Brownies!

The homeschool park day was canceled today because of the ground still being wet from all the rain we got recently. So, I made brownies with the girls to make up for the disappointment! They loved it. :) Technically, this post could go into either the homeschool blog (since this was a learning activity too, and was making up for a canceled homeschool activity) or this cooking one (for obvious reasons) since it ties into both. I chose this one. It just seemed to fit MORE. ha!

Rachel adding the oil.

Michaela adding the water.

Michaela putting in the liner cups.

Rachel's turn to help.

When are they going to be done?!

Is it as good as it looks?

Rachel and Michaela with the finished product. Yummy!

Sweet Alyssa after eating her brownie:
Helping with "Operation: Fatten up the Baby!"
If you look at the bigger version, you can see her little tooth trying to come in!

Pasta Roni

Hmmm? Been a while since I've posted a dinner. We have been eating, really! Just haven't gotten on here.

Last night we had Pasta Roni Angel Hair Pasta with Herbs. The girls loved it! It's rare when we have a time when they don't complain about what I make. They're so picky. With it we had corn on the cob from our garden. YUMMY! Well, Brandon and I had it. The girls don't like the corn on the cob. *shock* See what I mean about picky? And some frozen store peas that I steamed with the corn. The girls like the peas. :) Rachel said that she "liked the peas better than the pasta. Peas are my favorite vegetable." Peas are so yummy, so no wonder! The corn baffles me though. Rachel says she likes the store corn on the cob better than the garden corn on the cob. . . . . Humph!

Finally got around to having those tacos!

That's what we had tonight. . .tacos! Yum! They sure do love those! I use the Boca meatless meat and mix it up with the taco seasoning like you would beef. That along with all the other traditional fixings to go with tacos. We use burrito sized soft tortillas though.

Noodle Casserole

So, I took the Tuna Noodle Casserole my mom used to make when I was a kid, just minus the tuna, and added peas to it instead! I also make it with Cream of Potato soup instead of Cream of Mushroom since Brandon doesn't like the mushroom soup. It's been a while since I made it, so it seemed new to the girls! Both of them liked it. :) Michaela was quick to say, "I don't like it" before even trying, and she ended up loving it! Also had slices of bell peppers, yellow is still the girls' fave, apples, and some baby carrots.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Soup

It's ballet night. . .so had to do something easy! They actually ate their sandwiches tonight! Sometimes they don't eat it all or complain. Soup is always a safe bet with my kids!

Baked beans and french fries

One of the girls' favorites! Well, minus the fries kinda. . . They'll eat them, but not big fans of the things! They ate a few. I had to finish their fries for them. With that we had red grapes which they gobbled down this time (sometimes they just don't want them), cucumbers, and red, yellow, and orange bell pepper strips. :) They each ate some of everything on the veggie plate tonight, so I was quite pleased! Usually there's bound to be something there that each of them doesn't care to have.

Mashed potatoes and noodles

Yum! Brandon really liked dinner tonight! I started out thinking of making scalloped potatoes, but didn't feel like it, so I made mashed instead. Cooked up some whole wheat egg noodles and some gravy to go on them and the potatoes for whoever wanted that. The girls aren't big on gravy. Also had raw broccoli, baby carrots, and red grapes. The carrots were a big hit with Michaela tonight. She was sitting there eating them at the table waiting for me to get the rest of the dinner ready!

Hamburger Helper Cheesey Italian Shells

WITHOUT the actual hamburger of course, is what we had tonight! I could just make it without the meat or use Boca meatless meat. I use the Boca to help get some protein in our diet, plus it just adds to it! I also added some whole wheat rotini pasta to it since the shells it came with were lacking in number it seemed! Haven't had this before, and the girls LOVED it! Rachel even ate the Boca in it! She doesn't like it in her tacos. . .hmmm. . .another mention of tacos when tacos isn't on the menu! ha! Maybe we should have them sometime soon! With this, I brought out the veggies I cut up for last nights dinner that didn't get eaten (I tend to cut up WAY too much!) and added some grapes to it. Also thawed some frozen petite peas and white shoepeg corn in some warm water vs steaming it like my mom suggested so we could have that raw vs cooked. First time I've tried that. . . .worked out great! Rachel doesn't like corn for some reason though. Michaela would have eaten it. . .until she saw her sister getting picky about the corn. At least they both ate some veggies even if they didn't have all that was offered. :)

Ever wonder what our vegetarian family has for dinner?

I often get people that wonder what I make for our family to eat since I don't prepare any meat dishes. So, for those curious minds out there, I decided to add on this separate blog about what I make for dinner. . . . I most likely won't get every nights meal blogged, but hopefully this will end up being a good sampling. I'll probably add in special treats and stuff we're doing too just for fun! ;)

Tonight we had baked potatoes with a variety of raw veggies: broccoli, green and yellow peppers and tomato slices. Any veggies are good, but they're best eaten raw as much as possible so you don't kill the enzymes in your food as much from cooking. :) Everyone is required to choose at least 3 things from the veggie plate to go along with their potato. Broccoli and peppers are big hits at our house! Tomatoes. . . .not so much! In order to get them to eat tomatoes, I usually have to make tacos or something, then they'll eat them mixed in the taco. Tonight, Rachel hoarded all the green peppers and "left two for someone else, mommy!" lol She took a while getting to her potato since it was "too hot." Once it cooled down, she was all good! Michaela had her fair amount of broccoli, but didn't want as many peppers as usual which surprised me. She usually loves them! I've actually found that she'll eat peppers for me better as a snack or while I'm cutting them up than on her plate at dinner. Tonight had to be pretty simple since it's Tuesday and we had ballet this evening. Sometimes I just make it simple just because I hate to fuss with dinner! Sometimes I wish we didn't have to eat. . . .either that or I had a personal chef!