Dinner With Daddy

Happy National Empanada Day!     This morning, in honor of the holiday, National Empanada Day, I decided to make some empanadas.  In deciding what kind to make I considered all the different kinds I could make.  There are sweet, desserty empanadas like fruit filled empanadas.  That would be good for breakfast, but lack of planning on my part left me with no fresh fruit for that option.  Then there are the savory empanadas, like beef filled, chicken filled or even cheese filled.  I decided on turkey filled because using ground turkey is similar to ground beef, and I like to save my red meat for steaks and roasts.  I always substitute ground turkey for ground beef, mostly because it's just the healthier option. Click here for my Easy Turkey Empanada Recipe . Happy National Empanada Day!   

Easy Turkey Empanadas     Time:  Prep: 10 minutes   Cook: 20 minutes   Total Time: 30 minutes     Ingredients:     2 rolls Pie Crust   1 lb. Ground Turkey   1Medium Onion chopped fine   1 Bell Pepper chopped fine   3 cloves garlic minced   1 tsp Ground Cumin   1tsp Chili Powder   1 tsp salt   1 tsp pepper   1 tsp oregano   1 can tomato paste   2 tsp olive oil   1 egg yolk     Directions:   On cutting board, roll pie crust out flat.  Using a 4 in diameter circle (I used a large mug), press out as many circles as possible.  (I was able to get 5 circles from each crust)   Repeat with second crust   Place circles in refrigerator while you prepare the filling.   In a large skillet over medium heat, brown turkey.  Drain and transfer to a bow...

Happy International Carbonara Day! If you are looking for something quick and easy for dinner tonight, you are in luck.  Today is International Carbonara Day.  Carbonara is probably one of the easiest meals I've ever made.  As a matter of fact I made it for lunch today in honor of the holiday. The garlic is an American addition to the dish.  In Italy the garlic is rarely, if ever used in this dish. Pasta Carbonara Recipe Time: Prep: 10 mins.  Cook: 10 mins  Total time: 15 mins Ingredients: 2 Eggs + 2 Egg yolks 1/3 Cup Pecorino Romano Cheese 2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped. (optional) 4 oz. Pancetta 1 lb. spaghetti 2 tablespoons Olive oil Salt and Pepper to taste Directions: Put on 4 qts salted water on to boil for spaghetti. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, cheese, and pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat add Olive oil, and pancetta.  Cook until pancetta starts to crisp on edges, ...

Prep time: 30 mins.  Cook time: 30 mins.  Total Time: 60 mins. Ingredients                 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves                 4 slices ham or prosciutto                 4 slices gruyere cheese                 1 cup all purpose flour                 ½ teaspoon salt                 ½ teaspoon pepper                 2 eggs                 ¼ cup...

What’s For Dinner? I am an Air Traffic Controller by profession.   As such I literally make thousands of decisions every day.   Believe it or not, the decision that gives me the most agita is what we are having for dinner.   A daily phone conversation between My Beautiful Wife and I, “What do you want to do for dinner?”, “I don’t know, what do you want to do for dinner?”, “I don’t know….”.   You get the picture. Last week we received in the mail a $30 gift card (coupon) for Blue Apron , one of the many meal delivery services available as of late.   We decided to give it a try, and see if it was worth doing the meal plan.   Our first delivery came on Friday of last week.   I haven’t had to make a decision about dinner all weekend.   We have four meals, all of the ingredients required for those meals, and very, very detailed recipes for those meals.   That makes the decision process a whole lot easier. Recipe Cards ...

Recently I’ve decided to expand on my culinary techniques in that I’ve decided to start smoking meat.   No, it isn’t a new drug craze, I mean I’m going to start cooking meat in a smoker.   Of course when I told my “literal” wife and children that for practice I was going to start smoking a meat a day they got great joy from it.   “Dad is going to start smoking meat!”, “A meat a day is good Dad, keep the dose low to start!”, and my favorite from my wife when I said I was starting with pork butt, “Just say no to ‘crack’!”                 Comedian family aside, I did indeed start with a pork butt.   I don’t have a smoker yet but I do have a gas grill.   Now I know that smoking on a gas grill is not optimal, but you have to use what you have and this is how I did it.   I took a small chafing dish aluminum pan and poke several holes in the bottom.   After soaking my wood chips...

The family and I just returned from a much needed trip to Universal Studios Orlando. I began writing a review of the entire trip the other night but when the post was approaching 2000 words, and not being halfway through the trip, I decided that maybe a series of posts would be better. I have decided that the best place to start would be where we stayed. I will follow up with all of the different aspects of the trip including the parks, transportation, flights and of course, food.   We booked a Universal Studios Harry Potter Package through Universal Studios . We chose Universals' new value hotel, Cabana Bay Beach Resort because, well quite frankly, it was the least expensive. Our package included 5 nights' hotel accommodations, 2 day park to park passes with the 3 rd day free, early admission into the parks for Harry Potter, and two Harry Potter themed breakfasts. The total for our family of six in a Tower suite at Cabana Bay: $2808, which included vacation insuranc...

