One of the most brilliant gifts of motherhood is watching your kids develop their own personalities, likes and dislikes. I am blessed to mother two strong, brilliant, adventurous kids who don’t think anything is beyond their reach. It’s amazing.

If you are a regular reader, you know that both of my kids adore cooking with me. Will, who currently wants to be an archeologist, will undoubtedly love spending time in the kitchen no matter how old he is. I love that he goes through cookbooks with the same intensity that I devour them and that he will pick and choose recipes that look good to him. This morning, he was flipping through a cookbook and selected a recipe that he wants to make this week. It involves stuffing peppers with a brilliant veggie mixture. It’s colorful and pretty and filled with things that they absolutely love. Tomorrow, we will make it and if it goes well, then you will be hearing more about it next week.

In the meantime, I decided to turn the tables on the kids today. Rather than cooking with me, I gave the kids the tools to cook for themselves today.

Will gave me the idea when he saw the photo with the recipe and started talking about couscous since it looked like it included Israeli couscous (it didn’t though). Since Will wanted couscous as a result and I wanted an easy lunch before rushing Will off to school, I improvised.

I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, I loved the idea of anything with a Make-Your-Own component. Make-Your-Own Sundaes was (and still is) an incredible favorite of mine. More toppings? Yes, please! But seriously, this is a great kid-friendly way to make lunch fun and exciting, while also making it a little easier for you. Being empowered to choose and make your own food is just so exciting, especially when you are little. My kids definitely feel the same way. Once I explained what they would be doing, they couldn’t get to the table fast enough.

The process is easy: arrange potential mix-ins for the couscous in bowls with spoons for easy cutting. You can cut up veggies, pull out leftovers leftovers, and get out oil, nuts, seeds, cheese, beans … the possibilities are endless. Then you just let the kids put their own concoctions together. Easy peasy.

Be sure to use oversized bowls so that they have room to stir without knocking everything out of the bowl. Trust me on that one.

Make Your Own Couscous
serves 4

1 cup cooked couscous (I used whole wheat couscous), prepared with vegetable stock
butter (about 1 pat/bowl)
mix-ins (such as chopped red and green peppers, corn, black beans, cheese, sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms, chopped meat, etc)
kosher salt

Divide the couscous between bowls for each person. Top with a pat of butter. Allow kids to scoop ingredients in (remember, this should be fun so they don’t have to take everything). For younger kids, ask how many scoops of each item and have them count them out with you. Once each child has added all the ingredients desired, sprinkle with salt. Then, have them mix well.

Eat and enjoy.

Things don’t always go the way we want them to. Sure, wouldn’t we all just love everything to go exactly as we plan right down to the nitty gritty details? But then, that would make life predictable … and that’s not good either. So, maybe having things go unpredictably is a good thing after all.

I digress. Originally, I planned to make a delicious peanut butter-banana parfait with Will this morning. But he woke up feeling ill, and Shawn (not knowing my plan) ate the last banana yesterday. My plans will have to wait until next week. In the meantime, we needed to cook something and I needed something to write about.

So, I did what any good kitchen dweller would do: I scanned the fridge. Cheese. Whole wheat tortillas. The idea came together so effortlessly and with delicious results. (See, unpredictability is a good thing!)

This isn’t the most kid-centric cooking with kids post you’ll see around here. But that’s okay. It’s not always about them getting getting elbow deep into cooking. Sometimes, you can get them involved by adding just a little more process to the process. For instance, while my kids cannot actually make quesadillas on a hot stove (toddler+preschooler+hot stove=no go), they can help me as I chop all the ingredients by transferring everything from cutting board to bowls. Sure, it adds an extra step that isn’t necessarily critical to the cooking, but it also gives them a sense of ownership in the outcome.

This particular quesadilla combination is our collective favorite. Sharp cheddar is melted with meaty black beans, sweet bits of red pepper and creamy avocado pieces. Served warm and toasty, my kids like theirs with some mild salsa. Me? It’s got to be knock-your-socks off hot.

The result is, as Will says, “Oh my goshes,” good.

Black Bean, Avocado and Red Pepper Quesadilla
serves 2

Kid Step: When you are prepping your ingredients (bell peppers, avocado, etc), chop them on a cutting board and then ask your child to transfer them to small bowls. They can also drain and rinse the black beans in a mesh strainer.

2 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp finely diced sweet red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced avocado
OPTIONAL: salsa

Spray a large pan with cooking oil. Place one tortilla in the pan. Top with half of the cheese, followed by the black beans, peppers and avocados. Top with the other half of the cheese. Cover with the second tortilla. Spray lightly with additional cooking oil spray.

