Molly Bento #2 This Week

This one has leftovers of pasta and sun dried tomato sauce, with a cheese dinosaur on it.

Molly loves dinosaurs right now! Her favorite show, of only 3 that she really watches, is Dino Dan. Have you seen this show? As a teacher I just laugh at the main character, poor kid, but regardless my daughter loves the show!

Then there are some carrots, lightly steamed broccoli, two grape tomatoes with seashell picks, and two small ends of an all beef hot dog.

*Positive side note, Molly loved the hot dogs although she has two days in a row mentioned that her little boy friend at daycare ate at least one of her hot dogs! Too funny! She was talking with her daddy about how to tell the little boy to lay off her dogs!

Greek Pitas

These were very good but for some reason Molly didn't want to eat the meat, which is an odd occurrence she usually eats most meat. There was only oregano in the hamburger so I guess that must have been the answer, so we took the meat out and had her eat it with some cucumber, hummus and tzatziki and she was a happy camper. Go figure!

Greek Pitas
WW 8 pts
1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 pita breads
Toppings
3/4 cup prepared hummus
3/4 cup prepared Tzatziki sauce (cucumber yogurt sauce)
1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 red onion , sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 whole lemon(s), cut into wedges

[1] In a large mixing bowl, mix ground beef with salt, pepper and oregano.Shape into miniature patties. In a skillet, brown over medium heat, 2 minutes per side for medium.
[2] Using a little bit of olive oil, brush both sides of the pita and then quickly heat on both sides in a medium hot pan, then transfer to a tin foil packet to keep warm.

[3] Divide hummus & Tzatziki among the pitas, top with the patties, parsley, sliced red onion and feta cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with lemon wedges.

*No matter how small I make the little patties they always end up big, we usually slice them in half and use those two halves inside the pita.
*Lemon drizzled on the whole thing is key!

Served with a Greek side salad: mixed greens, red onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, and homemade croutons.

Crock Pot~ Pot Roast

I love pot roast, this version was fairly good but could have been cooked a little bit longer. I loved the combination of veggies from the pot and oven new potatoes!

Italian Pot-Roast

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 8 hours on LOW
2-3 pounds beef roast (some like chuck, I prefer even leaner roast so your choice)
freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion , finely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots , peeled and sliced
1 cup red wine
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
 [1] Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or sauté pan with sides, over medium-heat. Add the meat and cook, turning for 10 minutes until browned on all sides.
[2] While meat is cooking add all veggies and wine into the slow cooker, once meat is finished add to slow cooker.
[3] Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours until the meat is tender. Garnish with parsley.

I make the potatoes on the plate all the time. Basically cut up potatoes put them on a cookie sheet, pour over some olive oil, liberally use salt and pepper over all potatoes then sprinkle about 1 tsp of garlic powder and chili powder over the potatoes. Using your hands toss the potatoes until they are all covered evenly with spices and oil and pop in the oven. About 350 for 25 minutes, and whatever you do don't touch them. Leave them be! Seriously, put them in the oven and walk away, once your timer goes off in 25 minutes pull them out of the oven and using a good spatula scrape them all off the pan. If you leave them alone they will develop a great crunchy golden brown crust on the one side that was on the pan and be butter smooth on the inside. Best potatoes EVER!

Chicken Cordon Blue #2

This is something that I just put together no recipe while I did it so I will try and write it down for  you.

Chicken Cordon Blue
2 chicken breasts
4 small slices of Canadian Bacon
2 slice of swiss cheese
1 egg, beaten
Breading
1/2 cup parmasean
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat 350
1. Between saran wrap beat out chicken breasts until about 1/2 inch thick. Then lay down 2 slices of canadian bacon and a slice of swiss cheese per breast. Then roll up, you can use tooth picks to secure if you want to, or just keep them rolled in your hands to bread.
2. Mix breading in a shallow dish, and egg in a seperate shallow dish.
3. Dip rolled chicken in egg and then roll in breading and place chicken seam side down on a cookie sheet.
4. Cook in oven for 20-30 minutes until outside is golden brown and center of chicken is cooked through, when in doubt cut one open.

Simple as that!

Also on the plate for dinner was corn bread muffin (alas from a box) and noodles and candied carrots see this post for recipe on the carrots (I make them so much now no need to look for a recipe).