Dinner With Daddy

         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...