Cook, flipping once, until the cheese is melted. But be patient. The quesadilla should remain on the first side long enough for the cheese to melt so that you avoid spillage when flipping.

Alternatively, divide the ingredients between two tortillas, flipping over to form a pocket while cooking.

Use a pizza cutter to cut into wedges. Serve with salsa, if desired.

A few months ago, I read somewhere that basically Brussels sprouts are the new black. While I agree that they are absolutely, positively delectable … I think this highly underrated vegetable has been getting its long-awaited dues for awhile now. People are recognizing how delicious a well-prepared sprout can be, and eaten them up. Literally.

Me? I love them and have for a long, long time. They are comforting, rich, warm … just delish. But here’s the thing, I am a teensy bit picky about my Brussels sprouts. They cannot be boiled. Or from frozen. They have to be fresh and either roasted or pan-fried. Call me crazy, but I just think they taste the best that way.

This particular recipe is an easy-as-can-be lunch for when you are short on time but want to eat something fresh, light and delish.  From the cutting board to the table in 20 minutes, I love to make this in the afternoon when Will is in school, Paige is napping and I have a few minutes to myself.

The combination is just wonderful. I got the idea to add gorgonzola cheese to the mix after seeing a recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Gorgonzola Cheese on Kalyn’s Kitchen.

What do you whip up when you get a few minutes to yourself?

Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad with Gorgonzola and Sunflower Seeds
serves 1

2 cups halved Brussels sprouts
salt and pepper
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp gorgonzola crumbles
1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray an oven-safe pan with cooking oil spray. Spread the Brussels sprouts in the pan in a single layer. Lightly spray the sprouts with cooking oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, flipping once.

Toss the roasted Brussels sprouts with sunflower seeds, gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

A local deli makes this massive, delightful sandwich called Amanda’s Big Mouth. It’s pastrami, cheddar, bacon, onions, lettuce, tomato, hot sauce and thousand island dressing (I skip the dressing)—and it’s amazing. It’s the kind of sandwich you eat when you are starving … or when you just want something amazing when you are enjoying a few minutes to yourself.

But it’s also massive and not at all diet friendly.

Isn’t that how it always works? You find a food you love, only to discover that it’s making your hips expand at a rapid pace? And it can only be blamed on your adoration, which is leading you to indulge in said sandwich a little too often. What? Do I speak from experience? Um? What?

Anyway, if you’ve resolved to be healthier, then that sandwich probably isn’t practical. Seriously. Does anyone need that much meat? Nonetheless, you don’t have to completely skip the deliciousness of your favorite stuffed sandwich. Just lighten it up a bit instead by making it at home with the same ingredients in moderation.

How? Toss the hard roll and use a whole wheat one or trade it in for a whole wheat pita or wrap. Cut the amount of meat down to 2-3 oz. To make the sandwich look fuller, don’t just lay the meat on. Instead, drop the meat on so that it sort of crumples and curls on itself (don’t put too much thought into that! The technique works best when  you don’t think). Use only about an ounce of cheese and consider switching higher fat cheeses for lower fat ones. If the sandwich has other ingredients like bacon, use it! But just a little to get the flavor.

So, I applied these principals to my favorite sandwich. Guess what? It was at least as good as the original, and I didn’t feel weighed down after eating it (that’s a huge plus!). It’s a little spicy-sweet with the sriracha, with notes of saltiness and pepper. And it’s divine. Absolutely divine. Just try it.

See, you really can lighten up a sandwich and still enjoy it.  What’s your favorite sandwich? Share!

Spicy Pastrami, Bacon, Swiss Wrap (aka, Amanda’s Little Bite)
serves 1

1 whole wheat tortilla
1 oz Swiss cheese
1 slice bacon, cooked to crispy
2 oz pastrami (ask the deli to slice it ultra thin)
sriracha sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay out a piece of aluminum foil and place the tortilla in the center. Layer the tortilla with Swiss, bacon, pastrami and then a drizzle of sriracha. Fold in either side of the tortilla to form a wrap. Then, wrap the tin foil up so that the wrap is secure on all sides. Place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Devour!

What do you eat for lunch? People always talk about how important it is to have a good breakfast, but it’s also really important to have a good lunch — one that is filling, satisfying and healthy. For me, lunch is sometimes a sandwich or pasta, but more often it’s a salad. Salads served topped with warm proteins, like this salmon, are comforting, waist-friendly and can be really easy to make. Seriously. I mean it.

