Just throw some cheese on it...

Ellie had her 9 month wellness visit this week.  I know, 9 months already!  She is no small fry either - 75th percentile for both height and weight.  Love it - nothing better than her cute little belly and strong "skiers" legs (no pressure Ellie, I swear).  As we were reviewing her milestones, Dr. B asked how she was doing on solids - "Is she eating all of her vegetables?".  I replied with an enthusiastic "Oh yes, she loves everything she has tried so far - especially if you put a little cheese in it".  Back it up - really Michelle?  Ellie will eat her vegetables as long as they are laced with delicious, creamy, clog-your-arteries, cheese?  I am reminded of a commercial for Flick's favorite salad dressing that has always driven me nuts:

I wonder why the kids in "Hidden Valley" can't get enough of their vegetables (and yes, I do enjoy Ranch dressing)?  Needless to say, Ellie's mashed potatoes and peas did NOT have cheese on them at lunch that day.  She ate them, but gave me the stink eye the whole time.

The urge to add cheese to everything is something that we are very aware of in the Flickinger household.  Many so-so recipes have been miraculously "saved" by shreds of mozzarella or a few shakes of parmesan.  Even meals that taste great sometimes get the "What kind of cheese do we put on this?" question.  Did I mention that we both have high cholesterol?  These days I am really trying to draw out the flavors in recipes that need a little something, rather than just ensuring everything tastes like the cheese of our choice.  The 3 meals for this week that include cheese are supposed to - so if you feel the need, add a little more, but remember that cheese is only 1 of the ingredients.

Since we are fresh on the topic, lets start with the Pizza Margherita.  This was a good one - we used a fresh dough ball from the grocery store and pre-baked it a bit before adding the toppings.  The balsamic finale is the perfect touch and really took this pizza to the next level.

We fired up the grill and broke out the skewers for some Chicken Kabobs on one of our 90 degree days.  You really cannot go wrong with kabobs - there are a plethora of combinations of meats, fruits, veggies, and fish that you can make work.  For this concoction, a little fresh pineapple is great on the skewer with the onions and peppers.    

When it came to fish this week, I went to the grocery store without a specific fish recipe in mind.  I bought what was on sale (Cod) and came home to find a recipe.  Since we have a pretty robust collection of "staple" ingredients, I figured we would be able to come up with something.  We ended up with "Fillets and Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette" from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  I should probably use this and the Betty Crocker cookbook more frequently; we always get good results with their recipes.

Turkey Meatball Ruben Subs is a whole new way to use ground turkey in a meal.  I felt as though the meatballs in the original recipe were on the dry side (there were no breadcrumbs, eggs, or milk in them).  One of the reasons I sometimes shy away from turkey burgers/meatballs, is that they tend to be on the drier side, given the lower amounts of fat in the meat.  A dry meatball is not a happy meatball.  There is no reason they cannot be just as good as their beef counterparts, so I tweaked this recipe and they came out a whole lot better - they even stood up well to the microwave when re-heating for leftovers!

We'll round out with Parmesan Polenta with Spicy Sausage.  Make only as much polenta as you will eat in the one sitting; it is much better when made fresh and only takes 5 or so minutes to whip up a batch for the leftover sausage sauce.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!