Tag Archives: Kids’ State Dinner 2012

What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Baked Cheese and Broccoli Patties

6 Nov
These were so great! Definitely a keeper!

These were so great! Definitely a keeper!

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON DECEMBER 3, 2014

On a recent school day afternoon, I received a text from one of my daughters. It was about an hour before I had to leave and she’d be arriving home while I was gone, but I wouldn’t be back for quite some time.

Her lunch had been ruined. I can’t remember the reason why or specifically what happened. My memory isn’t what it used to be. She was annoyed and she was already starving, with a couple of hours to go before she’d arrive home.

I didn’t have an after school snack planned, and she knows how to make a bagel, cereal, a sandwich, things like that, but I had an idea. I looked up a recipe I’d been wanting to try for a while,  one I’d seen floating across my Facebook page for Baked Cheese and Broccoli Patties.

Now I know that doesn’t sound like a typical yummy after school snack, it’s definitely not chocolate and not sweet, but it’s savory and my kids actually all like broccoli. In fact, this one in particular loves it, and her winning recipe that got us to the White House in 2012 was a simple broccoli and cheese omelet. Rather than let her come in and make just anything for a snack, which was now replacing her lunch, I thought maybe I could leave her these to just reheat and she’d get something a little warmer and more nutritious than a bowl of cereal.

I checked out the recipe, checked out the time and figured out that if I moved quickly, I could squeeze in the prep and cook times before I left. They’d be done and on top of the stove when she got home. It might even make her day a little better, which would be an added bonus.

They were delicious. I texted her a photo of them when I knew she was out of school, on the bus, on her way home. “Just reheat and eat,” I said.

She was so happy. So hungry and so happy. I later texted again to see if she liked them and she said she loved them, that they were very similar to this recipe that we’d gotten out of our cookbook that we’d received at our White House luncheon, minus the hot dogs and pasta. When my other daughters got home from school, they too reported loving this after school snack.

So I call this a great recipe success! All thumbs up, a quick and easy recipe and it can be used for a side dish with a meal or on its own; even as an after school snack. Who knew?!

When I saw this recipe go by on Facebook, a friend was sharing it to another friend’s wall, but there was no originating information to go with it. I did an online search, saw the recipe on the Food.com site, but the photo was different than the one in the recipe I had, and this person too, reported getting it from a random Facebook post. However, someone put up a comment with the origination of the recipe, so I’d like to give credit here to the Po’Man Meals blog. Thanks for inspiring a whole lot of us!

I’m using the ingredients and directions I found on Food.com, which is the same as the one I have printed out at home, so thanks to them as well.

I encourage you to give it a try!

Baked Cheese and Broccoli Patties

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
  2. Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat, add in the garlic and onions. Season with salt/pepper to taste. Sauté until onions are garlic are tender, set aside to cool.
  3. Add the broccoli to a kitchen towel. Wrap the towel around the broccoli and squeeze out the extra moisture. Pour the drained broccoli into a large bowl, add the onion and garlic and mix gently.
  4. To the same bowl, add the panko, the cheeses, eggs, and salt/pepper to taste.
  5. Mix together and form into patties, place on the prepared baking sheet.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Flip and bake for another 15 minutes if needed, or until browned and crispy.

 

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New friends, new recipe!

25 Feb
An exciting Kids' State Dinner reunion took place on Sunday afternoon at our house!

An exciting Kids’ State Dinner reunion took place on Sunday afternoon at our house!

Yesterday was a very exciting day!

Our new friend Debra, one of the moms from the Kids’ State Dinner, visited us at our house! She was traveling from her home in Virginia to see family in nearby Massachusetts so we were able to reconnect for a couple of hours.

Debra stopped by in time for lunch, so Don cooked up some of his yummy pizzas and a meatball calzone, and I made a new dessert.

I know that in general you shouldn’t try out a new recipe on new guests, but I thought that Debra would be okay with it, being someone herself who cooks and experiments with recipes.

Until about an hour before she arrived and I realized I was going to have to make a change to the recipe, and then at that point I got a little nervous.

But, luckily it all worked out great. We had a wonderful visit, which flew by, and before we knew it, it was time for dessert.

