A Late Father's Day Dinner

My mom and step-dad came up for the weekend to watch the girls so that Dave and I could get a few things done and go out on Saturday night. We are so grateful. Furthermore, we never had an opportunity to wish my step-dad a happy fathers day so we decided to cook fillet mignon on the grill in his honor.

It was supposed to be an easy meal to prepare. Grilled steaks, oven steak fries, and grilled zucchini - no problem. But it turned out to be one of those meals where things keep going kind of wrong. Let's list all my errors, shall we?

1) The fries were supposed to take a half an hour to cook, but were mysteriously burnt after only 15 minutes or so. Not only did this throw the timing off but also meant I needed to figure out a substitute in a limited amount of time. The best I could come up with was cous-cous from a box. In the end I put the least burnt fries on the table, too.

2) There were these strings tied around the fillets and although a part of me knew that they must there for a reason, the truth is that I can't normally afford fillet mignon and was a little unfamiliar with their purpose. So I removed them. Wrong! Fortunately, I only disassembled two of the steaks before catching on.

3) I had some beautiful, large zucchinis that a friend had given me from her garden. Zucchini isn't one of those foods that people normally get excited about but I thought it would fill out the meal nicely enough and grilling them would be easy. By the time I put them on the grill, however, my confidence was shaken and I started to worry they weren't enough. This resulted in me frantically throwing a bowl of frozen peas int eh microwave at the last minute. Then we didn't even eat all the zucchini.

Maybe I was the only one who thought so, but the zucchini was surprisingly good. Usually I just slice it and sautee in a little olive oil with some salt and pepper but the last time I did this I didn't really enjoy eating it so much. I think grilling is how I am going to cook zucchini for at least the rest of the summer.

Grilled Zucchini - Serves 4

1 large or 2 small zucchinis
Butter
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Slice zucchini lenghthwise in 1/4 inch-thick strips. Rub one side with butter and sprinkle the garlic salt and pepper on top. Grill until tender.

Hockey Night

On the nights Dave plays hockey I often try not to make anything too heavy. Tonight we had "Spanish Rice" and artichokes. The rice recipe was introduced to me by my mom not long ago and is great for making large batches to have as leftovers. It is also surprisingly good, given that the ingredients don't look like anything so special. The recipe is based off of the Spanish Rice side dish in the Fanny Farmer cookbook. I like to make it with chicken sausage and brown rice, though, and eat is as a main dish. Turkey kielbasa works pretty good, too.

Spanish Rice
4 chicken sausage links
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups brown rice
1 36oz can of tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a large oven proof dish with non-stick cooking spray. Sautee the onion, carrot, and celery with the olive oil on medium-low until softened - 5 minutes or so. Meanwhile, cut or break up the chicken sausage and sautee until cooked through. Combine all ingredients in the oven-proof dish, mix, and put in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove and stir. Put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

We didn't really need the artichokes and could have easily been satisfied with just the rice but tonight was the last opportunity to eat them before Sunday. We had artichokes already earlier in the week but I kept seeing them at the grocery store - they were HUGE and beautiful and I couldn't stop myself. I love artichokes. I can't think of a single vegetable that is more fun to eat or interesting to look at. I know that many people prefer to dip the leaves in melted butter or hollandaise sauce but in my family we always just mixed mayonnaise with a little mustard. I add a little lemon juice, too. I guess it is kind of a poor man's hollandaise.

Dave almost threw away his artichoke before getting to the heart/bottom (gasp!). He was standing over the garbage when he asked me if I wanted the rest of his artichoke. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you joking?! I couldn't believe he was going to just dump it in the trash before getting to the very best part. Turned out he was out of dipping sauce. Dave is kind of lazy when it comes to food preparation which is why it is my domain. I convinced him to make some more (he squirted some Miracle Whip into a dish - sigh). Then I gave him instructions on how to gently remove the bristly choke with a fork. He is so patient.. I think I tell him how to eat the artichoke every time we have them. The bottoms were huge and delicious, though, and even veggie-averse Eva took a bite.

Spaghetti Wednesday

We don't actually eat spaghetti every Wednesday, though we frequently have it once a week because it is so easy to make and so satisfying to eat. Also, as long as we use whole wheat pasta, it complies with our Weight Watchers Core diet. So, tonight we ate whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce and a salad of my own creation. I sliced half of an avocado along with half of a peeled apple, interspersed them along two plates and topped it all with lime juice, course kosher salt, and diced red onion. Dave and I had both had big salads for lunch so we were starving by dinner and not feeling like a lot more vegetables.

The girls also had spaghetti sub canned carrots for the salad. There are few fruits and vegetables that they will eat. I think the list maxes out at 5 or 6. This is somewhat of a sore subject with me as I have been diligent all of their short lives in terms of the introduction and re-introduction of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Despite this, they generally prefer canned unless it's a banana.

Welcome to dinner!

Here is the beginning of our attempt to post every single dinner we eat for an entire year. This blog is an effort to record a year of our lives through dinnertime - a time when we are usually together as a family and a time we look forward to all day.

Let me begin by way of an introduction. Our family consists of 4 humans and 2 dogs. My name is Shelley, I am 32 years old, the culinary leader of the household, and a woman of varied interests (more on that in future posts). The dad/husband figure in our little unit is Dave, age 38, Alaskan-born graphic artist and hockey enthusiast. Finally, rounding out the human category are our two daughters Eva and Mia, 21-month-old identical twins. Our dogs frequently play a role in our dinner gatherings so you might as well know them, too. Rudy is a 6-year-old Boston Terrier and a shameless beggar despite the fact that neither Dave nor I have ever fed him from the table. Mainly these days he concentrates on the children. Quimby is a 6-year-old "Puggle" (Pug/Beagle mix). Several people have commented lately that she is looking overweight. This is probably true. If Rudy is a shameless beggar then Quimby is a shameless scavenger - frequently leaping onto the table itself via a carelessly placed chair after we've left the room .

At present, Dave and I are both trying to shed some of our pre/post pregnancy weight. We were an impressively youthful and fit pair back in December '04 but much has happened since then including 3 winters and a set of twins. Our diet plan right now most closely resembles the Weight Watchers Core plan. This is our second earnest attempt. We are on day 5 of the new diet and are doing pretty well so far.

On the menu for tonight was meatloaf with rice pilaf and tossed salad. The girls had the same except I substituted watermelon and green beans for the salad. The meatloaf was delicious - a little tough perhaps by some peoples' standards, but I prefer it somewhat firm. I loosely based tonight's meatloaf on Martha Stewart's 'Meatloaf 101' recipe, which I personally find a little fussy and over-the-top (no way am I carmelizing shallots just to make a fancy topping). The rice was from a box - tasty but not newsworthy. The salad consisted of mixed greens, cucumber, red onion, and a small amount of blue cheese. I mixed some white balsamic vinegar with a little honey, mustard, salt, and pepper for a quick no-oil dressing.

Eva's meal was cut short after she started throwing her green beans on the floor. We have a not-very-strict rule about throwing food on the floor. Basically, if it gets too out of control, the offender has to leave the table. After Eva left, Mia dumped her plate on the table (this is a gray area rule-wise) but still continued to eat for 5 or so more minutes. Dave and I both managed to clear our plates before things got too crazy. This is not always the case. I have mixed feelings about eating dinner with the kids. On the one hand I think it's a good habit to establish and it has forced us to actually start using our kitchen table as a place to eat. On the other hand, it isn't always easy to relax and enjoy eating amid their cries for sippy cups and fallen forks. It has gotten easier, however, and I have to think that the social component will continue to improve.