Eats

The recipe for success in my kitchen always comes back to the same three ingredients. It's these things that make mama happy and when mama's happy, everybody's happy.

 

Healthy. Let me clarify that I have a pretty broad definition of healthy. I'll explain. I loooooooooove enchiladas. All that cheese and sauce makes me want to melt, but it doesn't exactly scream healthy. So I have a tasty recipe that packs my enchiladas with spinach, black beans, diced chiles and uses a reduced fat cream of chicken soup for the sauce. Is it healthy? Eh, probably not. Is it healthier than a traditional enchilada? Oh yes. It's packed with both good for you and good tasting stuff and they are delicious. So when I say healthy, I actually mean healthier. The things is, I'm not getting any younger so I have to be a little more conscious about what I eat. Additionally, I want to feed my kids healthy foods and model a healthy lifestyle for them. So we aim for healthier all the time.

Plate-Licking Good for the whole family. Though I do it more often than I'd like to admit, I despise making two different meals for one dinner. Before I was a parent I swore my kids would always eat what we ate. Now that I am a parent, I realize it's complicated. I love spicy jambalaya. I'm obsessed with sweet coconut curry. But the kids just aren't into spicy or exotic and that's fair. Other days, I just don't want to fight the good fight. I just want to feed the kids a meal that makes them want to lick their plates.

Secretly Nutritious. This goes back to fighting the good fight. Vegetables are almost always a fight with Bronco and we have offered him just about every vegetable on the planet. There is not one he likes and there are few he tolerates. Most of the time, we just make him eat them. But he is a slow eater anyway and when you give him something he really doesn't like, you could be there all. night. long. Cue banging our heads on the table and consuming large amounts of wine. Hidden veggies means one less thing to fight about.   

 

Most of my recipes don't meet the all the criteria since, as you can see, I've set the bar pretty high. If you have a perfect or just plain delicious recipe that you'd like to share, post it in the comments below or email it to us at mondaysareforever@gmail.com. If it's a winner at dinner, I'll feature it on a recipe post!

 

That sounds delicious. Take me to the Recipes please!