This particular roasted salmon is so ridiculously easy that I almost feel bad calling it a recipe. You basically toss salmon in a pan, drizzle just a bit of olive oil, sprinkle some salt and pepper and lay some thyme across the top. Toss it in the oven and 20 minutes or so later, you are ready to sit down and eat a healthy lunch. Easy peasy.

But I am sharing it because some people don’t realize just how easy and simple it can be to cook fish — or how unscary it is. (Yes, I really did just make up that word. Shh!)

I used to be scared to cook salmon. I also used to be scared to feed it to my two-year-old daughter. Earlier this week, while I was writing about salmon for my Tablespoon column, I reminisced about a year ago when I was so freaked out to give Paige fish that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She was just over a year old, and it was time to try. But the threat of fish allergies (the ones I read about in some parenting magazine) had me downright terrified. It’s funny how in this information age, too much information can make us question our instincts.

I turned to mom friends and asked advice. I read more about it. Then I finally bit the bullet and just made fish. She loved it. No more fear necessary.

These days, we typically have fish about twice a week. Since Shawn isn’t a fan, we either have it when he’s working late (henceforth known as “fish night” in our house) or for lunch. It used to horrify my mother that I actually cook at lunchtime, but that’s one of the perks of being a work-at-home freelance writer. And really, why shouldn’t you cook when you have a chance?

Frankly though, when the fabulous lunch is as easy as this one, it needs no justifying.

So, spill! What’s your favorite lunch? Do you ever cook at lunchtime?

Easy Green Salad with Roasted Salmon Recipe
serves 4

8 cups torn and rinsed lettuce (Boston is my fav)
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
4 oz crumbled goat cheese or feta, divided
1 recipe roasted salmon (below)
vinaigrette

Divide the lettuce between four plates or bowls. Top each one with 1/4 of the carrot shreds, 1 oz of crumbled goat cheese or feta and 1 salmon fillet. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Serve immediately.

Roasted Salmon Recipe
serves 4
Click here for my printable recipe at Tablespoon

1 lb salmon fillets (roughly 4-4oz pieces)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme
sea salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an oven-safe pan with cooking oil.

Rinse the salmon in cool water and pat dry. Place, skin side down, into the prepared pan. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay a sprig of thyme over each piece.

Bake the salmon for 15-20 minutes, until it flakes easily with a fork.

Serve warm.

When I flipped this sandwich out of the frying pan and onto Will’s plate, I instantly smiled. Do you see it? The simple, unmistakable shape was clear as day. Instead of shooting a photo of the most perfect sandwich in the batch, I went with the one with the perfect little unexpected heart.

Here, you can see it better in this one:

That perfect little unexpected heart is a lot like a mother’s love. You carry a child for nine and a half months. Of course you are supposed to love them, it’s expected. But loving that little seed in your belly is like talking to an imaginary friend. You know the baby is there and real. But before anyone can see or touch that baby, it’s intangible. It’s confusing and uncertain. Really, it’s an abstract thing – loving something, someone, whom you don’t know and who you’ve never met. It’s complicated. Then one day they are born. And you are expected to love them right away, instantly. You can’t help but wonder if you really can love someone whom you only know as the alien jabs in your belly. So, when you have that swell of emotion when the baby first cries, that pop of relief that they really have arrived safely, it is unexpected.

This evening after dinner, I curled onto the couch next to Will. He scurried his little warm body close to me and laid down in front of me. I put my arms around him and hugged him close, while his short hair tickled my nose. “I love you, Mommy,” he whispered.

Simple, unexpected, heart swelling. What more can a mom ask for?

As for the sandwich, well, I can’t wait to make another one. It was sweet and sharp and crispy all at once. Absolutely, positively delish. And yes – this is totally kid-approved.

French Toasted Apple Grilled Cheese
serves 4

8 slices bread (I use a low-cal oatmeal bread that is thinly sliced)
2 tbsp apple butter, divided
4 ounces of sliced extra-sharp cheddar (I used a block of cheddar and cut enough slices to cover the bread)
1 egg, beaten well

Spread 1/2 tbsp of apple butter on one side of a slice of bread. Repeat until you have four slices with apple butter on them. Place cheddar slices on each of the apple buttered slices of bread. Top with remaining slices of bread.

Heat a large skillet on the stove, with the heat set to just below medium.

