Cabbage and Noodles

I'll be honest when Lisa told me we were having cabbage and noodles, my first thought was a very mature "yuck".  Yes, I still let a few ingredients influence how I think an entire dish might taste.  Cabbage...yeah it made me pause.  But very glad I kept an open mind and even more grateful for Lisa cooking it!

Lisa explains that this recipe was "floating around Facebook" with some positive reviews so she gave it a whirl.

Ingredients:
12 oz kielbasa or sausage, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
¼ cup salted butter
1 large onion, diced
½ head cabbage, chopped (appox 6-7 cups)
1 clove garlic, minced
⅔ cup frozen peas
8 oz uncooked egg noodles
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook sausage until lightly browned.
3. Add remaining olive oil, butter and onion.  Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
4. Add cabbage and garlic. Cook until tender (10-15 minutes). Stir in peas, noodles and salt & pepper.  Cook 2-3 minutes or until heated through.

That's it!  Pretty simple.  About 40 minutes between prep and cook time.

I grabbed that picture right before Lisa added the peas.   If I closed my eyes when I ate, I would have never known cabbage was used.  It added a nice texture but the kielbasa and peas were the real show in this dish.  And because of that, the girls loved it.  They picked around the onions because they "don't like the taste".  😒

But Lisa and I loved it.  I think we all went back for an extra serving so between the 4 of us, we actually polished it off!

Baked Ravioli

Sticking with the theme of kid-approved meals, tonight Lisa prepared a baked ravioli dish.  I'll be honest, I loved walking in from work (about an hour later than I intended to) and being smacked in the face with the smells from this dish.  It filled up the house and added a level of anticipation that's hard to describe.  I walked upstairs to greet the girls and they were talking about the smell and how they couldn't wait to eat.

About the dish; pretty simple!  Lisa layered frozen beef ravioli, Classico 4-Cheese pasta sauce and then Italian style shredded cheese blend.  Then you add a second round of the ravioli, pasta sauce, and top it with more cheese.  Cover with foil and bake 400° for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, take the foil off and bake another 10-15 minutes; let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Doesn't that look good?!!!  The girls didn't have to be told twice to come to the table.  The girls ate it up just like that while Lisa and I garnished with a little parsley.  To complete the meal, Lisa's mom had told her about New York Bakery Garlic Knots.  Yum...boy are those dangerous!!!  Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) Lisa only made one for each of us.  I could have easily had 3 or 4 of those!  They are 130 calories each.

And then to give you a true picture of "dinner with the Browns", here are the twins chowing down as we talked about our day at work and school.

"Winging it" Chicken Teriyaki

Tonight we had to wing it.  This idea stemmed from the girls loving a similar dish at Panda Express.  "But Andy, you said that you rarely eat out".  It's true!  We avoid fast food much more than your average family.  The rare occasion that we do stop for fast food, it's Subway, Pita Pit, or Panda Express.  The girls discovered that they LOVE the String Bean Chicken Breast at Panda Express so we have tried to recreate that success at home.  When we find something the girls love, especially when veggies are included, we exploit it!!

Lisa marinated 2 chicken breasts in a KC Masterpiece honey teriyaki sauce for 30 minutes while I fired up the grill.  The temperature outside was only about 12°...not gonna stop me from grilling!

While I was tending to the chicken, Lisa cooked up the rice and sautèed onions, garlic, and green beans.   After the chicken was ready, Lisa cut that up and added it to the veggie medley.

All that was left was to serve it over the steamed the rice...ok, microwave minute rice.  The girls gobbled it up which as any parent can relate to is a gratifying sight!

Plenty of quick, easy, and healthy ideas out there that are family friendly.  Hope you like ours!

Egg and Sausage Casserole

The blog is BACK, BABY!!  I've done several blogs over the years but this was the one I always wished I would have kept up.  I have always thought that we do dinner right at this house.  We plan ahead, we don't eat out very often, and we love our leftovers.  We also have a sense of adventure; constantly looking for new recipes or trying variations on the tried-and-true.  Combine all of that with a great family environment and you get "Dinner with the Browns".

Tonight was breakfast for dinner; a family favorite.  Sometimes that means pancakes for the girls and an omelette for the adults but tonight we went for the breakfast casserole.  As you'll see by this first picture, it was a Christmas present to Lisa and an awesome meal that finally inspired me to log on to blogger for the first time in 5 and a half years!

So Lisa tells me that this recipe was shared with her by a good friend, Taryn.  I haven't come up with a rating system but if I had one, this would get the highest marks across the board!! 

Ingredients:

1 pound pork sausage

1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough

10 eggs, beaten

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ cup milk

Directions:

1. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 325° F. Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish

3. Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with crescent roll dough, and sprinkle with crumbled sausage.  In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs, mozzarella, and cheddar.  Season the mixture with oregano, and pour over the sausage and crescent rolls.  

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  

......and voilà!!

For us, we had to keep baking (in 3 minute increments) until the middle stopped jiggling.  Lisa thought the eggs went just a little bit too long but it tasted just right to me.  

And with that, we're back!!  Hope you'll stop by and see what we're having for dinner.