taco Archives – The Pinterested Parent

There are some things in parenthood that do not make sense to me. The most recent in a long line of things that puzzle me is this, you have all heard me cry & whine over what a difficult eater our daughter is, then how do you explain this…

Mai's daily reports from daycare. As you can see the daycare provider has no problem getting our picky girl to eat. — Mai’s daily reports from daycare… As you can see the daycare provider has no problem getting our picky girl to eat.

If the daily battle with my daughter at mealtime wasn’t frustrating enough, I now find out that she is capable of eating at each meal, just not for us. Siiiiggh! There are a few foods that I can count on that she will eat, pancakes, French toast & spaghetti. As you can see she likes her carbs. When possible we try to sneak in meat and our fruits & veggies, but it does not always work. Today’s menu had a couple of wins and a definite loss.

Breakfast: Banana & Nutella Pancakes

I had a couple of over-ripened bananas that needed to be used, so pancakes were a great place to use them.

Smash the bananas with a fork in a small mixing bowl. Add the egg & beat together & set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl add 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 2 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup of milk & 2 tbsp vegetable oil & stir. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture & stir well. Stir in 1/3 cup of Nutella. Pour about 1/8 of a cup of batter into a griddle or in a frying pan set on medium heat. Cook until the pancake is bubbly & the edges are cooked. Flip the pancake & cook on the other side until cooked all the way through.

Breakfast was a success. She ate 4 pancakes of her own & a few bites of mine too. Score one for mommy.

Lunch: Monte Cristo Roll Ups:

Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the crusts off of 6 slices of bread. With a rolling pin, roll out each slice off bread. Beat an egg in a medium sized bowl. Brush one side of each slice with the egg. Cut a slice of ham so that it fits inside the slice. Cut a slice of Swiss cheese so that it only covers half of the slice. Roll the bread started at the cheese end. Dip the whole roll into the egg mixture covering the entire roll-up. Place on a greased cookie sheet & dust with confectioner’s sugar. Bake for about 7-8 minutes until golden brown.

While this was a big hit with mommy & daddy, Mai refused to try it. I tried bribery & pleading. “Just take one little bite.” Negative. This was a lunch time fail. The score now is 1-1.

Mexican Chicken Rice Bake

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked white rice

1 pound of chicken cut into strips

1 cup of water

1 cup of milk

1 can of regular tomato soup (10.75 oz)

1 can of corn drained (8.75 oz)

1/4 cup of diced red peppers

1/4 cup of diced orange peppers

1/4 cup of diced yellow peppers

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 cup of shredded Mexican cheese

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 375. Dice your vegetables & cut your chicken into strips & set aside in a casserole dish (I used a 9×12) add the rice, water & taco seasoning, stir well until seasoning is broken up & evenly distributed. Stir in the tomato soup & milk. Pour the corn & peppers over the top. Place the chicken strips over the top. Cover with foil & bake for about 45 minutes (cook times may vary). Remove foil, add the cheese & bake for 5 more minutes. Remove & let sit for a few minutes to cool. The top may appear slightly watery. The sauce will thicken upon standing. Scoop & serve.

After a little coaxing and bribery, I finally got her to take a bite & guess what she liked it.

It was a pretty good eating day other than lunch, but you win some & you lose some.

It is official, we are entering the Christmas season.With Thanksgiving behind us, it is time to take down our turkeys & cornucopias and replace them with stockings & Christmas wreaths. It is also time to break out all our favorite holiday recipes & Christmas crafts. This is a very exciting holiday season for us. Our daughter is older this year & is learning more about Christmas & all of the magic and wonder that comes with it. Lately, she has become mommy’s little helper & loves cooking and baking with me. I look forward to the next month of baking Christmas cookies & other Yuletide favorites with her.

Mai has always been a finicky eater. I agonize over planning meals. I have always tried to open her up to a wide variety of foods but she is very resistant. One trick that has always worked for me is wrapping full meals inside a crescent roll & then serving her bite sized pieces. My daughter is not a fan of meat other than ground turkey. I use this tactic to sneak in shredded chicken or beef & also vegetables. I have stuffed them with chicken & broccoli or with holiday leftovers such as turkey, stuffing & cranberry sauce.

One of my favorite holiday party platters takes any of these different combinations & puts it into a wreath form.

For this recipe, I chose a ground turkey taco wreath but as I said their are a number of possibilities that you can experiment with.

Ingredients are enough to make two to three wreaths. You can freeze unused portions.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (ground beef will also work)

2-3 cans of large crescent rolls ( I used Pillsbury Grands)

1 taco seasoning packet

6 oz of cream cheese (softened)

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 a tomato (diced)

1 cup of frozen corn

1/3 cup of sliced black olives

2 cups of mexican cheese

Red & Green peppers for garnish

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

In a large skillet, brown meat & drain. Add taco seasoning & follow package directions. Place aside.

In a large mixing bowl add cream cheese & sour cream. Mix well.

Add cooked meat mixture & mix well.

Stir in the corn, olives, cheese until evenly distributed throughout mixture. Mix in diced tomatoes last.

On a greased baking sheet, overlap crescent rolls in a circular pattern pointed side out. Pinch crescent together. Add mixture to the overlapping crescents following the circular pattern about an inch thick & an inch high.

Pull a crescent point in and fold over diagonally, pull each point in one at a time.

Slice peppers into tiny pieces & press into your wreath scattering them. Slice 4 long slices of red pepper to form your wreath bow. Repeat for each wreath.

Bake in the oven according to crescent recommendations for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cook times may vary according to oven.

Let cool & transfer to a serving dish & serve.

This is a delicious all in one meal. It is perfect to bring to holiday parties. The best part of all, my picky little lady loves them. I hope you enjoy.

Up next…What Happens When Mommy’s Not Home?

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