Beef and Veggie Macaroni The school year is officially in full swing! I have to say, getting my son ready on the first day was a tad stressful thanks to a meltdown in the morning by my usually
happy 2 year old. Boy, did he ever decide to throw a wrench in all picture plans by flipping out, throwing himself down into some rocks, and refusing to let me strap him into his car seat! Sound familiar to anyone? Good, I m not alone!! I thought for sure my neighbors were going to call the cops on me for child abuse because he was screaming at the top of his lungs. They surely think I m insane by now because it seems that someone is always screaming. I promise, we are normal, whatever that means.
Now that I ve vented about the terrible twos, let s talk about this delicious and lunchbox-friendly meal! This one is perfect for sending a hot lunch to school that your kids will actually eat, or just getting dinner on the table relatively quickly after school. There is not much for your kids not to love about this one. and if they are on the fence about the
carrots/peppers I would suggest dicing them super small and pretending they aren t even there. I m not a fan of hiding veggies in food, however I do have a slightly picky 3rd grader who changes his mind on a weekly basis about what is acceptable to put in his lunchbox. I feel you, I do! Just because I have a blog about food does not mean all of my boys will eat everything I make without complaining. Every week last school year my son would complain about certain foods that I sent in his lunchbox that he previously loved to take. Eventually I just ran out of ideas and started making meals like this one so I could send the leftovers in his LunchBots thermos and be done with it! Most of his hot lunches would come home eaten, so I had to settle for putting veggies in creations like this one instead of sending them raw. You win some, you loose some!
Recipe Tips I used a colander to drain the grease from the meat/veggies. I tried draining the way I normally do and realized it was going to be an epic disaster if I proceeded, so I placed a colander in the sink (or over a
bowl if you do it that way) and it was so much easier! You can absolutely switch up the veggies here, and get creative! I can see peas and green beans working really well! I didn t know whether to call this a soup or a stew because it is kind of in between. At first it was thinner but the pasta will continue to soak up the broth and it becomes thicker. I really enjoyed the consistency because it was right in the middle. Yes, this recipe contains cheese because cheese is my friend, and has really never failed me. You can certainly omit the cheese if you would like, however I really loved it with just a slight hint of cheddar. It isn t overpowering at all, just bumps up the taste a bit. I always use no salt added Bionaturae strained tomatoes when cooking a dish like this. If you substitute a product that contains salt, you will have to adjust how much additional salt you add. I prefer this product over canned because I feel it is safer and has a better taste. Black Bean and Corn Fritters
Can I just go right ahead and admit today was just one of those days. If you have kids then I know you know what I m
talking about! Having my 8 year old son home for summer vacation and being super preggo is a lot more then I bargained for. Hello when you can t see your feet how are you supposed to bend over and pick random things up?? Or bend over and give the babes a bath?? Or put your own shoes on?? The big belly struggle is real! #pregnancyproblems However. somehow I managed to throw these super fun and delicious Black Bean and Corn Fritters together and the kids gobbled them up for lunch. I wish I could say that I served them with a green veggie or fruit salad but no, the kids are on a hard boiled egg kick so protein + protein it was. Hey, nothing wrong with that. until tomorrow morning when I have to smell the aftermath of this bean + hard boiled egg meal. Thankfully my husband wasn t here! In other news my husband wants me to stop purchasing kitchen stuff. How do I put this nevergonnahappenhubby. In other, other news Donald Trump is running for president. Am I missing something here? Is he a politician now? Is he just going to pay someone off to make important decisions? Am I the only one super confused about this? And by the way, if you haven t seen his Toupee memes I suggest you Google that immediately and have a good laugh!
AAAANNNNDDD. Back to the fritters because they are super easy to make and come together in about 30 minutes from start to
finish. 30 minutes!! They are so easy I would say this would be a great recipe to let the kids help out with. I served mine with a nice dollop of sour cream and a little extra cheese on top and they were just perfect. Hope you all enjoy as much I we did!
Easy Cheesy Tacos This easy and delicious taco recipe includes a few extras so your from scratch tacos turn out perfect! Saucy, cheesy, spicy. Yes!
Well hello there delicious, easy taco dinner just waiting to be gobbled up by my boys!
This taco recipe is definitely one of those I just don t feel like making dinner tonight recipes because it comes together in literally just a few minutes and your family will love it! Even better, it doesn t contain any random ingredients like the ones you will find in those pesky little taco seasoning packets. When I started reading ingredient lists I realized quickly that those packets contain more additives then they do actual spices. Weird, I know. But if I know all the big name companies like I do, it doesn t surprise me one bit! They never fail to add a bunch of crap to something seemingly super simple. Not to mention those packets-o-random-ingredients are more expensive then just buying real spices. When I ditched those packets I realized something about seasoning tacos without them, and that was the texture was a little different and sometimes my meat ended up a tad dry. Don t get me wrong, we still slapped a bunch of cheese and sour cream on those babes and the problem was solved, but one day I decided to experiment to try to achieve that extra sauce that I felt the meat needed. Welcome..strained tomatoes and cheddar cheese! Viola! My trusty strained tomatoes solved my problem + added additional flavor to my meat. Yes and yes! Ok, I m sorry but here is an obnoxiously large picture. That sauce though!
One last tidbit I did add fresh cilantro because I had some on hand. If you don t have fresh cilantro I would go ahead and
just omit it all together. Your tacos will be just as delicious even without the cilantro! Roasted Poblano and Cheddar Mac
My husband brought home a poblano pepper that I didn t use in chili, so I challenged myself to coming up with a new recipe to use the pepper in. My kids request mac n cheese every time I ask them what they want for dinner, so I combined the two and it turned out to be a great twist on mac n cheese. It was really delicious with just a hint of spice. This side could easily be turned into a main dish by adding some extra veggies and seasoned black beans. If you are tired of the same old mac n cheese, I would highly recommend trying this recipe!