Bite. Sip. Repeat…

When our kids were watching the Peanuts holiday shows, my 4 year old got Charlie Brown’s name a little wrong and said he wanted to watch that “Charlie Barley Show”.  It sort of stuck and that’s now one of my son’s sometimes-nicknames.  I saw the 7 bean and barley mix in the bulk foods aisle at Henry’s market and, of course, had to get it.  The boys were cracking up about me making Charlie Barley Soup.

I started with about a pound of 7 bean and barley mix.  Continue Reading »

The boys get a huge kick out of breakfast for dinner.  Our #1 son buys lunch at school once a week and they even have a breakfast for lunch option sometimes.  Tonight, it was scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, and toaster waffles for them.  Lisa and I were going to have the same thing (toast, no waffles), when I saw Continue Reading »

It’s still a little hot and humid, so I was looking for a light lunch.  The boys wanted leftover spaghetti and meatballs from last night.  Lisa had a meatball sandwich.  I opted for a toasted pita, schmeared with hummus, topped with arugala, chopped heirloom tomato and blue cheese crumbles.  Quick and delicious…

Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of dinner last night.  I really didn’t think it would go over as well as it did.  Both boys said several times that it was great.  They love spaghetti and meatballs and I was looking for a quicker alternative to mixing, rolling, and baking the meatballs.  I thought I’d give sausage a try.

I started with a pound of sweet italian sausage from Trader Joe’s.  The links were kind of big, so I cut them in half.  I tossed them in a sauce pan and browned them in a little olive oil over medium heat.  After 5 minutes or so, I added a jar of spaghetti sauce (Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara sauce) and a sprinkling of dried oregano and basil and brought that to a simmer.  I let that bubble until the sausage was cooked through, maybe 12 minutes.  That gave me time to boil the pasta and get a vegetable medley together.  Easy, inexpensive, does it get any better?