Week 9 - Mothers' Day Especial

Since it was Mothers' Day, Kitchen Mom got her choice for dinner tonight.  She asked for enchiladas, so we got to work; kitchen ninja style.

Full disclosure.  I'd never made enchiladas before.  I'd eaten a lot of them in the past, but I'd never actually taken the time to think through what goes into making them.  Breaking it down was easy.  3 simple ingredients: cheese, sauce, and tortillas.  We toyed with the idea of store-bought sauce, but that just didn't seem right so we set out to make our own enchilada sauce from scratch (with a can of El Paso in back up just in case!)

For body in the sauce we minced a quarter of an onion and sweated it down in some olive oil.  Wes smashed up a couple of cloves of garlic that we put through a garlic press and added as well.

Once that was cooked through, we added a couple of spoonfuls of flour and made a quick roux (I like thick sauce).  Once the flour looked cooked, we added a bunch of spices that sounded Mexican: cumin, red chili powder, onion powder, and salt).  Then one small can of tomato paste went into the saucier.  I grabbed a whisk and Wes began to add chicken broth to the roux.  We went until it was a half as tight as I wanted it to end up (about 3 cups if I had to guess; add another cup of broth if you like thinner sauce).  When everything was incorporated, we left to sauce to bubble away.

Next was the tortillas.  Some day I'm going to make my own, but not today.  We took a package of store-bought corn tortillas and cooked them in a small skillet with a little bit of canola oil.  Each tortilla cooked for about 2-3 minutes per side, just enough so they were pliable and not raw.  I used the tortilla going in next to blot the excess oil off the one coming out.  We did the whole dozen, but only 10 ended up fitting in the pan.

While I prepped the tortillas (Wes still isn't up to frying quite yet), Wes went out and picked some fresh cilantro.  He cleaned it himself and I helped him get a good chop on it.  He also grated a block of cheese (we mixed white and yellow cheddar).  All of that went into a bowl and we also added 1/4 of an onion, diced and left raw.

We set the oven to pre-heat at 350 degrees, but moved the shelf to the top because we're going to end it on broil.  While the oven heated up, we set up our prep line.  And this is where it got interesting and messy!

  This was full on teamwork at it's finest.  We started the pan with a thin layer of the sauce at the bottom.  I took the hot tortillas and dipped each one in the still bubbling sauce.  Tongs helped, but ultimately it took fingers.  As I laid each tortilla, Wes took a handful of the cheese mixture and filled the middle.  I rolled them up and slid them to the side.  All 10 fit in very tightly.  Then Wes covered the whole mess in even more cheese.  Definitely not for the lactose intolerant.

We filled the whole pan up and it went into the oven for 15 minutes.  Once everything was good and bubbly, I switch over to broil for 5 minutes to finish the top.  While we were waiting, we heated up some black beans and a bowlful of corn.

How did it turn out?  Well, the El Paso is still in the cupboard.  Wes ate THREE!!!  And beyond that, well this picture says it all...

Happy Mothers' Day from the Kitchen Ninja!

Week 8 - South of Border Again!

First pasta over and over again and now Mexican food.  We definitely get into ruts around here; but usually in a good way.  This week we were going to grill, but the grill was way dead (trip to Home Depot next week for a new one!) so we decided to go with Arroz con Pollo instead.  For the gringos and gringas in our loyal readership that would be "rice with chicken".  Deliciously slow cooked chicken and rice to be exact.

We started out dicing a bunch of veg.  One white onion, one whole red pepper, a carrot and two celery stalks all got a small dice.  Everything the same size for even cooking! (I swear I must say that a million times to Wes as he breaks down the produce.)  No pictures here -- I figure you know what Wes looks like with the knife by now.

Next three medium sized (meaning normal size, not those mutant, hormone grown monstrosities from the mega mart) boneless, skinless chicken breasts went into our dutch oven with a little olive oil.  These were cooked until they started to get a good brown on the outside, but definitely not cooked through.  Medium high heat helps speed this along and also builds that good crust on the bottom of the pan.

Next went the vegetables with a pat of butter for flavor.  Onion and carrots first because they take longer.  Pepper and celery next, all cooked until translucent.  We worked the tasty burnt chicken bits off the bottom using the moisture from the cooking vegetables.  Two cloves of garlic got minced and tossed in and let cook for a couple of minutes.

The next step is a big cheat, but it saves a bunch of effort.  We took a box of Spanish rice (spice packet included!) and dumped the whole thing into the Dutch Oven.  Goya is the favorite brand here, but any cook in a pot kind will work.  A couple of big stirs to let the rice and spices coat all the vegetables, then we added one large can of diced tomatoes and nestled the chicken back into the pot with all this goodness.

