Chicken Piccata Pasta

Chicken Piccata Pasta via Rachael Ray

I love trying new recipes, and I usually fill my menu with new adventures rather than old favorites, but THIS, my friends, is an old favorite.  The lemon juice/white wine sauce of chicken piccata is my favorite, and this pasta dish takes all of the delicious flavors and adds them to penne.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Brussels Sprouts Pasta

Brussels Sprouts Pasta via Rachael Ray

Here's another Brussels sprouts recipe for all you skeptics out there.  Brussels sprouts are high in fiber, protein, and vitamin C--perfect for those of us hoping to fight off impending colds!

Garlic & Oil Spaghetti w/ Greens

Garlic & Oil Spaghetti w/ Greens via Rachael Ray

Can you tell I just organized a bunch of Rachael Ray recipes last week?  ;)  This is a new recipe for us, but I'm excited about trying it and incorporating one of my favorite foods (pasta) with one of my "meh" foods (greens).

This is a perfect recipe to add when you need to pinch some pennies.  Spaghetti & greens are super cheap.  I couldn't find swiss chard at Aldi or our local produce market this week, so I opted for collard greens instead--a perfectly acceptable swap, and a 99 cent purchase!  

BLT Creamy Mac-N-Cheese

BLT Creamy Mac-n-Cheese via Rachael Ray

My daughter has declared at the dinner table on many occasions (while practically drinking ketchup or salsa through a straw) her pure and total hatred of tomatoes.  Those geniuses at PBS came up with a Daniel Tiger episode last year that contains the song lyrics, "You've gotta try new foods 'cause they might taste good."  This helped a little in other food categories, but never with her tomato hatred.

I continued to serve foods with tomatoes in/on them that my daughter could choose to eat or pass up.  I did not make a "thing" out of her having to try them again, nor did I leave them out of the recipe because I knew she wouldn't eat them.  

To be completely honest, *I* don't love tomatoes...by themselves.  But I like them in or with other foods.  I finally fessed up to this one day when my daughter saw me eating around the whole cherry tomatoes in my salad.  Instead of this bolstering her hatred of the food, I think it helped her view them as a "sometimes" food instead of a "never" food.  Our great compromise was BLT's.  The girl loves her bacon.  Sheepish delight spread over her face one day as she admitted, "I like tomatoes in BLT's."  (This has become a great reminder for other foods she continues to insist on hating.  But really, she's three and a half...so in reality, she asks what's for dinner every afternoon, and after hearing my answer immediately says, "I don't like ___."  Then she asks for seconds that evening.)

So this meal is for my daughter, myself, and all the sometimes-tomato-haters out there.  May we all find a dish with a dreaded food that will compel us to ask for seconds.