Salmon Fajitas

Salmon was on sale tonight, and we decided to get a couple of filets for dinner. I started thinking about how we were going to end up wrapping Micah's in a tortilla to make an "egg roll" and it occurred to me that Salmon Fajitas might be awesome. I mentioned it to my husband, who was a bit resistant, but who went along with it for the sake of something new.

Not only was it a winner with the kiddo, but it was a winner with us as well. This is officially on our list of favorites. We ended up with way too much salmon for two adults and a toddler, but I will list the full recipe here since a lot of people cook for a larger family anyway. I, for one, am looking forward to left overs tomorrow. Here's the recipe:

Salmon Fajitas (big ones. They're burritos really when it comes to size :-))

2 salmon filets

1 cup sliced peppers (I use frozen sliced tri-colored. If you do this, defrost them)

1/2 of a large onion or 1 small onion, sliced thinly

1T Smart Balance and 1T olive oil, or 2 of either

juice of 1 lemon

chili powder

Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt (or plain kosher salt if you don't have it)

Guacamole

Sour Cream

Shredded Mexican Cheese

flour or corn tortillas of your choice. We gave small ones to the kiddo and used large sized ones for the adults. 

Slice salmon filets into 1/2 inch slices, leaving on the skin, and season with chili powder. Melt Smart Balance with the olive oil in a cast iron skillet, and coat the bottom of the skillet with the mixture. Keep heat on high. Place salmon pieces skin side down.  Add peppers and onions to pan and season with a little more chili powder and some Krazy Salt. Add lemon juice over the whole thing.

Once the skin gets crispy, turn salmon pieces and turn heat down to medium. While the salmon is finishing off, microwave tortillas to soften them. 

We served the salmon/peppers/onions in one bowl, guacamole in another, cheese in a third, and sour cream in a fourth. Everyone made up their own fajitas and the consensus was YUM. Even the toddler kept saying "mmmmmm yummy!" 

Yes, it has fat. But with the exception of the cheese and sour cream, it's all good fats. The salmon has Omega 3's, the olive oil and Smart Balance are all good fats, the avocado is yummy monounsaturated fat. We did use reduced fat cheese and sour cream, but we're not fooling ourselves that this was a low-fat meal! I just wanted to point out that as high-fat meals go, this one was pretty darned healthy. And uh, yeah, really tasty too. 

Bonus recipe: Quickie Guacamole

1 avocado, mashed

1 tomato, diced

1 very small onion (we used the white part of a spring onion), diced

1/2 a jalapeno pepper (take out the seeds if you have a toddler), diced

juice of 1 lime

Combine well in a bowl. Yum.

Turkey Pinwheels = Toddler Lunch WIN

So we're on Day 2 of Turkey Sandwiches for Lunch, and I thought that I might try to make it more exciting for the kiddo.

"Micah, do you want a turkey sandwich?"

"No"

"How about a CIRCLE SANDWICH?"

"I help!"

Score.

Here's how we made Turkey Circle Sandwiches:

1 burrito sized tortilla, microwaved for 15 seconds

some cream cheese

some turkey

1/2 a tomato, sliced really thinly

a few leaves of spinach

I spread the cream cheese over the tortilla and then let the kiddo have at it placing the turkey, tomato, and spinach. Then he watched as I rolled it up and was fascinated as I sliced it into 7 pinwheel pieces. We shared it--he had 3 and I had 4 (I took the ends since they are less pretty). 

Result? a Fabulous meal. He ate 2 and a half pinwheels and gave me the end of the last one (he is into sharing his last bite for some reason these days). He also requested more tomato and some cheese for dessert, which was fine with me. 

I was rooting for turkey and bacon in the pinwheels but he said no to the bacon, so that was ok. Probably healthier. But I think these would be delicious with a slice or 2 of bacon in the mix in the future. We might even grate some carrots in as well for even more color. 

Freezer-ish Tacos for Lunch!

Last weekend, we decided to make tacos. Tacos have three great things going for them. (1) They are very easy to make. (2) They allow everyone to have their own flavor mix. (3) They are toddler-help friendly. Remembering that my kid will eat anything he helps to make, you can see how tacos make a great, fast, easy dinner. 

My husband made up the ground beef mix, and somehow he made far too much. I think he made a whole pound of meat. Needless to say, we did not need that much. So I decided to freeze the left overs, as I had heard that taco meat was a good food to have around in the freezer. I had been skeptical. WHY keep pre-cooked taco meat in the freezer when it takes about 10 minutes to make fresh?

I'll tell you why. 

Lunch.

Today, I stood in front of my stupid refrigerator trying to figure out what to make for lunch, when it hit me that I not only had frozen taco meat but also 4 remaining taco shells, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and shredded mexican cheese! I don't know why this made me giddy, but it did. 

I pulled out the remaining meat, noticed I still had 1/2 pound (way too much for just me and the toddler), broke it up and put 1/2 of it back. I transferred what I was going to use to a bowl and threw it in the microwave for a minute and a half. While doing that, I threw the taco shells in the oven to crisp them a bit (as they had been stored in plastic), cut up some lettuce and tomato, put everything in small bowls, and set up or table for taco making.

