Check out whats cooking

As part of my blog I have added a tab of whats cooking.  I have been trying to get away from buying food that comes from a box.  As a kid my mom almost aways cooked from scratch with whatever we had in the fridge.  We didn't really eat hamburger helper or canned ravioli or spaghettios and as a teenager I would never choose that stuff.  So I have never really made it available to my kids.  I am not saying that they have never had it or that I have never had it or made it but it never tastes as good as I think it is going to.  I also don't feel it is that much harder to make a meal from stuff in the fridge. 

I am by no means a health nut or organic in anyway.  I enjoy cooking for my family but the challenge is always will they eat it.  And that is not always the case.  Some nights the choice is a bowl of cereal or peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It is definitely a juggling act between making the food is good for them and taste good... for all of us.

Here is a picture of dinner last night

It was chicken divan, grapes, salad (from our garden) with homemade ranch

The chicken divan was a recipe I found online that included chicken, broccoli(I used frozen), rice(I used jasmine), cream of mushroom soup (I made from scratch), and Parmesan cheese on top.

I made three of these casseroles, one for us, and two I gave away to friends.

Jack (7) cleaned his whole plate, said it was great.

Max (7) ate two helpings of salad- tasted the casserole and said he doesn't like mushrooms so he wasn't going to eat it.- Max only likes certain vegetables and broccoli and mushrooms are not in that group.

Tyson (4) ate the grapes and some of the ranch dressing- he didn't like the lettuce or the casserole.  He did have some carrots with the ranch but either he wasn't hungry or he really didn't like it.

After talking to Max about why didn't like the casserole I have figured out that he and I are pretty similar in that we really don't like all our items of dinner mixed into one thing like a casserole.  I am not a big fan of it either so I can understand.  I loved the mushroom soup recipe though and put that on rice.