Debra brought us this pretty trivet, which makes a pretty backdrop for our Fudge Meltaways!

Debra brought us this pretty trivet, which makes a pretty backdrop for our pretty Fudge Meltaways!

That too, was wonderful as well.

It all ended much too soon, but luckily Debra has family here, and we have family in Virginia, so we know we’ll get to reconnect again and again.

In the meantime, here is the new dessert recipe for you. I got it from one of my cookbooks and as I write it for you I’ll explain what happened partway through and how I solved it.

Lately, I often go to the internet when I’m looking for something new to cook, but this time I grabbed a cookbook off my rack, opened up to any random page and moved a page or so beyond it, and found one to try. It ended up being a no bake recipe too, which was a bonus.

There were three layers to the recipe, so I’ll write it out and explain it layer by layer for you.

FUDGE MELTAWAYS (from the Betty Crocker Cooky Book)
INGREDIENTS

First layer.....

First layer…..

First layer:

1/2 cup butter (We used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)

1 sq. unsweetened chocolate (one ounce)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 beaten egg

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

(We did not use the next two ingredients: 1 cup coconut, 1/2 cup chopped nuts)

Second layer....

Second layer….

Second layer:

1/4 cup butter (We used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)

1 tablespoon milk or cream (We used skim milk)

2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Third (top) layer....

Third (top) layer….

Third Layer:

This was our issue. The third layer was supposed to be 1 and  1/2 squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted and spread over the top of the second layer. However, the unsweetened chocolate tastes terrible by itself and we couldn’t guarantee it’d taste any better on top of the dessert. At Caroline’s suggestion, I made a half-batch of Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook instead, and spread that across the top. It was delicious. Essentially it was almost the same as the second layer, but chocolate, but it worked.

So here is the recipe for the top layer, , so for a full recipe, double this one:

2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

1/8 cup milk (add more as needed)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS FOR FUDGE MELTAWAYS

1) Melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 sq. chocolate in saucepan.

2) Blend in granulated sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, eggs, crumbs (and coconut and nuts if you choose to use them).

3) Mix well and press into 11×7 or 9×9 dish.

4) Refrigerate.

5) Mix 1/4 cup butter, milk, confectioners sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Spread over crumb mixture.

6) Chill.

(I left this overnight before completing the top layer. )

7) Using the Better Homes and Gardens frosting recipe above, combine and spread across second layer.

8) Refrigerate and later serve.

Enjoy, but tell me, what would you have done with that third layer? Would you have served it as is? Or, would you have changed it too?

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Sam’s Sizzling Tofu with Green Onions and Sugar Snap Peas

31 Oct

I’d never had tofu before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I loved Sam’s recipe!

One of the cool things about our DC trip for the Kids’ State Dinner in August, was being exposed to things we hadn’t had before. Some things were regional, some things were just new and different for us, but so far there hasn’t been one thing I haven’t liked that I tried from that trip.

Sam’s Sizzling Tofu is my latest winning recipe to try.

I’ve slowly been going through the cookbook making a new recipe every now and then, and Sam’s Sizzling Tofu recipe was next up on my list, simply for the fact that I’d never had tofu before and this sounded good to me.
Sam is ten and he’s from Maryland. His mom, Paula, makes him this recipe for lunch often because he doesn’t like sandwiches. Paula is also the person who made the Pumpkin Soup that I posted a couple of weeks back.

Sam and I have something in common, if you remember my post last spring, because I don’t like sandwiches either, which makes lunchtime a tough time for me each day.  I do however, like brown rice, scallions and sugar snap peas, so if I liked tofu, then I’d like this too.

We tried Sam’s recipe on a Sunday afternoon and I loved it, I even had the leftovers for lunch during the week following.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…..

I wish I could have photographed the way Sam’s Sizzling Tofu really did sizzle. It was so cool!

Here is what Sam had to say in the cookbook about his recipe:

“Well, I don’t really eat sandwiches very well, so my mom has to find other things for me to eat for lunch,” says Samuel.

“One day I tried tofu and I liked it, so my mom got it. Then my mom was asking me what I wanted for lunch, and I asked her for the tofu. She made it and put it in a thermos. My friends wondered what it was, and a couple of them tried it and really liked it too!”