A few months ago my children asked me if I could make Chicken L'Orange for dinner. I know that L'orange is usually Duck, but I'm an adventurous type so why not. Tonight was Chicken L'Orange night and quite frankly, I can't believe how simple it was. Oh and by the way, they all loved it!   Chicken L'Orange Ingredients: 4 Bone In Split Chicken Breasts 1 12 oz can Orange juice Concentrate ¼ Cup Honey 3-4 Tbsp. Olive Oil Salt and Pepper Zest of 1 Orange   Directions: Pre-heat oven to 375° In a small saute´ pan, thaw OJ Concentrate over medium heat. Whisk in honey, ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, set aside. In a large skillet heat Olive Oil over high heat, Salt and Pepper chicken Breast and place in oil skin down. I like to place a heavy pan (Cast Iron if you have one) on top of the chicken to aid in the crisping of the skin. Cook 4-5 minutes on skin side, remove to baking dish skin side up. Brush libe...

         I am a Type 2 diabetic.   I “control” my diabetes, for the time being at least, with oral medications.   For the last year or so my physician has wanted to begin treating me with insulin because my hemoglobin A1C, or more commonly, A1C, has been elevated.  The A1C is a blood test which gives the average blood sugar level over a three month period, and an optimum level A1C for a Type 2 diabetic is 6.5 or lower.  Mine as of this month at least, is 9.8.   Clearly not optimal.                 Diet plays a huge role in controlling diabetes.   I have not always been a healthy eater, but over the last several years I have prided myself on healthy eating.   I do most of the cooking in my house and I use very little, if any processed foods.   I make my own pasta sauce.   I make my own seasonings and rubs so the...

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms Serves 3-4 Time: 40 minutes; 10 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking About 180 calories per mushroom     1 Medium Onion, chopped 4 Cloves Garlic, minced 1 Medium Tomato, chopped 1 Small Zucchini, diced small ¼” 1 lb Ground Turkey ¼ cup Italian Bread Crumbs, divided ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese 6 Lg Portobello Mushrooms 3 TBS Olive Oil     Preheat oven to 375°. In a large skillet, brown turkey, drain and set aside.     In another skillet sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomato and zucchini and sautee another 3 or 4 minutes until zucchini begins to become translucent.   Add feta cheese and bread crumbs and stir, reserve 2 or 3 tablespoons of the bread crumbs on the side. Incorporate the turkey with the vegetables and mix well. Remove stem and ribs from mushrooms with a spoon and place mushrooms on a foiled baking sheet. Scoop equal ...

                Let me begin with a definition, courtesy of Google search: Sneakerhead A sneakerhead is a person who collects, trades or admires sneakers as a form of hobby. A sneakerhead may also be highly experienced in distinguishing between real and fake replica sneakers.   Now I’ll try to explain. My delicate flower Cheddar Buns is starting her freshman year of High School.    My oldest son, Sourdough, is now a senior in High School.   Being the experienced High Schooler, he is often giving my daughter, as well as the younger boys advice and information he believes will be useful to them when they enter the hallowed halls of our local High School.                 Last night at dinner the topic of discussion was social groups found in the school.   Many, actually most, of which I can say...

Everyone knows that kids see everything.  Everyone also knows that kids say the darndest things, usually referring to something they have observed or heard.  Well let me tell you a secret, My kids are no different.      My Beautiful Wife, who has graduated College, raised four lovely children and can perform logistical miracles with a school calendar, has yet to perfect the eating technique which will allow her to complete a full week of dinners without getting something on her shirt.  Fortunately, she has enough children to keep track of her every missed morsel.      Recently, while enjoying a dinner of something particularly messy, or food at least, My Beautiful Wife was once again surprised to find that some morsel had found its way onto her shirt.  Sticky Buns, my youngest, without looking up from his plate said, " It isn't dinner until Mom spills food on her shirt ."      So to answer that age old qu...

  The lady from The Little Rascals would have had a field day with me. There are really only two things in the culinary world that scare me.  One, believe it or not, is mayonnaise.  The other, that some may say is just as strange, is leftovers.  I’ll speak more about the mayonnaise thing in another post, so for now let’s focus on the un-fresh. There are very few things I will eat as leftovers.  By leftovers I mean anything that is prepared, or even just opened, and then put in the refrigerator.  The list of things I will eat as leftovers looks like this: Spaghetti sauce (I make my own sauce, never from a jar) Chili That’s about it.  I don’t even like to make salad with lettuce that has spent the night in the fridge.  I literally go to the store every day for my produce.  It’s a constant source of abuse from most of my friends, and the family even gets their shots in on occasion. For instance, last week at dinnertime, which always starts wit...

