Alphabet Soup

But I think that was partially in the preparation method. At least he tried it, so that's definitely good news! I just steamed it and added a little olive oil and some garlic salt. Not the tastiest broccoli I've ever had, plus I overcooked it a tad. Oh well. He did agree to try it again if I fix it differently!! I'm thinking he needs broccoli with cheese sauce...

So I finally found some good looking fresh asparagus at the store this weekend, and roasted it in the oven tonight (yes, we skipped Cub Scouts, hee hee). Anyway, I fixed it much like this recipe . Sean tried it, and actually liked it!! What's more, is that the hubby, who can be quoted as saying "I hate asparagus" really liked it as well!! Woohoo!!! I also cooked pinto beans in the crockpot. Sean tried them, but didn't really like the seasonings. However, he loved the cornbread; even asked for more!! So, it was a wonderful night!! For the pinto beans, I use this recipe as sort of a "base" except that I used pinto beans, because that's what I had, and I served it with cornbread instead of rice. I usually make it with a ham hock, but I couldn't find one yesterday, so I bought a ham steak and cut that up to go in the beans instead. I'm still floored over the asparagus. And it was really cute how much he loved the cornbread. Now, cornbread is one ...

Well, it's almost 10 am and I just ate breakfast (don't worry, I'll be starving by lunchtime!). I have butternut squash cooking in the oven, and my beans are cooking in the crockpot. I'm also cooking some peaches for the baby, who is paging me, so I guess this really is going to be a quick post!! I'll come back later and edit with recipes. :)

and apparently I didn't realize it, LOL!! Need more computer time... Here goes! Eight T.V. Shows I Watch: *CSI *CSI New York *Top Chef *So You Think You Can Dance *Good Eats *Bones *Without a Trace *Ace of Cakes Eight Favorite Restaurants: *Durango's *Tech Cafe *McAlister's *Orlando's *Taco Villa *Starbuck's (it counts, right?) *Olive Garden *Carino's Eight Fun Things That Happened This Weekend: *I got to play games with Sean at 50th St. Caboose, lol *Took a really cute pic of the boys this morning *Went to the Holiday Happening *Shopping at the fabric store *Friday was Sean's Thanksgiving lunch at school, got to surprise him when my dad showed up too! ...apparently I need to get out more...I'm sure there's more!! Eight Things I Look Forward To: *having a clean kitchen *having a clean house ...what, this isn't the wish list post?? okay, okay *getting out Christmas decorations *getting my Christmas cards in! I'm so excited!! *I'm really lo...

I am not creating or posting a new recipe for the challenge everyday, lol. I'll be lucky to get 2 or 3 in each week. Who knew life with kids would be so busy? I have officially thanked my mom for being my taxi service when I was a kid, driving me back and forth everywhere! Around here, Mondays are Tae Kwon Do and Cub Scout nights, Wednesdays are more Tae Kwon Do, and Thursdays are soon to be piano. I know lots of families are busier than we are, but that's plenty busy for me right now! Also, I've re-discovered that there is one kitchen gadget I still need...the self-cleaning kitchen!! :) Or maybe I just need a housekeeper that is willing to work for free. Oh wait...I guess that would be me!!

Go read this recipe . Check out the pictures. Wipe the drool off your chin. :) We made this tonight. It was a new recipe for me. First, let me say, it's not that easy to cut an acorn squash in half. Or maybe I need a different knife. Scratch that. I have a good knife. It's just not big enough. So, I need a bigger knife. I just caused all local ER doctors to shudder. Now, now, I've never cut myself bad enough to get stitches...but it does cause my husband to shudder every time I wield a knife. Apparently I scare him with my knife skills. Back to the point of this post -- the squash. I thought it was good. Very good. Sean didn't like it. But hey, it's all about exposure to new things, right? I did keep some of the squash plain so I could puree it up for the baby. He'll have to wait until tomorrow to try it...he got hungry before it was ready. :) I would also like to say that Sean has always loved to help out in the kitchen. I have some cute...

What initially started as an attempt to get Sean to try new vegetables, has morphed into a challenge to get him to try new things! The broader problem really seems to be that he has become very reluctant to try new things, and I can tell you he is very resistant to change. So, I've decided to use this challenge as a way to introduce him to new tastes, textures, just get him to try something new! We started last night by making Alphabet Soup with Albondigas (which is Spanish for meatball, in case you were wondering!). Now, he does indeed like meatballs, loves them actually, but these were 1) in soup (which he won't eat) and 2) surrounded by vegetables (gasp! the horror). It took a little work, but he did finally try one of the meatballs and to his surprise, they were quite tasty! We got him to try a sip of the broth, which he also discovered he liked! And of course the alphabet pasta was deemed acceptable as well. Did he actually take a bite of a vegetable? No. But you don't...

So, yes, I've decided to join in the blogging revolution (a bit late, I'll admit) but here I am! For those of you that know me, well I need no introduction. LOL! For those of you that don't know me, I am a 30-something year with two kids...three if you count my husband. :) Whoa, wait, did I say 30-something? When did that happen? Anyway...my oldest, Sean, is 6 and is not the biggest fan of fruits and vegetables. While searching the internet for solutions to that issue, I found http://greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com/ which is a really cool blog about this woman and her 7-year old veggie-phobic kid. They cooked their way through the alphabet. I ran this by Sean and he thought it would be fun. I told him we could make a scrapbook of our adventure, taking pictures of the veggies and our finished dishes, and putting the recipes in there. He thought that sounded good, but he also wants to make a TV show!! Have I mentioned that one of his favorite channels is The ...