Pour the beaten egg onto a plate. When the skillet is hot, dredge each sandwich in the egg (on both sides of the bread) and place onto the skillet. Remember, you want to dredge, not drench. Cook, flipping once, until bread is browned on both sides.

Serve immediately.

In my single days, a mainstay of my cooking was stir fry. It is just so easy. Chop up a few veggies, toss it in a pan with a little oil and stir, stir, stir until the vegetables are done, then add sauce and serve over rice. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, you might add a hint of meat too, but it’s certainly not required. It’s high on taste, low on fat and calories and just good eating …

However, over the past few years, I have stopped making stir fries as often. Why? I really don’t know. Maybe I’ve been too seduced by other meals I have learned to make or maybe the chop, chop, chop just didn’t seem as fun anymore …

The other day though, when I was considering what I could possibly whip up with the sparse contents of my fridge, I decided to make a stir fry. By cutting all of the veggies into bite-sized portions before cooking, this meal becomes super easy to eat alone or with kids. Once finished, it can be just dished up and served, no further cutting required.

The sauce is a star in this dish. The nuances of cinnamon and allspice give the soy and garlic-based sauce a depth of warm flavor. It reminds me ever so slightly of a Moroccan chicken dish I make about once a year. Ever. So. Slightly.

So how’d the kids like it? Well, when I heated up leftovers the next day, they demanded more … I’d say it was a home run here.

Garlic Soy Stir Fry
serves 4

If you choose to add the meat, be sure to use a tender steak. For this, I used meaty trimmings from a filet rump roast I recently cut down into steaks.  As a result, the meat was tender, buttery and perfect.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow onion
1 large carrot
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5-6 ounces of beef, chopped into bite sized pieces

First, prep the vegetables. remove the stem and seed the peppers. Discard the waste. Then dice into small-ish pieces, about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. Next, peel the onion and discard the peel. Dice the onion into about a 1/2 inch dice. Finally, peel the exterior of the carrot. Discard peelings. Then, use the peeler to cut the carrot into strips. Pile the strips and run a knife through them to cut them down into smaller pieces.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over just under medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the vegetables. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, allspice and cinnamon. Add to the skillet and stir to combine. Add the beef to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, for about five minutes until it’s browned on all sides and the sauce is slightly reduced.

Remove from heat.

To serve: Place rice in a bowl and make a well in the center. Top with stir fry. Serve. A simple iceberg lettuce salad with carrot shards with soy-ginger dressing would make a great accompaniment.

See the image above? That’s the macaroni and cheese that I grew up on. It was artificially flavored, dyed and full of preservatives – and yummy as can be. I cannot tell you how many times that was my quick dinner before swim practice or an easy lunch when I was home alone from school. And I loved every single bite (hey, I still buy the stuff on occation . . . what can I say? I have a soft spot for the unnatural goodness).

When I heard about Kevin at Seriously Good and Cookiecrumb from I’m Mad And I Eat having a little mac and cheese off, I was intrigued. And then I was psyched. Mac and cheese?!? My FAVORITE!!! But life got the best of me and I didn’t finish this post in time (since all the hoopla was happening yesterday). Nonetheless, this was a great dish that I had to share.

This isn’t your traditional mac and cheese though. For one, I really wanted cheese tortellini, so I used that instead of macaroni. And the sauce is a three cheese variation of alfredo sauce . . . it is lower fat than a traditional alfredo sauce though. I definitely recommend my cheese combination of Dubliner, Asiago and Romano – YUM. (For the record, I really, really, really LOVE cheese . . . like really.)

So ultimately, this means that I can also continue my legacy of having never made traditional macaroni and cheese. (Geez, there is a lot of ‘traditional’ in this post . . .) I’ve never made it and I don’t intend to anytime soon. Kraft (and Annie’s Natural . . . yum, that stuff is great and FORTUNATELY is more natural) do a great job of it already.

Three Cheese Sauce
serves 4

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup of three cheeses (I used equal parts of Dubliner, Asaigo and Romano, definitely recommend this combination)
salt and pepper to taste
dash paprika

You are going to need a medium skillet and a sturdy spoon to stir with. First, combine butter and evaporated milk in a medium skillet over medium heat.

Stir constantly until butter melts and mixture begins to get all bubbly. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 6 minutes, continuing to stir frequently, until mixture thickens slightly.

Remove from heat and stir in cheeses, salt, pepper and paprika until it’s well combined into a yummy sauce.

Ta-da!

Serve over pasta of your choice – 8 ounces of pasta will yield 4 servings.