Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Menus and My lil Kitchen Helper

I have said it before and I will probably say it a million times more.....I LOVE baking bread and that includes all kinds of bread.  Pizza dough, pie crust, rolls, biscuits, and all the kind of yummy bread you can make! Last week, we made homemade pizza and every time I make pizza I always make the dough myself.  It tastes so much better and we stay away from any preservatives or processed ingredients that store bought dough might bring us.

My son has showed an interest in cooking and helping in the kitchen.  YES!  Every time I walk in the kitchen and start cooking or even cleaning, he drags in his little chair, steps up on it, and says "I want to help, mama."  I love it.    So last week when we made pizza dough, I made some extra so that he could help and have his own dough to play with.  He made us bread sticks!  While waiting for the pizza to cook, we enjoyed them.  I told my son,  "Your bread sticks are so good!  I love them."  He responded with, "the trick was rolling the dough ssssloooowly."  There you have it everyone, the secret cooking trick of a 3 year old!  My husband and I giggled, it was so incredibly cute.  Our son has been quite witty lately! 

Enjoy some pictures of our dough making experience.
The pizza dough before the final rise. 
Concentrating
Enjoying the bread sticks he made!

Last week menu went well!  The Jamaican Curried Shrimp & Mango Soup was delicious.  We really enjoyed it and plan on cooking it in the future.  I am not trying any new recipes this week but making some family favorites.  We are still doing everything we can to eat organically, sustainably and as healthy as possible. 

MENU:

MONDAY-  Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Lemon, Basil, and Salmon

TUESDAY-  Out to eat with my little family @ Hopworks Urban Brewery 

WEDNESDAY-  Black Bean Soup and Spinach Quesadillas

THURSDAY-  Spinach Ravioli with homemade pesto sauce.  Steamed kale and a fresh green salad.

FRIDAY-  Fish Tacos and homemade Spanish Rice

SATURDAY-  Hungarian Mushroom Soup and Baked Potatoes.  (Soup recipe will be posted on Saturday)

SUNDAY-  Super Bowl~ Bean Dip and Homemade Pizza

Extra cooking & baking:  Pretzel Bites (my hubby LOVES these) 
                                   Bran Flax Muffins (great breakfast muffins) 

For more meal planning inspirations, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie every Monday.

What are you cooking this week?

Happy cooking,

Alyson

"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about."  ~Angela Schwindt

9 comments:

  1. Your son is absolutely adorable! Seeing him with a rolling pin was too cute!

    Your menu looks delicious and very healthy! :)

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  2. Yes, what cute pictures!

    Thanks for sharing your menu, I'm always looking for new recipes.

    This week a couple things we're making/made are:

    Brown Rice Tofu Balls W/Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

    Lemon Rice & Peas w/ Potato, Cauliflower Curry, served inside tortillas.

    Caribbean Red Beans & Coconut Rice served with avacados & mangoes.

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  3. Mrs. J....Thanks for stopping by and reading! And thank you for the kind words.

    Julie....Your recipes sound AMAZING! Do you have a recipe for the tofu balls? Thank you for reading!

    -Alyson

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  4. What a sweet little helper you have. I love that my kids enjoy cooking with me too.

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  5. my little boy often helps in the kitchen and we have so much fun!

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  6. I love that you blog, I love that you create such great menus and I love that you take such beautiful pictures to share with everyone! But what I love the most is your "lil" helper - can I have one?

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  7. Pam....I just noticed you are from Portland as well. Awesome...fellow Portland bloggers. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

    Singlemama...Isn't having a lil helper the best?! It makes everything I do so much better. Thanks for reading.

    Carole...Is this my mother in law?? :) Thank you for the kind words and for reading my blog! We will be there in March and he will definitely love being your lil helper. He is so good at it.

    Thank you all for reading and stopping by. You are the reason why I keep writing.

    -Alyson

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  8. Alyson,

    The croquettes recipe came from the cookbook 'The Peaceful Palate'. Sadly mine detoriorated some time ago and I made due remembering most of the ingredients. I currently have the book on hold at my library and will get you the recipe in it's entirety once I pick up the book:)

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  9. Julie- I would love the recipe. Thank you. My husband read your list of meals and started drooling over the thought of the tofu balls. :)

    -Alyson

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I love to hear your love!