Welcome to the World, Thomas!
You may remember Anna was expecting a baby in early November. Well, her little boy wanted to meet his mom and dad a little early. Thomas Hudson Cockerille arrived a few days ago weighing in at 7.1 pounds. This new family of three is doing well and home from the hospital!
As you know, life with a new baby is HECTIC. I scoffed whenever people told me life was going to change once I had a child… ’til I saw how much it changed! I LOVE to cook, but suddenly didn’t have time to make the complex, time-consuming meals I had made before my daughter was born. I was fortunate to have a next-door neighbor who brought over hot meals for us for an entire week. I had another two weeks of people from my synagogue bringing over dinner. And then I was on my own. I needed fast and healthy recipes, which can be hard to find.
Ruth threw me a virtual baby shower when I had Isabelle. I would like to do something similar for Anna in this space. Since I live three hours away from Anna, I cannot take her a meal. I’m sharing some of my favorite recipes I make when I’m short on time:
- Baked Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes, Herbs, and Lemon from Williams-Sonoma
- Buttermilk Roast Chicken from Smitten Kitchen
- Caprese Salad Strata from Teeny Tiny Foodie
- Easiest Baked Mac-and-Cheese from Smitten Kitchen (I make this recipe healthier by using lowfat milk, lowfat cottage cheese, part-skim cheddar cheese, and Dreamfields Elbows. It’ll still be VERY tasty and you’ll have lots of leftovers!)
- Italian Roast Chicken from Wegman’s (You can buy basting oil at Stew Leonard’s, Anna.)
- Halibut with Caper Salsa Verde from Cooking Light
- Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce from Cooking Light
- Slow-Roasted Beef from Cook’s Illustrated
- Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes from Giada De Laurentiis
When I’m really exhausted, we have tuna fish and cut-up veggies for dinner. However, if basic tuna doesn’t sound good to you, then try Tuna Melts with Avocado from Cooking Light.
Would you please share a few of your favorite easy recipes so Anna and her family can eat nutritious meals that don’t take a lot of time to prepare or clean-up? You can either cut and paste the recipe when you leave a comment OR leave the URL where Anna can find the recipe.
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Anna,
I’m so happy for you and your new family! I remember with such fondness my first weeks home with Maddie as a new mommy. They were some of the happiest, joy-filled, most profound days of my life.
This is one of my favorite recipes – so easy and delicious!
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2008/02/end-of-chicken-parmesan-as-you-know-it.html
Enjoy and congrats again! I’m so happy for you!
Get as much sleep as you can!
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Wow!
Thank you so much Stacey for throwing me this virtual baby shower, and thank you, TWT community for all of the lovely recipes and warm thoughts. We will certainly appreciate both in the days ahead. So far, so good. All of us are doing well; mom and are learning to appreciate sleepless nights and days filled with confusion and wonder. Thomas is learning to do all that babies do. Best wishes from our family to yours.
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Congratulations Anna and family! That is so exciting. Others have mentioned it, but I also like using a crock pot. I often don’t make full meals, but I will put in chicken in order to make the rest of meal prep more efficient.
I am going to try out freezer meals as well. I am thinking I will try to do some over winter break. We’ll see how that goes!
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Congratulations, Anna and the whole family. I love my crockpot for easy to fix meals and snacks! In a pinch, any meat with a bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce will do, but here is one of my favorite soup recipes.
Put 4 cups cooked chicken breasts, jar of salsa, can of black beans, a pint of frozen thawed corn, and four cups chicken broth in crock pot and cook on low.
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Congratulations, Anna! And, thank you for doing this, Stacey – such a great idea. Here’s my contribution, also from Ina Garten (and here’s hoping you have a relative or friend near by to pass this on to as a hint for dinner next week!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-with-forty-cloves-of-garlic-recipe/index.html
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Stacey, what a great idea to help Anna plan once things get hectic.