Lunch was quite a success. A little messy, but quite a success. I could see myself making up an extra large batch of taco meat in the future to have on hand, perhaps storing in smaller portions to have for lunch.

Here's my recipe for the taco meat:

however much you want of very lean ground beef (we use Laura's Organic but whatever--just make sure it isn't fatty)

a small onion for every pound of meat, diced

Chili Powder

Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt

Spray a nonstick pan with just a little cooking spray. Toss in onions and cook until they begin to soften. Add the meat, and sprinkle the whole thing with chili powder and krazy salt. We tend to start off easy and add more seasoning as we think is necessary, but everyone has their own beliefs on what is too spicy, so use your judgement. Cook through and use whatever you need that night. Freeze the rest in servings you need for your family (I would probably do 1/4 lb (ish) servings in the future, as that makes lunch easier and dinner can just be 2 servings.

You can use this meat for tacos, taco salad, enchiladas, or whatever you want it in. It's yummy. And it freezes great. 

Thwarted!

My efforts to not order in or eat out have been thwarted by a toddler!

Me: Micah, we're going to have soup tonight!

Micah: Um.. how bout... egg roll!

Well you can't just mention chinese food to a pregnant woman and expect me to NOT want to just go right along with the suggestion!

Chinese food it is. Tomorrow, though, we will have soup.

Great Kids Menus: The Tortilla Factory

Last week, on a day when I could not bear to cook or even eat something out of the freezer, we decided to visit the Tortilla Factory in Herndon, VA. It's a pretty famous place that I have only been to a few times. We had taken the kiddo before but it was back when he was young enough to eat of of our plates. So I wasn't sure what to expect from the Kid's Menu. 

I was pleasantly surprised, actually. There were three Standard American meals on the kid's menu. But there were nearly twice as many meals that were smaller versions of items available for adults. The Standard American options were the ubiquitous Burger or Chicken Nuggets with the addition of the somewhat-less-ubiquitous Hot Dog. 

But that's where the boring ended. There were 5 Mexican/Southwestern options on the kid's menu:

1. Beef Taco, Mexican Rice and Refried Beans
   
2. Cheese Enchilada, Mexican Rice and Refried Beans
   
3. Beef Enchilada, Mexican Rice and Refried Beans
   
4. Chicken Enchilada, Mexican Rice and Refried Beans
   
5. Quesadilla (did not come with rice or beans)
   

My son declared that he did not want any meat, so that left us with Cheese Enchilada or Quesadilla. Now, I realize that a Quesadilla is basically a Southwestern Grilled Cheese Sandwich, but I figured he'd also share some of my food, so I allowed it. 

What came out was the cutest and yet biggest Quesadilla that I have ever seen. Big? Take the biggest oversized tortilla you've ever seen and fold it in half. Cute? It was cut into a dozen or so little triangles, just ready for a toddler to pick up without mom having to spend time cutting. I appreciated the simplicity. He appreciated the cheese.

Micah also did eat some of my pork tamale, though he really wasn't very interested in meat at all that night. Hey, we all have our daily preferences, right? He ate every drop of the quesadilla, without once stopping to demand dessert instead (something he has been doing a lot recently). I haven't seen my kid clean a plate in a very long time.

As for the adult menu, it's so vast and delicious looking that Adam and I took much longer than usual to make our decisions. Everything was fantastic, and they were very accomodating of Adam's legume allergy (they let him have double rice instead of rice & beans). The service was a bit slow, but I was feeling forgiving since the food was so good. It has been fast in the past, and it was a busy night.

The Tortilla Factory also has a folk song night on Tuesdays every week. I keep meaning to check it out, but I think I'll have to wait until Adam is not on travel; it's a bit late for Micah though he'd probably love the music. 

Here's your link. If you live in the area, check it out!  

Great Kid's Menus: Great American Restaurants

It's a recurring theme in my life: I highly disapprove of the Hamburger and Chicken Nugget Kid's Menu. In fact, I will usually order an appetizer for my son from the adult menu rather than allow him the option of Burger or Nuggets.

That said, there are some restaurants that get it right, and in a big way. So I've decided as part of this blog to let the world know which restaurants are really good with the Kid's Thing. 

This time, it's the Great American Restaurant chain in Northern Virginia. 

http://www.greatamericanrestaurants.com

For those not in the area, Great American is a local chain of different restaurants that all have some basic items in common. The Best Buns Bakery makes all of the bread and many of the desserts for the ten restaurants, and other menu items cross restaurants. From there, everything is different. One is more of a steakhouse. Another is more of a seafood restaurant. One is extra fancy. All have different themes and decor. The newest, Jackson's, recently opened about five minutes from me at Reston Town Center, and I was thrilled. Jackson's is more of a neighborhood hangout with a very large bar but also a grand dining room with an open kitchen. We have been twice, and will gladly take anyone who comes to visit for lunch or dinner, because it is great food, great ambiance, and great service.

And (since this is the actual topic of the blog post), they have a great kid's menu. All of the GA restaurants that I have been to since my son was born have great kid's food.  Now, yes, they do have hamburgers--but Jackson's serves hamburgers to adults, too, so I am not terribly concerned (actually they serve the most amazing Duck Burger to adults as well, and my husband highly recommends it!).

