I envy people that love to cook. My aunt loves it and as the boys were growing up, always tried to give me great ideas on meals for them. ugh. It just always seemed like such a hassle and when I would make these “easy”recipes, the boys would act like I was killing them (Lawton has LITERALLY made himself throw up over a BRUSSEL SPROUT), or the food would go uneaten and I would threaten no snacks!!, but they would sneak a bowl of cereal. Half the time, I can’t win….SO, I stick with what they will eat.
Lawton tried SALMON (shocker!) at a friends house and loved it. Wyatt tried popcorn shrimp off his friends plate and loved it. I realized: #1. we need to go out to dinner more often so that they can try these things and then I don’t have to cook it, clean it up and waste my time and energy and #2. they are at great ages to really try new things and eat like a normal human beings. Confession: my boys have NEVER tried soup. They will not do it!!! That is a goal – get them to taste a SOUP. I am failing as a parent ;(
I have all of these amazing cookbooks and I am going to try a new thing that I will be doing every week. RECIPE ROULETTE. I will randomly pick a recipe out of one of my favorite cookbooks and I will have to make it whatever it is. (Well, unless it is a full fish with skin and eyes that GP likes – not happening at the Hall house). Whether it is a full meal, smoothie, dessert and my whole family will tell you if it is a HIT or a MISS. I will also let you if it cost me a lot of $$, if it was easy or hard and whether I would make it again. I am excited about it actually!
First up last week was Knife and Fork Meatball Subs from Chrissy Teigens Craving Cookbook.
I thought this was a very good recipe. It was delicious, the boys loved it and I had a lot of sauce and a few meatballs to freeze and use again. This could definitely be a great meal for a large family. It was easy, it didn’t use a ton of pots and pans for cleanup and the boys finished every bite. I did have to go to the store TWICE because I forgot the whole tomato cans….which was annoying. My fault. It didn’t cost that much but I also had to buy half of the spices it called for. It is a recipe that is called knife and fork meatballs for a reason, but the boys liked it better if I mashed up the meatball and sauce and put on the hotdog so that they could eat it like a sandwich. Jack ate it like it should be eaten. All in all, this was a HIT.
A few days later since I had so much left over, they had the meatballs and sauce over noodles (2 meals out of 1 recipe is great!) and I made Kristin Cavallari’s Pumpkin Banana muffins.
Easy to make, not many ingredients that I didn’t already have and Lawton LOVES them. He ate 5 in one night!! Wyatt not so much. He doesn’t love bananas so theres that. I thought they were OK. Maybe it’s because they are so healthy, but a great alternative to sugary muffins. HIT and MISS at the Hall house. Jack is undecided. Lawton and I have about 15 more to ourselves 😉
Here is a list of the other cookbooks that I will be taking recipes out of each week. Basically, I love a celebrity cookbook 😉
Wyatt’s surgeon really believes that gluten is the devil. He highly encouraged me to get him on a gluten and dairy free diet when he was 1. Well, that was HARD. Babies basically only eat yogurt and puffs! I put so much pressure on myself the next few years that it made me crazy. So, I did what any good mother would do and gave up. 😉 He loved goldfish, yogurts and sometimes that is all he wanted to eat. I bought all the recipe books, tried hiding vegetables in sauces, you name it and was just frustrated and just spent. I hated cooking so many meals because the rest of us didn’t want to go gluten and dairy free, so cooking for 4 was miserable. Jack is a meat and starch guy, the kids were picky and I eat a ton of veggies and salad. Can you imagine?? Do you see why this wasn’t/isn’t therapeutic for me? Now that they boys are older, I do my best. They do have gluten, they have Doritos occasionally, they eat candy, but I have good cereal, make meals that are healthy, I have even gotten them into eating SALAD (BIG WIN) and we are slowly getting there. I know it is my fault for not introducing them to certain foods earlier, but the waste was just too great when they wouldn’t eat it. Wyatt won’t eat any fruits, Lawton will. Wyatt will try vegetables, Lawton won’t. Lord help me. They both like milkshakes though ha!
Week #2 was out of Kristin Cavallari’s Cookbook True Comfort. Apple Butter Lamb Chops and Parsnip Fries.
I had most of the ingredients, except the parsnips and lamb. I didn’t even know what a parsnip looks like to be honest….and the lamb I had to get at Reids, because HT didn’t have it. The lamb was $30 for this small one! Her recipe calls for 2 and that wasn’t going to happen, especially if I didn’t know if they would like it or not. Everything was very easy to make and didn’t take much time at all.
The parsnips were really good! A bit sweet, which I really liked. The meat was okay to me. I am not a huge meat eater, mostly chicken, but my boys are all cavemen.
Okay this was a HIT and a MISS. The lamb was a HIT for everyone. The parsnips, not so much. The boys hated them as you can see below and Jack said they needed to be crispier which I agree with. The recipe called for 20 min, and I left them in for 30 and they still were not crispy. We are going to throw them in the air fryer tomorrow to see if that helps. The lamb didn’t have much meat on them for damn $30. Bone and fat. This is something I will not be making again. You win some you lose some. Hoping if the parsnips get crunchier in the air fryer they will be better because I liked them!
So, we will try this Recipe Roulette each week and I hope to help bring all of you that struggle with meals for your family some insight on a few HITS and MISSES.
God Speed.
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