Wes shook up a carton of chicken broth, and that was added until everything was covered in liquid.  Once the liquid started to simmer, on went a lid and the whole thing was dropped to low.  Wes went and played Legos and we let the whole thing cook for about 30 minutes.  I checked about 20 minutes in to make sure there was still liquid cooking away.

At the 30 minute mark we took the lid off and fished out the chicken breasts.  We took them over to a cutting board and Wes shredded the whole thing into little delicious pieces.  Wes insisted on calling it a tearing board for the rest of the night.

After a quick trip to pick some cilantro from our garden we were ready to eat.  Wes had seconds, I ate myself sick, and mom saved everything for leftover lunches all week long, so I think it turned out pretty well.

Next week -- the long awaited return of Ask the Kitchen Ninja!

Week 7 - Easter Not-Brunch Kitchen Ninja Style

Wes's choice this week and he wanted to make breakfast for Easter (he of course refuses to call it brunch because he's worried he won't get lunch if it's brunch).  Mostly I think that the idea of unwrapping a ham and watching it bake in the oven didn't overly excite him.  Side note:  Kitchen Mom is making Potatoes Romanoff with our Easter dinner. Do yourself a favor and check out the recipe at the link.  Fantastic!

Okay, back to kitchen ninja training.  First and hardest job was peeling the boy away from Easter baskets and jelly beans.  Not an easy taks.

Since it was totally Wes's choice, he decided the entire menu.  He wanted Cheesy Eggs, bacon, McDonald's-style hash browns and OJ.  Kitchen Mom jumped in with his favorite cinnamon rolls (store bought) and a fresh fruit salad.

Eggs first.  I have to say that I'm crazy proud of my boy here.  He totally went for it on the egg cracking and just nailed it.  Part of the goal for this whole project was for him to gain confidence in something and he was so awesome in his fear-free approach to the eggs.  6 eggs; no shells!  We added a little milk and salt and Wes whipped the eggs up quick like. 

I chopped up 1/2 lbs of bacon and started that frying on low on the stove top.  We agreed that we wanted low mess so we could get outside and play instead of cleaning the kitchen (sunny and 70 degrees today!), so bacon-topping won out over strips.  Much easier and more fun to build your plate at the table.

Next was the cheesy part of Cheesy Eggs.  Wes worked the grater and broke down 1/2 a block of cheddar. 

So now it was time to bring it all together.  We got a big non-stick skillet out and added a big hunk of butter.  Today's lesson: the best way to scramble an egg.  Once the butter was melted, we poured in our egg mixture.  Low heat!  Wes watched closely for the eggs to start to set along the outside.  Once the egg turned white, he used a spatula to gently push the cooked egg to the center of the pan, pausing long enough to let uncooked egg fill in the gap.  Gently and continuously repeat until all of the egg has set up.  I jumped in and helped here and did a flip of all the mostly-cooked egg.  1/2 the cheese went into the pan next with the heat off at this point (even on our gas, the carry-over heat is plenty to finish the eggs and melt the cheese; if you're using electric kill the heat earlier).  Wes was great gently folding the cheese in one handful at a time, reserving some for "super extra cheese" at the table.

Toaster hash browns were kind of anti-climactic at this point.  Frozen kind into the toaster oven.  But Wes monitored them like a pro while I got everything ready for the table.

Eggs went into a serving bowl, bacon bits in another, and extra cheese in the last.  Plates got piled high and completely polished off.  Another success.  Now back to those jelly beans...

Week 6 - Cheater Fish Tacos

So this week was our first big challenge week.  The NBA playoffs started today, and the Lakers were the marque game at 3:30 EST.  That meant that we needed to get our cooking done while also trying not to miss the start of the "journey to 3-peat".  (In hindsight, we clearly could have spent as much time as we wanted in the kitchen since the Lakers stunk up the place today...)

The challenge was to come up with a dinner worthy of the Sunday Supper title, without having to spend any more time in the kitchen than necessary.  The ideal meal would be assembled during half time and be ready to eat by the 4th quarter buzzer.  So we decided to go semi-homemade (no relation to Sandra Lee) and to make Cheater Fish Tacos.

I came up with this recipe totally on my own, but everyone that's tried it has raved.  The ideal is crispy fish, creamy slaw and spicy hot sauce all coming together in a fresh tortilla. Only without any of the effort that should go along with that.  It's crazy easy.

First we had to make the slaw.  Wes chopped up about a half dozen radishes matchstick-style.  Those went into the bowl first with a heavy pinch of salt (mixed well of course).  Then we took half a head of regular cabbage and shredded it up (I cut, Wes separated) and that went into the bowl as well.  A good handful of minced cilantro and enough sour cream to make it creamy went in next.  Finally we squeezed in the juice of one small line.  Everything got mixed well and then into the fridge to come together.

