Snack Plates for Dinner
Plus, Three Dinners in Real Life
Hi!
One of my regular readers is my husband, who read my last newsletter then laughed and said, “Wow! Our life sounds pretty good!” This was during a week when we were both feeling especially exhausted by the onslaught of extra activities at the end of the school year (swim meets! art shows! violin performances! state testing!) and the usual demands of parenting, work, rising costs, and ridiculous mid-life episodes like needing a collarbone x-ray after doing 20 push-ups (my collarbone is fine, a little sore, but fine).
It’s really easy to feel like life is an endless list of chores and stressful responsibilities and to forget how damn lucky we are. My husband is right, our life is pretty good. Full disclosure: it can also be hard and stressful and boring and sad and disappointing. It’s all the things, all the time, as I imagine your life is too.
I hope I’m finding the right balance with this newsletter, sharing lighthearted and joyful moments & observations while also acknowledging the challenges and hard bits about being a parent and a person. I’ve always erred on the side of sharing too little about my life rather than sharing too much (especially when it comes to my kids) so what you read here is never the full story. If my life ever seems annoyingly easy and a little too idyllic, just know that behind the scenes the normal hum of life is going on with all the normal ups and downs.
It’s true that I’m taking glorious walks through the park with my kids, wading through waist-high spring wildflowers. Behind the scenes, the kids have been bickering a lot, my house is kind of a mess, I’m often filled with existential dread and make a dentist appointment has been written on my to-do list for 8 MONTHS and I still haven’t done it yet. Life is good, but definitely not perfect.
Also, I haven’t cooked a single dinner recipe in the last week that is worthy of being shared here. I write a newsletter about dinner recipes and I’m failing at dinner.
Or am I?
Here’s what I made for my 10 year old the other night and for the first time in awhile she ate everything on her plate with no complaining and asked for more. It was a good reminder that the criteria I use to judge a “good dinner” is not the same criteria my kids use. They don’t care at all if I’m trying new recipes from cookbooks or serving meals with a protein, vegetable and starch. Snack plates are truly a quick and easy dinner that can be made in less than 10 minutes and I highly recommend leaning heavily on them to feed your kids during these last busy weeks of school (Pro Tip: Eating with a toothpick is sometimes more fun than a fork).
Looking for more dinner ideas? Below are three successful meals that I did manage to cook over the past few weeks.
Dinner in Real Life
I’m always curious about what other families are eating, aren’t you? I hope that my week of real life dinners will provide helpful recipes & cooking ideas for your family. Here’s are some of the meals that have worked for my family lately - I only have 3 for you this week!
MEAL #1: Instant Pot Pinto beans served with Mexican rice and tortillas
I needed to use up a bag of dried pinto beans that had been hiding the back of my pantry, so I followed my easy Instant Pot pinto bean recipe and made a double-batch of Mexican rice on the stove. I served tortillas plus shredded lettuce, cheese, cilantro, sour cream, etc. The next morning I made two small burritos for Josie’s lunch with leftover rice, beans and cheese (fill the center of the tortillas, microwave until warm and the cheese is melted, roll up the tortilla and wrap the burrito in foil. Here is a quick tutorial on rolling burritos).
MEAL #2: Chickpeas with Spinach + brown rice + roasted cauliflower + Trader Joe’s samosas
I love this vegetarian meal that is both filling and healthy. This time I added about 3/4 cup of coconut milk to the sauce and a dash of curry powder.
MEAL #3: Ramen with cubed tofu, seaweed and mushrooms
This meal was a winner all the way around. It was very easy and fast and my kids loved it. Ramen is a good meal for nights when family members are eating at different times and want to make their own bowl of soup when they get home.
Cut a block of firm tofu into small cubes and set aside.
Soak 1/2 cup dried wakame seaweed in water until it plumps up (about 5 minutes). Drain off the water and leave the seaweed in the bowl. (I buy wakame seaweed at Whole Foods. You could add baby spinach to the soup instead)
Optional: Saute 8 ounces of any type of sliced mushroom until soft. Set aside.
Bring 8 cups (two boxes) of store bought chicken broth to a boil. Add 3 to 4 packets of Instant Ramen noodles (like Top Ramen). I throw away the seasoning packets for this recipe. Cook the noodles for about 4 minutes.
Serve the pot of ramen soup and let everyone add tofu, seaweed and mushrooms to their own bowls.
Cookbooks
Keep it Zesty is a fun cookbook for summer! The Lebanese chef Edy Massih is described as someone who brings “zest and positivity” to everyday life and you can see it in the cheerful photos and colorful pages of his cookbook. The recipes I’m most likely to try are the numerous Middle Eastern dips, which would make a great summer spread with pita, hummus and raw veggies.
That’s it for this week! A shout-out to all the parents with graduates this month. I have a middle schooler moving up to high school and that feels like a huge deal. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to have a high school or college graduate in the house. What an accomplishment!
xo
Jenny