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When it comes to party food, most boys aren’t hard to please. They are usually more than eager to eat whatever is presented to them. (Keep in mind, though, if your party guests will be younger boys they may be a bit pickier.) They will also eat more than you think as boys often turn eating into a competition.

As a rule, boys love messy party foods. Pizza is always a good choice, for party goers of any age. You can make it yourself, purchase it ready-made or have it delivered for the event. The boys will, no doubt, appreciate the addition of double cheese… it will make things gooier. Turn the pizza into an activity. Set out rounds of pizza with lots of different toppings. The boys, under adult supervision, pile on whatever toppings they like.

Sloppy Joes are a good choice, when it comes to feeding hungry boys. They are fairly inexpensive to make and can be kept warm in a crock pot, until it’s time to eat. A very simple recipe is to brown one pound of ground hamburger with one pound of ground turkey. Add a cup of chopped onions. If you want the “Joes” to be extra healthy add a cup of finely chopped carrots and a cup of finely chopped celery. Saute on medium heat until the veggies are soft. Add a cup of ketchup and two cups of tomato sauce with 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Serve them with chili cheese fries, for a meal they will rave about.

Hotdogs will please almost any youthful appetite, especially if they are stuffed with cheese and baked in crescent roll dough.

Provide a variety of dipping sauces such as cheese, barbecue sauce and honey mustard. Use squirt bottles for easy serving but beware the boys will be tempted to squirt each other as well as their hotdogs.

Grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken nuggets are an option. Jazz up the sandwiches with different kinds of cheeses and serve three or four choices of sauce, for the chicken.

One word of caution, many children have food allergies and must stay away from things like nuts, dairy products, strawberries and eggs. Before planning your party menu, it is recommended that you contact the parents, of all potential guests, to make sure there will not be problems. Older kids know what they shouldn’t eat but younger kids don’t.

If you’ve ever tried to get reservations for Mother’s Day brunch or dinner, you probably realize it’s next to impossible unless you book months in advance. This year treat Mom to a dinner the children can make with just a bit of adult supervision. The menu is impressive and easy for little cooks to manage. Start with a raspberry vinaigrette salad with grapefruit slices, lettuce and walnuts. The main course are chicken breasts stuffed with ham and cheese accompanied by rice pilaf and carrots glazed with orange juice. Purchase Mom’s favorite dessert to finish the meal.

What you’ll need:
Package of pre-washed ready-to-serve salad
Raspberries
Apple cider vinegar
Mild cooking oil
Walnuts
Fresh grapefruit slices
Rotisserie or Baked chicken breasts
Provolone cheese
Honey baked ham
Rice
Cream of chicken soup
Frozen peas
Frozen chopped onions
Frozen carrots
Orange juice concentrate
Butter
Cooking utensils

Salad
The tang of the grapefruit slices is complimented by the crunch of the walnuts and sweetness of the raspberries in this easy to pull together salad. For four servings you’ll need two packages of ready-to-serve lettuce, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup of cooking oil, and 4 to 6 ounces of fresh raspberries. If you can’t find fresh, use frozen unsweetened berries. Mix the vinegar, oil and raspberries together and set aside. When you’re ready to serve, toss the dressing with the lettuce and divide onto four plates. Arrange four to five grapefruit slices on the lettuce and sprinkle with walnuts. Now that was easy.

Chicken
Moms will be impressed when you bring out this chicken dish. The creamy cheese and salty ham bring out the best in the chicken. It looks like it took lots of time and talent to make. Surprise, since it starts with purchased cooked chicken breasts, you don’t need much time or talent. When you purchase the chicken breasts ask the server to cut a pocket in each breast. About 30 minutes before dinner is ready, stuff a slice of ham and a slice of cheese into each pocket. Wrap the breast in foil and warm in a 350 F oven for 20 to 30 minutes until hot and the cheese has melted. Remove the foil to serve.

Rice Pilaf
All right so this isn’t the traditional rice pilaf but it’s easy for kids to put together. For four servings put one cup of rice, one 15 ounce can of cream of chicken soup and one cup of low sodium chicken broth in a baking dish. Add 1 cup of frozen peas and 1 cup of frozen chopped onions. Stir. Bake in a 350 F oven for 40 minutes until the rice is cooked. You can bake this at the same time the chicken is warming, just give it a head start. Triple the recipe for leftovers so Mom doesn’t have to cook dinner the next day. Chop two slices of ham for each serving. Mix with the left over rice pilaf. Put in a fresh baking dish and cover with slices of provolone cheese. Heat until the cheese is gooey.