Then the cheating starts.  From the freezer we grabbed a box of our favorite fish tenders (you could do fish sticks but the batter-to-fish ratio isn't as good).  They went onto a baking sheet and into the oven following the directions right off the box.

And we went back into the living room to enjoy the game.  Right in time for the second half to start.

At the end of the third quarter, we went back into the kitchen to finish our prep.  First we put a can of black beans on the stove top.  Wes got to open his first can!  He's ready to be a hobo now.

Then we followed Rick Bayless's direction on heating store-bought corn tortillas.  I'm going into detail here because this is important.  You have to moisten a tea towel and wrap up a dozen tortillas in the damp towel.  Then put the towel-wrapper tortillas into a Ziplock plastic bag.  Do not seal the bag, but rather fold it over.  Microwave the tortillas on medium for 4 minutes and then let them sit for 3-4 minutes before taking them out.  From there, straight into the tortilla warmer (you've got a tortilla warmer, right?)  By some magic, this transforms store-bought tortillas into the same yummy perfection of fresh made tortillas.  Magic.

Right as the game was falling apart--err ending, dinner was ready.  One last important ingredient -- srircha!  Not for Wes, but for me.  Wes kept asking how old he had to be to try the rooster sauce.  I was game, but Mom was all dirty looks so we postponed to another time.

All the tacos came together.  Wes polished off 3 himself!  And everyone was happy and that special kind of full that comes from eating just one taco too many.  The finally tallies of firsts for Wes: (1) first time eating a radish (2) first time opening a can by himself and (3) first time using the oven.  Not a bad day
and another successful Sunday dinner.  Now if we could have just fixed the Lakers...


Next week:  Easter Brunch!

Week 5 Redux - The Sloppiest Joes Ever

With Wes's teeth now firmly back to 6 year-old normal (meaning a big gap in the front) it was time to return to our normal schedule.  That meant that our delayed attempt at homemade Sloppy Joes was back on!

First we started with a quick and simple cole slaw.  Pre-shredded cabbage went in a big mixing bowl with a couple of large spoonfuls of mayo.  A shot of apple cider vinegar, milk, and a squeeze of lemon juice went on top.  Add a dash of salt and a teaspoon of sugar and we were set.  Wes mixed everything up with a big spoon and after 3 big "tastes" he declared success. 

I, of course had to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this one and added a palm-full of fennel seeds.  Sounded like a good idea at the time but big mistake.  The fennel seed was too strong (I might try ground fennel another time).  I spent the rest of our prep time trying to pick them out the seeds one at a time...

On to the Joes.  We started with one yellow onion, one red pepper and a couple stalks of celery or as Wes now knows it by: the Holy Trinity (I only feel slightly guilty that he knows three diced veggies together as a the Holy Trinity but doesn't know what the actual Holy Trinity is; that's another post some day...)  On the exciting side, Wes is getting much better with his knife skills.  He broke down the celery almost by himself and he's really starting to get how to curl his fingers under on his off-hand to avoid cutting his finger tips off.

While Wes sauted all the veg I prepped the sauce; it's funny that six weeks in I'm already comfortable with him at the stove without having to hover.  The sauce was straight forward.  One can of tomato sauce, half a bottle of ketchup-style chili sauce, worcestershire sauce (hilarious watching Wes try to pronounce from the bottle!), a little djoin mustard, a little apple cider vinegar, and a splash of water to thin it out.

After Wes browned the ground beef for about five minutes, we added the sauce over the top.  The sauce simmered for about 20 minutes or so until the whole mess was fit to be spooned on to the buns.  Wes toasted the buns in our toaster oven and set the table while we were waiting.

The Sloppy Joes were a big hit!  A little tangy, a little sweet, and a little salty all at once.  The fresh vegetables had a much better consistency than what you normally get out of the can.

We added pickle chips and crinkle cut potato chips to round out the meal.

And after, we ended the meal with chocolate ice cream and brownie sundaes!  Two happy kiddos and a belated successful dinner (excluding my fennel nightmare at least!)

Next week, my cheater fish tacos!

Celebrating our 500th vistor!

Woohoo.  We've crossed the 500 visitor mark.  Thanks to everyone who has read the site and even more thanks to those that have re-posted the link.  Remember to add comments or vote on any of the posts.  Thanks!

Kitchen Ninja Q&A Time!

Welcome to my new favorite time of the week.  It's time to "Ask a Kitchen Ninja in Training"!  Without further ado, let's get to it.

