10.28.2012

ethan's weekly eats

This week's Ethan's Weekly Eats feature is a little scarce. That's because my mother whipped up some soup that Ethan was so absolutely obsessed with, he spent one afternoon sitting by the refrigerator crying until I opened it. He spotted the tupperware of soup immediately, his smile lighting up and his pleading beginning. It's almost like his favorite activity of this week was eating Grandma's soup and nothing else could begin to compare...certainly no other lunches, at that!

Luckily, I finally harassed my dear mother enough until she gave up the soup recipe. I'm not really a soup person. I mean, I like soup, but I'd probably never otherwise make it. Maybe I should think twice about that because it's apparent Ethan is a soup person. I think dreams of this soup were running through his head each night!

Grandma's Addicting Delicious Meatball and Veggie Soup

For The Soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pkg. diced ham or pancetta
2 sprigs rosemary, left intact
1 sprig thyme
1 lg. bay leaf
1 med. onion, grated
some baby carrots, chopped into little pieces
a pkg of fresh green beans, chopped into little pieces too
some celery, sliced into small pieces
4 large cloves garlic, grated
kosher salt (pinch)
pepper
2 cans cannelloni beans
1 can diced organic tomatoes
2 cups water
2 pkgs. chicken stock
grated parmesan cheese
1 pkg. baby spinach
1 1/2c cups cooked Ditalini
Directions: Heat a deep pot over medium heat and add oil and ham. Brown ham for a few minutes. Add herbs, bay leaf, chopped veggies and garlic. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Add beans, tomatoes, water and stock to pot and raise heat to high. Let boil for a few minutes. Put meatballs and spinach in the pot to absorb flavor and lower heat to med. low and let simmer for 45-60 minutes or until carrots and veggies are soft. When spices come off stems, remove stems and bay leaf before eating.

For The Mini-Meatballs:
1 lb. ground sirloin
some grated cheese
some parsley (if you have)
a pinch nutmeg
grated garlic
grated carrots
Directions: Mix meat mixture together and make little balls. Bake them in the oven on 375 for 30 minutes until they're cooked.

I did make some lunches for Ethan this week but mostly I just reheated bowl of soup after bowl of soup. Still, I did have a couple of successes this week!

MONDAY:

Monday I made Ethan black bean and quinoa patties and placed them open-face style on a slice of whole-wheat bread. I served these alongside some pear and strawberries.

To make these: 1/2 can black beans, 1/2c cooked quinoa, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 teaspoon mustard, 1 tablespoon wheat germ. I mashed up some of the beans to make a little bit of a paste and then added them to a bowl with the remaining ingredients, combining everything. I formed little patties out of the mixture and placed them on cookie sheet where I baked them in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

THURSDAY:

This couscous salad was a huge hit. I saw this recipe on Weelicious and couldn't wait to make it. Ethan has never had couscous before so I was curious on how he'd like it, especially when it involved one of his favorite foods (cucumber!). He loved this.

FRIDAY:

Friday was a strange day. I realized I had a quinoa and black bean patty from earlier in the week leftover so I heated it up and sliced it into pieces, nugget-style. I put some mustard on Ethan's plate so he could do some dipping but he decided he didn't like mustard. For his nuggets, that is. He otherwise ate it with his fingers or with his blueberries (Gross!).

8 comments:

  1. Lindsey- I'm always so impressed with your meals and you inspire me to be better! The soup sounds great. I always seem to like anything with cannelloni beans and Parmesan cheese! All the best - Monica

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    Replies
    1. Ethan LOVED the soup. LOVED! My mom ended up sending home what she had for them, too, because he loved it so much!

      Aw, thank you! Ethan's favorite meal of the day is LUNCH -- he picks at breakfast and is an okay eater at dinner, but he really thrives on lunch. I hated how boring his lunches were for a while there, so it's my own personal challenge, too!

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  2. That soup looks amazing! I love soups when the weather turns colder and this morning we are in the 50's! I was thinking, as I was pouring my coffee, I needed a new soup recipe. haha...so thanks! Or actually, tell your mama thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, coffee sounds so good right now! The weather today is GORGEOUS, isn't it?! Haha, I will! She saved lunchtime this past week. I might have to make more for Ethan this week, too! Brrr!

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  3. PS- How much chicken stock is 2 packages? Two small cans or two of those big boxes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good question! I think it's the boxes, but I'm not sure. I just sent my mom an e-mail -- I'll let you know what she says!

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