Carrots
Kids love carrots and adults will love these carrots bathed in a glaze of orange juice and butter. If you start with packaged frozen carrots there’s no peeling or chopping required. Since the carrots have been blanched before they’ve been frozen, they don’t need much cooking time. You’ll need three cups of carrots for four servings. Place in a microwave safe bowl. Nuke on high for one minute at a time until the carrots still have some crunch to them, probably no more than three minutes total. Before the last minute of cooking time, add 1/4 cup of orange juice concentrate and 1/4 cup of butter. It’s Mother’s day so splurge on real butter not the fake stuff.

Mother’s Day is just about a month away. Of course you could always take your little ones to the mall to buy a present but wouldn’t it be more fun if they made their mother a present? Or what about a Mother’s Day tea, picnic in the park or breakfast in bed. Here’s are a few easy ideas for mothers day breakfast children can make.

Fabulous French Toast
Use frozen French toast. Cut into heart shapes with a cookie cutter. Cover the top of the heart with sliced fresh strawberries. Outline the heart shape with canned whipped cream topping. If you don’t like strawberries use whole raspberries. Or make a two toned heart with blueberries and raspberries.

I Love Mom Breakfast Rollups
Spread a burrito size flour tortilla with cream cheese, whipped cream cheese is easy for little hands to spread. Sprinkle the cream cheese with brown sugar and dried cranberries. Roll up, put in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Have an adult cut the rolled burrito into three slices. Arrange the slices around a bowl of fresh strawberries sprinkled with brown sugar and a dollop of whipped cream or whipped topping.

Mother’s Day Breakfast Parfait for Special Mothers
Use a large ice cream sundae glass. Put cornflakes (or your Mom’s favorite breakfast cereal) in the bottom of the glass to about 1/3 full. Place a scoop of ice cream next and press down a bit so the ice cream is smooshed down in the glass. Put another layer of cornflakes and then another scoop of ice cream. Finish it off with chocolate syrup. caramel sauce, butter scotch sauce or fresh fruit.

Mothers Day Breakfast Easy Eggs Benedict
These aren’t the real deal because hollandaise sauce is a little tricky for kids to make. Toast an English muffin. Spread with butter. Add fresh spinach leaves, topped with a slice of deli ham or bacon if you prefer on top of each muffin half. Slice a hard boiled egg on top of the muffin. Mix together one tablespoon of mayonnaise with 1/2 teaspoon of mustard. Place a dollop of the mixture on top of the eggs.

Elegant Scrambled Eggs
Mix together two well-beaten eggs with one tablespoon of cream or half and half. Scramble over low heat. When the eggs are set but still creamy add 1 tablespoon of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of tiny cooked shrimp and 1/2 teaspoon of snipped dill. Stir through to heat and melt the cream cheese. Serve on toast points. This recipe is more appropriate for older children since there is cooking involved.

There you have four easy and quick Mother’s Day Breakfast Ideas.

May 1, 2012

Believe it or not chorizo makes a healthy dinner recipe for soup. Chorizo is a spicy sausage of Spanish origin made with pork or beef and lots of seasonings. It is fatty but since it’s so flavorful you only need about 1/2 pound to make enough for four hearty servings.

Shape the chorizo into meatballs about the size of a large marble. Brown over medium high heat. Lower the heat to medium and add two chopped onions. Saute for about five minutes until the onions have softened but aren’t browning.

Roughly chop one large bunch of kale, mustard greens, chard or any other green you like.

Add 6 cups of good chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add the greens and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the greens are soft.

Peel and chop four large potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Add to the soup and turn up the heat to medium high. Cook about 10 more minutes until the potatoes are soft. Remove one from the pot and mash against a plate with a fork to check.

Serve with corn chips or corn bread for a hearty supper. For dessert ice cream cools off the taste buds.

Valentine’s Day is probably one of the most difficult days to make dinner reservations at a restaurant. You’ll be lucky to find a spot at your local fast food joint.  Don’t let that stop you from giving your special someone a scrumptious Valentine’s dinner. The trick is to make it yourself. No cooking skills? No problem. If you can shop and chop you can put this dinner together.  If you want to stick with a healthy dinner recipe, omit the cream in the avocado soup and use olive oil instead of butter with the vegetables.

