back in the kitchen and loving it!

After a weekend at Cedar Point eating hotel and amusement park food I was happy to get home yesterday to my own kitchen. Overall we did pretty good while away. We all drank lots of water from our reusable water bottles. The boys did a good job of knowing that Alex's bottle was red with farm animals and Matthew's bottles was yellow with jungle animals. I did a god job of constantly refilling the bottles so that we always had water. On a side note to that: the family care center at Cedar Point is really nice! It is located in Planet Snoopy and also houses the medical services. The family bathrooms were clean and kid friendly and the baby changing station was right next to a small play room, so my older son could play while I changed the little guy. The sink had cold water for refilling our water bottles and there was even a quiet room with rocking chairs and high chairs, a microwave, and bottle warmers. Plus, there were two private breast feeding rooms. I was very impressed. And the best part? The air conditioning. We took a few diaper changing/snack breaks there and it was wonderful to sit down and relax out of the heat while not having to worry about what the kids were doing.

But back to yesterday. As soon as we got home I hit my "to do" list and got everyone ready for the week. The 4 year old and I did the grocery shopping and then I made two new recipes for dinner. Well, one new one and one that was still in "test" mode but that now I think is a real live recipe.

Parmesan Tomato Pasta Salad

1 bag tri colored pasta
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 to 3 cups fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 finely grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons dried tomato & garlic pesto mix (I use Tastefully Simple. Really, any of the dried seasonings made to add to olive oil for dipping bread would work fine. It all depends on the taste you are looking for in your finished dish!)

Boil pasta according to package directions. I prefer mine al dente, especially in a dish that might be served cold. Add sun dried tomatoes, fresh chopped tomato and baby spinach to cooking pasta during last few minutes of cooking.

While pasta is cooking mix together olive oil, cheese and pesto mix in small bowl. I prefer to use a whisk to mix this so that all of the seasoning is mixed in with the oil.

Drain the pasta and tomato mixture. Rinse with cold water and return to pot. Add seasoning and oil mixture and toss until well coated.

This dish can be served hot or cold. I prefer cold because I am not a big fan of warm tomatoes. Crazy, I know. I am the only Italian I know who doesn't really like tomato sauce... I added the fresh baby spinach because I add this to a lot of my dishes in an attempt to sneak more veggies onto my family's plates.

My husband and the 2 year old liked this side dish. The 4 year old not so much, but then again, he really doesn't eat much so I usually don't worry too much about his culinary opinion. This is a recipe I have been playing around with for some time, trying to get the oil mixture right. This time, it was pretty good! I served this with Blue Cheese Burgers. I am not a fan of hamburgers unless they are served to me at Red Robin, but my husband is a fan and part of my joy of cooking is making new dishes for him.

Blue Cheese Surprise Burgers

1 pound ground beef (I use as lean as I can find, which, to be honest, does seem to make the burgers a little dry. But it's a trade off I am willing to make for a healthier burger. It doesn't bother me, probably because I don't really like hamburgers to begin with.)

worcestershire sauce
course sea salt
black pepper
blue cheese (I used a wedge and just broke off what I needed with a spoon.)
dry red wine

Place ground beef in large bowl and add 4 to 6 shakes worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix. Pull off about 1/4 of the meat mixture and roll into a ball. Push approximately 1 teaspoon of the blue cheese into the ball. Add more or less cheese to suit your taste. Roll the meat around the cheese and form a patty. Repeat until mix mixture is gone.

Pour enough red wine into a flat dish to cover the burgers halfway. Add a few more shakes of worcestershire sauce and stir. Place each burger into the wine and let sit while the broiler or grill is heating, turning once to coat both sides with the wine. Place the burgers on a greased broiler pan or onto grill. Cook until desired level of doneness.

These burgers are really good with fresh red onion on a sturdy kaiser roll. This is the first time I have made these burgers, although I have made meatballs with cheese inside and figured these would be similar to make. The cheese melted well. I think next time I make these burgers I will add a little more cheese. We could really taste the wine on these, so you might not want to serve these to the little ones. Mine ate chicken nuggets the night I made these burgers. My husband liked the blue cheese inside these burgers and this is definitely a meal I will be making again!

thank god for annie's

We are taking the boys to Cedar Point tomorrow for the weekend. Matthew has been asking to go to a beach for about a year now, so he is super excited. Plus, he absolutely loved Cedar Point last year. He is still talking about the rides and has already planned out what he will be riding this year. We have looked at the rides online and he is ready. We are all looking forward to it.

I have been working hard to assure that my family eats whole and healthy. This means less eating out, no fast food. (although Alex, Brad and I did just eat at Boston Market yesterday.) Snacks are healthy. Popsicles are fruit based, juice is 100%... I do have to admit though that I seem to have replaced my McDonald's sweet tea addiction with sugar free Kool Aid. So far cherry is my favorite.

So back to the weekend. Every meal will be eaten either in the park or in a restaurant. Like any other family, we'll do the best we can. Applesauce or oranges, when available, instead of french fries. No pop. (Which my kids don't drink anyways. My 4 year old did recently learn the joys of orange pop while at the zoo, but he knows that is for special occasions only.) And I am ready with the snacks and drinks. Thank God for annies, right?

I am armed and ready with the "gummy bunnies", as Matthew calls them. I've got bunny crackers and granola bars. I've got raisins. I've got 100% fruit juice drink boxes. Alex picked out his reusable water bottle and so now no one in the family will be drinking out of plastic containers. Not only is drinking filtered tap water less expensive, but drinking it out of BPA free containers is healthier for everyone. Bottled water runs about $6.00 for a case of 24 bottles, and at the amount we are supposed to drink every day a busy family, away from the home tap and fridge, can really shell out a lot of money over the course of a year! Plus, I want my children to understand that there simply isn't room in this world for waste items that don't break down. The other day my 4 year old and I were out somewhere and he spotted someone drinking from a disposable plastic bottle of water. He pointed it out to me and said "they should be using a bottle that is just theirs. They shouldn't be throwing that away." I was so proud!

 I think I can balance the unhealthy food choices we might have to make with our healthy snacks and drinks. Bring on the beach!



alex's pick for a reusable water bottle