Anna, I have been thinking about you so much. My sister recently had a new baby and I had somewhat forgotten how tiring it can be for a new or even seasoned mommy. I wish you so much happiness and SLEEP in the future!
This is a quick and easy recipe that is both vegan and delicious. I love to use the garden veggie pasta for more veggie packed goodness.
http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Pasta-with-Spinach-and-Tomatoes-Recipe-Cook-s-Country/40153/
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I should say, can be made vegan (I am vegan). But lay on the Parmesan if you like, it is delicious too!
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Congratulations to Anna and her husband, and welcome to the world, little Thomas. It’s so special to have a new baby, but a bit of a shock too. My recipe is simple, but can be enhanced if you have time.
Chili
brown one pound ground round with a half onion chopped (I also add chopped green pepper if you like it)
add two cans – favorite kinds of beans
and 2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 T chili powder
Done! Serve with shredded sharp cheddar & dollops of sour cream
Sometimes I separated the meat mixture out to accommodate vegetarians, and added rice as an extra choice
Cooking ‘real’ beans takes more time, but they’re more flavorful than canned.
Cheers for a little bit of cooking!
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Congratulations!
If I had it to do over again, I would take the advice of a picture I embroidered before I had children:
Cleaning and cooking can wait till tomorrow,
So quiet down cobwebs,
Dust go to sleep,
I’m rocking my baby,
Babies don’t keep!
I rely (even now) on a version of Chicken In a Pot from my hard working outside the house mother in law
Put a couple of onions and garlic if you like in a pot with some olive oil – not too much oil
Add boneless chicken (thighs or breast) and cook until brownish
Add peppers, carrots, zucchini, or any other fresh or other veggies you have around
Add LOTS of basil
Add a can (or two if you have a big pot) of diced tomatoes (the Italian family staple)
Cook for an hour or two – or however long you have!
Serve over rice or pasta.
The beauty is that it is best the next day or the day after or the day after that!
My family still considers it a staple!
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This is a great idea. Congrats to Anna. New babies are such a precious gift, but definitely time consumers. I’m not sure if you have a rice cooker, Anna, but around here South Louisiana) they are a God-send. A local author has put together a recipe book for the rice cooker. This is my favorite.
Shrimp Opelousas
submitted by Belinda Savoie from Crowley, LA ( near Opelousas)
1 lb. raw shrimp
1tsp. Cajun or Creole seasoning, to taste.
1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms, optional (I use fresh)
1 1/2 cups uncooked medium-grain white rice
1/2 stick butter
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onion
(I use a pre-chopped mix of onion and bell pepper)
parsley to taste
9 oz. water
Sprinkle seasoning over shrimp and massage it in. Add remaining ingredients, stir well, cover, and press COOK. Once cooked, and the COOK switch turns to WARM, let stand for 10 minutes.
Cooks for 32 minutes and makes about 6 cups.
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Congratulations, Anna!
Some of my favorite recipes:
Ina Garten’s Weeknight Bolognese: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/weeknight-bolognese-recipe/index.html
Giada de Laurentiis Orechiette w/ Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/orechiette-with-sausage-beans-and-mascarpone-recipe2/index.html
I make chicken in a crock-pot a lot. Use three large (or 5 small) chicken breasts, a can of salsa, a seasoning packet of taco seasoning, and cook on low for 8 hours. Although the original recipe didn’t call for it, I usually put a little water – less than 1/2 cup – in first and mix the seasoning with it. Then I put the chicken in, coat it in the seasoning, then salsa on top. You can shred the chicken for tacos, or I also put it in a bowl with brown rice, black beans, and whatever toppings I like for burrito bowls.
This website rocks as well, as does their cookbook. http://www.dinneralovestory.com/
Good luck!
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Congrats Anna and the rest of the family!!!! Thank you, Stacey, for including my recipe in this list. xo
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My pleasure, Jory. I love your blog. Your white bean hummus with spinach is out-of-this-world good!
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