Spicy Shrimp Cocktail

Fat, sweet, juicy shrimp served in a martini glass and dolloped with a savory spicy sauce starts off your dinner with class.  Purchase eight, big, peeled, deveined and cooked shrimp with their tails intact. Fill the bottom of the martini glass with chopped lettuce.  You’ll find lettuce ready to serve in the produce section.  Chop the lettuce into fine shreds.  Mix purchased seafood cocktail sauce with a squeeze of lemon juice and a few drops of hot sauce.  Place two tablespoons of the sauce right on top of the lettuce. Hook the tops of the shrimp around the rim of the glass so their tails are inside the glass.

Smooth and Creamy Cold Avocado Soup

The light green color of this sauce complements the pink of the shrimp. Purchase a package of guacamole.  Put it in a blender with one cup of cream, once cup of cold canned chicken broth and the juice of half a lime.  Blend till smooth.  Keep icy cold until served. Second soup course of your Valentine’s dinner is complete so on to the entrée.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Don’t panic.  You won’t be actually cooking the chicken. The deli section has roasted chicken breasts — as well as other parts but you won’t be needing them. Purchase three breasts, that gives you an extra.  While you’re at the deli counter purchase 1/4 pound of prosciutto and 1/4 pound of parmesan cheese, both sliced thinly.   If you can’t find prosciutto which is a highly flavored air-dried Italian ham, substitute another good quality ham.  Make a slit in the chicken breast to form a pocket.  Stuff in two slices of prosciutto and two slices of parmesan cheese.  Wrap each breast in aluminum foil so it doesn’t dry out.  Reheat in a 350 F. degree oven for about 20 minutes until the chicken is heated through and the cheese has melted. Unwrap before serving.

Side Dishes

You don’t need much for side dishes, a vegetable and potato or two vegetables.  Go to the produce section and find the bags of baby vegetables that are pre-cleaned and ready to cook in the bag.  Sometimes they’re called steamers.  Steam in the microwave per package directions.  Melt a tablespoon of butter — yes real butter — and drizzle over the veggies right before serving.

Dessert

No Valentine’s Day dinner would be complete without chocolate and strawberries.  Chocolate covered strawberries are available this time of year all ready for you.  But it’s more fun to dip your own.  Clean large berries under running water.  Pat dry.  Arrange the berries on a plate with a mound of whipped cream, a small bowl of brown sugar, small bowl of powdered sugar and small bowl of chocolate syrup, the kind you use to make chocolate milk. Dip to your and your sweetheart’s content.

Cooking healthy meals is a good way to start the New Year, especially if you’ve overindulged during the holidays. All those cookies, special drinks and nibbles can pack on the pounds, as well as upset your digestive system. Get back on track to healthy eating with one simple trick.

Use spices and herbs instead of salt.  You might not realize it but most Americans consume double the amount of salt they require.  If you eat one fast food burger you’ve consumed all the salt for the day, half the calories you require and all the fat.  Only 15 percent of the salt most people eat is consumed by salting their food while eating or cooking.

Cut down on the salt by reading labels.  Did you know one serving of a popular canned chili has 30 percent of the salt you’re allowed for the day? And a serving isn’t the entire can it’s one cup.  Make your own chili and freeze it in meal-size portions.  Pick up low sodium cheese and use no-added sodium roast deli beef for sandwiches.

Most people have an acquired taste for salt. Parents actually salt their purchased baby food because the food tastes flat to them.  The baby of course, not being used to eating salt, doesn’t mind the taste. The easiest way to readjust your taste buds is to go cold turkey for three or four days. That means not only not adding salt, but preparing meals from salt-free ingredients.  It will take some extra time but at the end of the time period you’ll recognize just how salty most food is. You might even lose a few pounds because you can’t eat fast food that’s loaded with salt and fat.

Replace the salty flavor with strong tasting herbs such as rosemary, basil, dill or oregano.  Add heat instead of salt by adding in diced fresh jalapenos, cayenne pepper or even hot pepper sauce.  Boost flavor with spices such as fennel seed, cumin or cinnamon.  Try cinnamon in meat dishes such as chili or meatloaf.

Make your own dips using fat-free yogurt instead of sour cream and mayonnaise. A quick and easy dip that can be thinned with apple cider vinegar to use as a salad dressing is to mix one cup of fat-free yogurt with 1 tablespoon of dill seed, 1 teaspoon of dried onion flakes or 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder (not onion salt), 1/4 cup of chopped scallions, 1/4 cup of minced cucumber, throw a tablespoon of fresh chopped dill if you have it.  You won’t miss the salt or the extra calories in purchased onion dill dips with this recipe.