've ever seen?? These little potatoes are not potatoes at all. They are sugary balls of deliciousness! However, they are NOT very good for toddlers as it turns out. :o(

Ingredients:
4 oz. of cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick (1/4 c.) butter, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 c. flaked coconut
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1. Using a mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
2. With the mixer on med. speed, add the vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined.
3. Stir in the coconut until well combined.
4. Using your hands, shape little potato shapes out of the mixture. Mine were about 2" in length.
5. Put the cinnamon in a small bowl. One at a time, add the "potatoes" and shake the bowl to roll the potato around and coat it in the cinnamon. Repeat with remaining potatoes.
6. Using a small, blunt tipped object (I used the end of one of my daughters watercolor brushes) make"eyes" in the potatoes.
7. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Serve!

**Notes***The plain cinnamon was way too spicy for toddlers. I should have known. Kara had the idea of cutting the cinnamon with dry cocoa mix next time. Great idea Kara!

So since the planned dessert didn't work out I ended up throwing some refrigerated cookie dough (a gift from my FIL) into the oven. It was a toddler approved substitute!

Halloween Dinner Date!

Dinner date this week was the day before Halloween so naturally we had to have a little Halloween meal. It was as fun to make as it was for the girls to eat! :o)

Orange and Black Snacks

Carrot sticks
Black beans
Mandarin orange slices
Raisins
(could also use orange pepper slices, black olives, etc.)

This one would probably be a little too weird for anyone over toddler age but the girls were into it. I served it as an appetizer to....

Candy Corn Pizza
(Serves 4)

1 Whole Wheat Boboli pizza crust
Pizza sauce (You could use jar sauce. I made up a quick sauce with tomato sauce, Italian herbs, 1/2 cup broccoli minced very finely and salt and pepper to taste.)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar (must be orange)
2 medium yellow peppers, diced

1. Top crust with sauce.
2. Place mozzarella in a small, round circle in the center of the pizza.
3. Place the cheddar in a ring around the mozzarella.
4. Place the peppers in a ring around the cheddar.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Cut into triangles. Serve!

Monster Milkshakes
(serves 2 toddlers and leaves enough for 2 Mommies to have a taste) ;o)

1 pint of vanilla Tofutti
3/4 c. milk or soymilk
1 tsp. mint extract
green food coloring
1/2 c. crushed chocolate cookies (I used an organic version of Oreos)
Clear plastic cups
Black permanent marker
1 drinking straw

1. Draw monster faces on the outside of the cups with Sharpie.
2. Blend the first 3 ingredients in a blender until smooth.
3. Add a little green food coloring (a couple drops). Blend. Continue to add color and blend until desired color is reached.
4. Pour milkshakes into cups and top with equal amounts of the crushed cookie.
5. Cut straw in half and put one half in each cup. Serve!

These were completely and totally delicious. If you haven't tried Tofutti 'ice cream' and are assuming its gross, I challenge you to make this milk shake. I am confident you will love it. The girls definitely did and the Mommies both wished there was more!