What is for dinner? It’s the never ending question. Even when we are post pandemic, many families will still be struggling with how to put healthy food on the table, childhood obesity is on the rise, and we don’t have a plan for next week.  Let’s not kid our selves.  We don’t really have a plan.  Now that I'm back to flying airplanes for a living I don't get to cook as much but I enjoy it more when I do. Over my years of being a stay at home parent and then stay at home registered dietitian I found 8 meals that my children will mostly accept and I thought you might like for me to share them with you. It took kind of a long time of figuring it out. Kids didn’t always eat healthfully, however, we try.  Having these known entities to fall back on has been very comforting to us.  

-whole wheat pasta

-cauliflower stir fry

-tacos

-baked potato bar

-whole wheat pizza

-tray bake

-slow cooker Indian chickpeas

-larb lettuce cups

One of my big dietitian rules is to always make half one’s plate fruit and vegetables. Some of these meals are composed of a ton of veggies anyway but for pizza and whole wheat pasta night you’ll have to grab a bag of salad before hand.  Give each person a handful and allow them to dress and finish their salad before the pizza or pasta is served.  That way they don’t fill up on pizza and not want to eat their veggies and/or fruit. In addition, I’ll always give a vegetarian option.  However, just because you are vegetarian, doesn’t mean you don’t have to eat your salad.  Skipping the dark leafy greens and filling up on cheese and bread is the fast track to constipation. Don’t do it.  These meals are pretty well balanced but if you see anything missing for your family please make it your own.  Tell me too!  I'd love your feedback both negative and positive.  My personal email is: LLSchmutzer@gmail.com

Whole wheat pasta

Obviously you can just cook whole wheat fettuccine and mix it with your favorite jar of sauce, sprinkle it with some parmigiana and call it good but I’m going to give you my most awesome yummy recipe that I made at the beach last summer. Or else what good is reading this?  You know you should make the switch to whole grains and only whole grains.  A serving of this whole wheat fettuccine has about 200 calories so a person can enjoy 2 servings and be pretty well nourished.  That’s without the sauce on it so if you are counting calories then yes enjoy it but measure it! One cup of sauced pasta after a refreshing salad is wonderfully hearty and nourishing. If you can’t possibly curtail your serving sizes then maybe the best option is switching to a lower calorie option like frozen zucchini spirals or spaghetti squash. They also go great with this sauce:

"Fettuccine Ferrari"

1 cup of whipping cream

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp olive oil

6 cloves of garlic minced

1 bunch of chopped green onions

2 cups of cherry tomatoes sliced in half

2 cups of Parmesan cheese and extra for garnish

1 cup of pine nuts

1lb whole wheat linguine or 1 lb of zucchini spirals or one small spaghetti squash

Beat the egg yolk into the cream and set aside.  Toast the pine nuts and set aside. Boil the pasta with salted water per the box instructions and drain and set aside into a large serving bowl. Heat a large sauce pan with the olive oil on medium high.  Saute the onions and garlic for a few minutes, not to browning.  Add the tomatoes and sauce them for 2 minutes on medium high not falling apart.  Just enough to heat them but so they maintain their integrity.  Now turn the heat way down to low and slowly add the cream yolk mixture stirring constantly.  Add the Parmesan cheese and stir until incorporated.  Quickly pour over the pasta and toss until totally mixed and evenly distributed.  Sprinkle the top with all the toasted pine nuts and Parmesan or allow people to garnish their own. Serve hot but also great as a cold salad next day. 

Cauliflower stir fry 

To my knowledge, this recipe has never been written down by me before.  It’s just something a nurse friend of mine who was doing “low carb” told me about and I figured it out via trial and error.   The hard part of this is multitasking.  You will have 3 pans on the stove at one time but you don’t have to stir them constantly so turn on some music but do pay attention before it all burns.

4 tbsp Olive oil

2 sweet onions diced

Salt

Riced cauliflower 2 lbs

3 medium zucchini diced

4 cloves Garlic minced

3 tablespoons ginger minced

2 tbsps Braggs coconut aminos

2 eggs

Baked tofu cubes or cooked chicken breast strips

Chopped Cilantro to garnish

Crushed Peanuts to garnish

Sriracha to taste

Wet 3 large frying pans or sauce pans with olive oil and heat to med high.  In the first, add the onions and a pinch of salt.  They take the longest.  Brown the onions stirring every 3 minutes.  In the second pan (biggest pan you’ve got) add the riced cauliflower straight from the freezer unless it’s frozen in a clump.  If it’s frozen in a clump, break it up before you put it in.  It’s nice to have it lie flat so you can easily turn it every 3 minutes until it is all nice and fried-rice-like. In the third add the zucchini and brown on all sides. crack the eggs and scramble them with the zucchini. Go back to the onions and add the ginger and garlic. Stir for one minute. Mix all 3 pans together in the largest pan with the 2 tbsp of Braggs coconut aminos. Garnish with all the delish toppings and serve hot.  

More later.