Monday night's leftovers

So you made too much spaghetti for supper.  Oops!  Now what to do with it all?  Make "Spaghetti Pie" of course!  It is usually a big hit with kids.  All you need is your leftover spaghetti noodles, your leftover sauce, a couple of beaten eggs and some grated cheese.   I use a marble chedar but you could use whatever cheese you prefer. 

First off... preheat your oven to 375 and lightly grease your casserole dish or tarte plate.  Mix your leftover noodles and sauce together and let cool to room temperature.  Add a couple of beaten eggs and about half of the cheese (maybe 1/2 - 3/4 C) and mix to combine thoroughly.  Pour into your tarte plate or casserole dish and give it a firm push down with your spoon.  Top with remaining cheese and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.  Let cool and slice into wedges or squares.  This is a yummy alternative to just having leftover spaghetti in your lunch! 

Recipe Share

Today's recipe is a fun one and may just be the incentive your kids (or adults) need to eat and ENJOY meatloaf.

What you will need for my Meatloaf Cupcakes:

Meatloaf  Ingredients

1 package of lean ground beef

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 tbsp ketchup

1 small very finely minced onion

2 cloves of garlic finely minced or crushed

1 large egg

1/2 C bread crumbs (or more depending on how wet your mixture ends up from whatever veg you use)

salt and pepper

Here is where we sneak in veggies....

1 smallish carrot shredded
5 or so mushrooms minced
1/2 C shredded zucchini

Basically you just mix all of that together and fill muffin tins with the meat mixture.  Bake at 350 for about a half hour or until the meat is fully cooked through.  You can adjust the recipe to your liking, increase it for larger families or use your own meatloaf recipe. (Photo courtesy of Food Network Canada)

Topping:

Mashed potatoes

Cooked carrots

Cooked peas

sliced red pepper

shredded cheddar cheese

After the mini meatloaf cupcakes are cooked.  Remove from the pan and top with mashed potatoes (icing) and then let the kids decorate the tops with the other cooked veggies!  These are also very convenient for lunches. 

The change up for this recipe is that you can use the meatloaf recipe just to make meatballs for lunches as well.  Most kids like the dippable factor.  Here I used meatballs and served them with roasted potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, snickerdoodle cookies, strawberries, orange slices and a couple of dill pickles. 

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Restaurant Inspiration - Sushi

Sushi...not such a kid friendly restaurant meal. Most kids make faces at the thought of eating raw fish or seaweed. I know a lot of adults who do too. lol I personally love the stuff and make it at home. My son will only eat veggie rolls and my daughter will not go near it with a ten foot pole. My spin on sushi involves a lot of fun, kid friendly treats! All you really need to know how to do is make Rice Crispy treats!

Step 1: Make rice crispy treats according to box instructions.

Step 2: Pour out treats onto a buttered piece of parchment paper.

Step 3: Flatten out the treats into a thin rectangle.

Step 4: Add any candy you want to the middle that is pliable. I used orange and chocolate Tootsie rolls that I stretched out as well as a folded up piece of Fruit Roll Up.

Step 5: Roll up your sushi using your parchment paper to lift, roll and press down on your sushi roll. Wrap it up in the parchment paper and toss it in the fridge so it slices easier.

Step 6: Remove from fridge and wrap it in fruit roll ups. Slice into rounds with a serrated knife and serve.

I also made some home made crunchy chicken strips. I sliced chicken breast into fingers. I continued the rice theme and decided to use the Rice Crispies as the coating for the chicken strips as well. I dredged them in a beaten egg, then into corn starch, back into the egg then into some seasoned (salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder) crushed rice crispies. I then shallow fried them in a cast iron pan and done. These end up very crunchy and delicious! In today's Goodbyn there is Crunchy Crispy Chicken strips with ketchup for dipping, Baby Bell cheese, cucumber slices, Kool Aid Jammer, thermos of noodle soup and dessert sushi.

Don't forget about our GIVEAWAY!!! You still have time to get your entry in!

Winter Wednesday Corn Chowder

Hi everyone.  I am so sorry this post is going up so late in the day.  By now you have probably picked up the kiddos from school, washed out those lunch containers and are already thinking about tomorrow's lunch.  Perfect!

Last night we had our second snow of the year - and I think this one is sticking around.  We were lucky enough that our first big storm thawed within a few days, but this one doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.  *sigh*  So I packed something to warm my DH from the inside out for his lunch today:

Today's lunch includes a delicious leftover Greek Chicken breast from last night.  You will notice I popped it in a cute little glass pyrex dish to make it simple and easy for DH to lift it out and microwave it if need be.  Carrot sticks, yogurt & granola (sent in a small container separately so the granola doesn't get soggy) an apple, a KoolAid Jammer and some cold pasta salad.  My pasta salad is SUPER easy to make.  I just cook up the pasta, or use leftovers; cut up whichever veggies I want in it - usually carrots, peppers, a few baby tomatoes - and toss it in some Kraft Greek Feta and Oregano dressing.  Voila!  It is delicious and I get a ton of compliments on it.  Now all my friends will know my secret!  lol
I also sent a thermos with some Corn Chowder I whipped up last night when it started to snow.  It is a super easy and very delicious recipe and I thought it would help keep DH's toes warm.

Don't forget that you only have about 3 weeks left to enter to win your very own Goodbyn!  Hop on over to our contest post here.  Or click on the link in the tabs above!

Have a great Remembrance Day to my fellow Canadians, and a good Veterans day to my US friends tomorrow.  Take a few moments to remember those who have done so much for us and given us the freedom and liberty we enjoy and sometimes take for granted!

Nena

Lunchable Leftovers

Quite often I find myself planning my son's lunch around the previous night's supper. I find that this not only saves me time and money but he gets something other than a boring sandwich for lunch at school the next day. We have yet to pack a sandwich this school year. Leftovers CAN be your friend.

Depending on who you are packing your lunch for, you can very easily incorporate last night's dinner into your lunch the next day. It doesn't matter if you are using a Goodbyn or even packing bento style or not. It is easy to use your leftovers!





This lunch was inspired by the previous night's meal. We had Swedish meatballs, roasted potatoes and salad. My son loves these items room temperature so there is no issue with reheating. I refrigerate over night and pack them cold in the morning. There is always the option of removing the items from the box and throwing them in the microwave for 30 seconds as well.

I packed meatballs (I omitted the sauce), roasted potatoes, small container of ketchup for dipping, a salad with ranch dressing, dill pickles, orange slices, strawberries and snicker doodle cookies. This lunch not only used leftovers but is also totally litterless. I included a big water bottle on the side to get him through the day.

My share:

Swedish Meatballs

1lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2C finely chopped onion
3/4 C bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1/2 C milk
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Soak bread crumbs in the milk for a couple of minutes. Mix all of the ingredients listed above and form into meatballs. Place on a sheet pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, turning frequently.

Sauce

1/4 C veg oil
1/4 C flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 C boiling water
3/4 C sour cream

Cook first five ingredients together to make a roux. Cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Whisk in the hot water and sour cream. Mix until smooth and the sauce thickens a bit.

Put the meatballs into a casserole dish and pour the sauce over. Bake an additional 20 minutes at 350.

These meatballs without the sauce freeze wonderfully. This way you can make a big batch for your freezer and will only have to quickly whip up the sauce for a quick supper and a tasty lunch for the following day!


Enjoy!