Week 4- Short Ribs with Tagliatelle

No cute story this week. Just trying to use up some leftovers, so I thought maybe I could combine that attempt with this one. If you want to be amused, though, read the reactions below.

Recipe- Short Ribs with Tagliatelle by Giada DeLaurentis (Everyday Italian, available on Food Network website)
Modifications- Used leftover shredded roast beef instead of short ribs, spaghetti rigate instead of tagliatelle, and left out the chocolate.
Reactions- Hmmmmm... Dad's first reaction was "Oh, are those carrots?" Then he proceeded to carefully remove them before taking each bite. Bryan tried it, decided he didn't like the carrots or tomatoes, and proceeded to carefully remove them before taking each bite. Claudia looked at it, decided she didn't like carrots or tomatoes, and proceeded to carefully remove them before taking each bite.
Notes- Apparently, my family is not ready for this one. Sorry Giada, I tried.

Week 3- Steakhouse Chili

I love Rachael Ray. I'll just get that out there, so everyone knows from the beginning. She is kind of what helped me to really start enjoying cooking a few years ago. I cooked before, certainly, but I was always very nervous about it, feeling like I needed to be very precise with everything and had to get it all JUST RIGHT in order for it to be edible. And while I understand of course that some things do require that precision (hello, baking), it is thanks to Rachael Ray that I also understand that 3 additional leaves of thyme over a teaspoon will not ruin a recipe. I feel like I have a better sense of how to create a dish, rather than just how to follow a recipe. Rachael Ray is fun to watch, easy for me to follow, and her recipes taste good.

Another thing that I have discovered (that makes me love her even more) is that quite a few of her recipes are already Bryan-safe, or are easily adapted to be so. Over the years, I have earmarked several things that I want to try to make, but haven't actually tried very many- until now. =) This just may be my year...

Recipe- Steakhouse Chili by Rachael Ray (aired on 30 Minute Meals, available on Food Network website)
Modifications- Left out the sour cream (obviously) and reduced the amount of beef called for
Reactions- Well, once again, Dad liked it. Bryan isn't really a fan of things with ground beef- I don't know if it's a texture issue, or if he just doesn't like the taste. In any case, he didn't want to try it.
Notes- I reduced the amount of beef, but I accidentally forgot to also reduce the amount of brown sugar called for, so it ended up being a lot sweeter than it was supposed to- as Dad pointed out, kind of like a chili made with barbecue sauce. It wasn't bad, but probably not what was intended in the recipe. But like I said- Dad liked it, so it ended up okay.

Week 2- Pasta Carbonara-ish

Vegetables are definitely a tough sell in my house. However, one vegetable that everyone in my family does like is- surprise!- broccoli. I bought some broccoli the other day, planning to just steam it and serve with rice and some sort of meat. But when my son asked for pasta for dinner last night, the wheels in my head started turning. Rather than just serve the pasta with Bryan-safe butter (his usual), why not play around with it a little? Start with the pasta and Bryan-safe butter, throw in a little broccoli and some bacon. Sort of like Pasta Carbonara minus the egg, plus the broccoli. It combines three foods that everyone in my family likes separately- they'll like them mixed together, right? Well, not quite...

Recipe- Pasta Carbonara-ish- no recipe, just throwing things together
Modifications- Ummmm... added the bacon and broccoli
Reactions- Well, Dad liked it. Bryan picked out the pasta and broccoli- no bacon. Claudia picked out the pasta- no broccoli or bacon. Oh well.
Notes- I'm stubborn. I really think this is something everyone SHOULD have enjoyed, so I'll probably try it again sometime.

Week 1- Orange French Toast

Week 1 was a little more of a challenge than I had expected. Between two sick kids and an unexpected cold snap, I wasn't able to get to the grocery store and was left scrambling to make meals "as usual", let alone something new. However, I was determined not to fail my resolution on the first week- so Saturday morning, I found something doable:

Recipe- Orange French Toast from The Food Allergy News Cookbook
Modifications- None
Reaction- Kids liked it. (Dad was a little suspicious and declined to try. He may end up being the hardest one to sell on this project.)
Notes- As with most French Toast, thicker slices of bread definitely work better.

The Problem and the Resolution

As a mother of two young children, I am all too familiar with the challenges that come with feeding picky eaters. In my family, that food fight is complicated even further by the fact that my son Bryan has severe food allergies to milk, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts, which makes it even more difficult to find foods that my children can (and will) eat. All of this combined has gotten my family stuck in a major food rut, where we basically eat the same things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, day in and day out.

While I wouldn't necessarily label myself as adventurous when it comes to food, I do enjoy different flavors and cuisines, and I do like to cook. So as a New Year's Resolution, I have decided to make at least one new Bryan-safe recipe each week. That works out to 52 new recipes over the course of the year- which is certainly more than I have accomplished lately. This blog is dedicated to keeping track of each week's results- where the recipe came from, modifications, degree of difficulty, and how it was received by my family. I know this probably sounds a bit Julie and Julia, but honestly, I'm mainly keeping the blog to help me keep the resolution! And maybe by the end of the year, my family will be on its way to becoming a little more adventurous when it comes to trying new foods.