I’d definitely make Sam’s Sizzling Tou with Green Onions and Sugar Snap Peas again, and if you’ve never had tofu, I encourage you to try it too! If you are already a fan, then this recipe is for you as well. Give it a try, it’s a great side dish for your dinner and a great lunchtime recipe!

SAM’S SIZZLING TOFU WITH GREEN ONIONS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS

Tofu…got it!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ pound firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1 garlic clove, minced
2 scallions, white and light green parts
only, chopped
1 cup sugar snap peas, cut into thirds
½ cup cooked brown rice
DIRECTIONS

1. In a large sauté pan over moderate heat, warm the oil.
Add the tofu and cook, stirring often, until golden brown,
about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, scallions, and sugar
snap peas, and cook 5 more minutes.

I served mine with a squirt of soy sauce on top too, yummy!!

2. While the vegetables are cooking, warm the rice in the
microwave for 1 minute on high, then serve the sizzling
tofu on top.

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: What was for dinner Monday?

23 Aug

Our meal began with Quinoa, Black Bean and Corn Salad. Haile Thomas is 11 years old is from Arizona. Caroline and I devoured this salad and we cannot wait to make it for our family. When we do, I will post the recipe for you.

As you may know, this week my blog posts have been featuring all of the events and details from our two days in Washington DC as participants in the 2012 Kids’ State Dinner.

The winners’ recipes were compiled into a cookbook and each child was given a full-sized color copy of the book in their welcome bag upon arrival on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, we were given two more spiral-bound copies at the dinner itself on Monday. All of the kids used their color copy as a yearbook type of book, and spent

Caroline was so excited to see herself published in this commemorative cookbook, printed just for the 54 winners.

Sunday evening during the Welcome Pizza Party (healthy pizza of course) running around trying to get as many of their new friends’ signatures as possible. Each child would sign the page with their recipe on it, for the others. It was fun to watch them. They also each signed a cookbook for Michelle Obama and for Tanya Steel, the Editor-in-Chief at epicurious.

Our place settings included a menu listing each course and where it was from.

On Monday, our new friend from Kansas, Rori Coyne, found out from White House Chef Sam Kass that her recipe, Yummy Cabbage Sloppy Joes, was going to be the featured main dish at the luncheon. She was beyond excited.

Sure enough, when we got to our seats our menu was front and center with Rori’s recipe as the main dish. We were so excited and couldn’t wait to try it out. We were not disappointed. Rori’s Sloppy Joes were amazing. She did tell us later on that it was slightly different than the way she makes it, that hers has more of a chunky vegetable consistency. Either way, they were fabulous.

So today, for my What’s for Dinner Wednesday post, I am going to share Rori and her mom Mary’s recipe for Yummy Cabbage Sloppy Joes. I would definitely make them again!

YUMMY CABBAGE SLOPPY JOES

RORI COYNE, AGE 12 KANSAS

Dinner was Rori’s Yummy Cabbage Sloppy Joes with a side of Baked Zucchini Fries from Sydney Brown, age 11, from North Carolina. The fries were awesome and we’ll be making them again as well. When we do I will post that recipe too!

INGREDIENTS

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, shredded or diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cup tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 sandwich rolls, split (optional)

We spent just about all of our waking time with Rori Coyne and her mom Mary Wolarik. It was as if we had known them forever and we sad to have to part ways with them on Monday afternoon.

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large skillet, cook the beef until cooked through, about five minutes. Drain the fat from the skillet and reserve the meat on a plate.

2. In the same pan over moderate heat, cook the onion, zucchini, celery, red pepper and cabbage until all the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Add the cooked beef to the pan and stir to combine.

3. In a small bowl, combine the tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, brown sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour the sauce into the pan with the beef and vegetables and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 8 minutes.

4. While the sloppy joes are simmering, toast the buns in the oven or toaster oven.

5. Evenly divide the mixture among the toasted bun bottoms, top with the other halves and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Here is Caroline autographing her Rhode Island page in the cookbook for Michelle Obama on Sunday night at the pizza party.

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