There are many versions of Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms available.  You can stuff them with just about any mixture of ingredients but the recipe here is the final result of my exhaustive testing. They taste great and only 212 calories per mushroom! Serves: 6 as appetizer or 3 as meal Prep Time: 15 mins. Cook Time: 30 Mins.   Ingredients :   6 Large Portobello Mushrooms 1 lb. Ground Turkey 1 Medium Onion, Chopped 1 Sm. Zucchini, Diced small 1 Medium Tomato, Chopped 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 cup Fat Free Feta Cheese 1/3 Cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated 1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Salt and Pepper to taste Directions: Pre-Heat oven to 375° Heat olive oil in large sauté pan.  Sauté onion, zucchini, garlic, and tomato over medium heat until onions are translucent and the other ingredients are cooked down, about 10 minutes, Set aside. In another pan brown Turkey, drain off liquid. Add turkey to  sautéed vege...

  I love seafood.  Having been born in New Orleans I guess I’m predisposed to be a seafood eater.  It’s in my blood.  The problem is none of my children are predisposed to be fish eaters.  It should have been a sure thing but one letter got switched and instead of having fish EATERS, I got fish HATERS. None the less, I am still inclined to partake in a seafood meal on occasion.  When I do, however, I have to make alternate plans for the children.  Usually I gravitate towards chicken. (not literally)  Chicken is a logical choice because you can prepare chicken in many of the same ways you would prepare fish.  You can bake it, broil it, fry it, make chicken gumbo, chicken stew, chicken sandwich……… Oh sorry I had a little Forrest Gump moment there.  But you get my point, anything fish can do, chicken can do.  The other night I had some nice cod fish that I wanted to make for dinner so I decided that less was more for the preparatio...

Valentine’s Day.   I have always looked forward to Valentine’s Day for a number of reasons.   It is a day to profess my Love to My Beautiful Wife, a day to shower my children with goodies, and oh yeah, I get to cook special foods. This year we had a few obstacles to overcome in our celebration plans.   First, Sour Dough was leaving for the weekend on a debate team meet (or match, I’m never really sure what it’s called), so we had to change our celebration day to allow him to participate.   Second, My Beautiful Wife’s birthday is this weekend (she’s a stunning 29), so we have to adjust THAT to accommodate Sour Dough’s lack of presence (or presents).   And last but not least, the day I move Valentine’s Day dinner to just happens to be Friday.   All of you Catholics out there know that we are in the first week of Lent, which means no meat on Friday. This year for breakfast on Modified Valentine’s Day, I made My Beautiful Wife Banana Stuffed French To...

As I’ve aged, I have come to view the holiday’s in a different light from when I was a child.   As a child, I can remember the wonder of Christmas.   Decorating the tree, putting on my special Christmas pajamas, the snow covered ground(there was always snow at Christmas), and I swear to this day I actually heard Santa’s sleigh bells one year. Now, as a parent, I see Christmas as crowded shopping malls, traffic preventing me from getting to work, decorating, though the feelings about decorating have changed from my childhood days, and the snow on the ground is not a reason to celebrate.   I’m not, by any means, a bah humbug kind of guy.   I just have a more grown up outlook on the holiday season. That is why, especially during the holidays, I am happy to be a parent.   Children remind you about the things Christmas were when you were a child.   They remind you that decorating can be fun, and tell you how good it looks when it’s done.   They re...

Last night the dinner conversation turned to the dynamics of the staggered bedtimes that we have adapted at the HB household.  The older the child, the later the bed time.  That seems simple enough to me. My 11 year old gets a bed time that is a half hour later than his 9 year old brother. It seems they have differing opinions as to how that should work out. My 9 year old speaking to my 11 year old: "My bed time is the same as your bedtime except you get to spend YOUR half hour of reading time upstairs doing something other than reading." Hmmm, then when does HIS reading time start?  And what is the literal meaning of bed time? I actually thought they were going to sleep when they went to bed.  Huh, who knew?  

Fashion is not my forté.   I am a t-shirt and shorts kind of guy that focuses on comfort rather than fashion.   Recently I was contacted by the fine folks at fodada , introducing their “ colors for cause ” line.   Fodada’s CFC line is the same as the basic line with, you guessed it, more color. The fodada clothing line was developed with Dad’s comfort in mind.   The idea was to have clothes that Dad can wear while playing with the little ones and still be comfortable.   And comfortable they are.   I have the Dada hoodie and I would go out on a limb and say it is probably the most comfortable sweatshirt I’ve ever worn.   It isn’t a heavy sweatshirt though. The fabric is light with a snug fit and made to just take the chill off. Fodada has partnered with two great organizations that care for kids.     Giving Children Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty (domestically and abroad) through disaste...

Zucchini used to be one of those veggies that I just had no desire to eat.   It was nothing more to me than that annoying mushy green half moon thingy in my “seasonal vegetables” at the restaurant.   Recently, I have developed an appetite for zucchini and I’ve been trying all sorts of ways to cook it. The other day a friend of mine told me about zucchini “boats”.   He told me that it was originally a Weight Watchers recipe, though he had prepared a different variation.   So, that very night I googled “zucchini boats”, and made my own version of a Zucchini Boat .     The great thing about the Zucchini Boat is you can use whatever you want for a filler.  While I chose to use veggies, my friend stuffed his with ground chicken and cheese.  The possibilities are endless, from super healthy to super decadent.    I have prepared zucchini in other ways as well: I've brushed sliced zucchini with olive oil and grilled it,  I've ...