Here's the awesome thing about their kid's menu. Just about everything on the menu can be found on the adult menu as well, in a larger size. Even their Mac n Cheese, another kid's menu staple, is actually the gourmet Mac n Cheese that they offer as a side to the adults. Along with that, kids have an option of Grouper Fingers, Grilled Short Smoked Salmon, or Tenderloin Steak.  Kid's meals come with the option of fries, applesauce, or carrots (my kid usually will go for the carrots or applesauce).  Those are options I can live with.

I have not eaten at Coastal Flats or Artie's (and yes, I have been to all of the others), but from looking at the GA web site, it appears that their Kid's Meals are generally the same. Just as the adult menus have certain dishes that follow through all of the restaurants (and do get the Lobster Bisque), so do the kid menus. I like this, because I know that I can get fish or steak for my son no matter which of the restaurants I go to. What I like is that I'm not saying "I know I can get my kid a hamburger or chicken nuggets."

So thanks, Great American Restaurants! Keep it up! 

My experience with babies and food

I have a friend whose husband is a picky eater. When she tells me what her husband refuses to eat, I am astounded. I often will say something like, "what is he, 2?"

But the fact is, I don't have a picky eater for a 2-year-old. 

I don't know why, but when I started having children, I became a little bit obsessed with making sure that they would not be picky eaters. In my late 20s and early 30s, I used to spend time every night making beautiful meals for myself and for whoever I was dating (or married to in the case of my husband) at the time. And I had a friend who said, "well when you have kids you'll be making kid food."

That just seemed so wrong to me. The thought of giving up Lemon-Caper Chicken for Chicken Nuggets seemed anathema to me. I certainly didn't want a kid who always asked for chicken nuggets or burgers and french fries.

When I was pregnant with my son, my sister sent me a whole lot of information on breastfeeding. I certainly had intended to do so, but until I did my reading, I did not equate breastfeeding with the avoidance of creating a picky eater. It makes sense--the more variety I eat, the more flavors he'll taste in my milk. Although I didn't end up breastfeeding for as long as I did strictly for the avoidance of picky eating, I think it definitely helped. 

We started solid foods at 7 months. In this case, it was my cousin Patty who sent me a book: Super Baby Food. This became my food bible. Since my husband has very serious allergies, there were some foods that we were not going to introduce until after a year, or even after two years! But for everything else the book was a great guideline. The book's main food--Super Porridge--is not appetizing sounding to adults. It's pretty much a porridge that is made from a mix of grains, occasionally legumes (we had to avoid all legumes except for soy beans), and a baby food fruit or vegetable that you prepare yourself. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually was very similar to freezer cooking. I would spend one day a month preparing baby food and freezing it, and then I'd keep a grain mix ready to make into Super Porridge daily.

When once we went on vacation and I had to buy some jarred baby food, I was pretty amazed at how few choices there were. The only green vegetable appeared to be peas (a legume that we were not introducing that early). The only orange vegetables appeared to be carrots or butternut squash. It's possible there were other varieties, but I couldn't find them. Everything else appeared to be meat or fruit.

My son didn't eat meat until after the age of 1. But green vegetables? He ate kale, collards, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus. For orange and yellow veggies, he ate acorn and butternut squash, summer squash, pumpkin, carrots, and more. His first fruit was the ubiquitous banana (hand mashed by me), but that was soon joined by avocado, papaya, mango, peach, apricot, plums, pears, apples, etc. -- every kind of fruit that we ate, he ate, with the exception of oranges (which came later--they cause very bad diaper rash) and berries (which also came later--they can be a bad allergen, and I was actually allergic to them when I was little).

 Now, he is 2 years and 9 months. And let's face it, he's a toddler. If we let him have a hamburger or pizza or chicken nuggets for every meal, he'll say yes! If we give him beef stew with noodles, he will eat the noodles first and fight against eating.

But get this--he loves to help with the cooking. The other night, I wanted to make a salad. He helped by ripping the lettuce. I then washed it and he ran the salad spinner. I then handed him bowls of veggies to add to the salad. I soon realized that we had more celery in his stomach than in the salad itself. Same went for the peppers and raw broccoli. My kid loves veggies. I'm not going to complain. He did the same last night when we were making Boboli pizza. This is his specialty, and he loves making a pizza with tons of vegetables. My husband made up a veggie bowl for him to munch out of so that some of the veggies would actually make it onto the pizza!

When we go shopping I ask him what veggies we should buy. Last time it was green beans and broccoli. He's been known to ask for corn (he wants it on the cob and who can blame him?)

I'm not saying I have the perfect eater--by far my kid drives me crazy some nights, with the sitting and staring at the food that I know he likes. But when I think of my friend's husband--the man who won't eat anything but beef--I can't help but think I did something right with my kid. 

So from what I see, I did three things that made my kid a non-picky eater: (1) breastfeeding for over a year while keeping a big variety in my own diet, (2) home made baby food with a lot of variety, and (3) now that he is older, involve him in the cooking whenever possible.  I only hope the same works with my second!