Reader Auntie Quincey asks:

"I heard that mac and cheese is on the eventual menu so that question was answered... I want to know about the culinary skills. Wes, what's your favorite part about cooking? I know you can't do EVERYTHING just yet (working with big knives, cooking with oil, etc.) but what are you looking forward to the most?"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Hmmm."  Long pause for effect.  "Hmmm.  I do not have a favorite.  I like to do everything.  My favorite thing so far is using the knife to cut celery."

 The Kitchen Ninja's favorite blade is a 4" Mac paring knife.  It's light-weight but has a good size handle and a rounded tip.

Reader benjamom writes:

"You could do "diners, drive-ins and dives" but with kids?"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Yeah!  I would love to have a show like that but with kids.  I would, um, let's see, I would eat Mexican food and pasta.  Uh, I would eat Sloppy Joes.  I want to move on to the next question."

Alrightly then.


 

Next question comes from reader Dan who writes:

"I wanna know, when is the flambè episode gonna air? Also, please do a recipe from Sandra Lee's cookbook as a way to show Wes what NOT to do! =-)"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"I don't even know what that means.  I don't know what anything from the sentence means."  After Kitchen Mom helps explain flambe, the Kitchen Ninja adds "I don't want to do fire.  It looks dangerous.  Actually yes I do want to do it.  No wait, I really don't want to do it.  I think I want to go to bed."


Okay buddy, but hold on for one last question.



Reader Grammie asks:


"Way to go, Wes!!! You guys are rockin'.....and this is so much fun for us to read! I love the Ninja character your daddy made! I am definitely going to buy a shirt and a cup so I can think of you every day while having my cup of tea....:)"

Okay not technically a question but a great plug for our on-line shop! http://www.cafepress.com/CookingwithWes


Okay, that's all for this week and the Kitchen Ninja is off to bed.  Tune in Sunday when we take another swing at Sloppy Joes.

Week 5 - DNP: Coach's Decision

  

So bad news.  Wes took a tumble going up the stairs.  His previously loose tooth is now dangling and he cut his gums up pretty good.  He's off to the dentist first thing tomorrow morning (and quite excited about not having to go to school!  He's hoping the dentist says to stay home for a week; more likely he'll be back for lunch.)  He's been a good sport, but no chance that spicy Sloppy Joes were going to work this week.

We punted and fell back to comfort food.  Wes got his normal penne pasta with butter and cheese.  He was quite pleased.

He did get some cooking in for mom and me though!

Check back next week when we should be back as good as new!

What's on the menu?

Coming soon...Sloppy Joes!

Chef Wes has decided that this week's Sunday supper will be home-made Sloppy Joes (none of that canned stuff for us).  And I thought we'd do a simple cole slaw to go with it.

If you have any tips, tricks or recipes for our Sloppy Joes and Cole Slaw, post them below.

Tune in tomorrow to see how it goes!

New Feature - Ask the Kitchen Ninja

As a new feature this week, Wes and I thought that we'd answer some reader comments/questions in a feature that we'd like to call "Ask the Kitchen Ninja". (full apologies to the folks at askaninja.com)

Question 1 comes from Aunt Angela who writes:  " Love this!!! So which Trader Joe's sauce do you like?"

 The Kitchen Ninja responds:


"Hmmm.  I don't know any of them.  Well, I can't really describe it.  I don't really know any of the sauces.  It's the one that's in the pantry."


Parker added (in a whisper):


"It comes from the grocery store."


Hope that helps Aunt Angela!


Question 2 comes from Lisa in Connecticut who writes:  "Love it!  Can't wait to see the cook books and TV shows."  (okay technically not a question, but this is Week 1).

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Hmmm.  I think I would like to have a TV show and cook books because I would be very happy.  My TV show would be about how to cook pasta very good."

So, Food Network talent scouts, if you're reading, Wes is ready to cut a deal!

Our final question of the week comes from Lynn from parts unknown who asks:  "I just read the blog.  They are creating much more than dinner together.  Going by the first three weeks entries, they will be able to publish a cookbook...'52 Ways to Make Pasta'!"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Whoa.  I think that would be really awesome and I think I'll be famous when I make a cookbook. 

I could eat pasta every week because I'm usually hungry."



So that's all for this week.  Keep your reader questions and comments coming.  Post them as comments on this page or on our Facebook page.  Remember, we're here for you...and the pasta.

Week 4 Part Deux - Tacos for Everyone

Wes's second favorite food is tacos (yes he ranks his favorites habitually like a character from a Nick Hornby novel; one night he rattled off his hierarchy of best friends).  So with enough pasta dishes behind us, it was time to move on to tacos.

More specifically, Wes loves what we have always called White-Boy Tacos.  White-Boy Tacos is a term coined by my good friend Brandon's mother.  Abby used to have all the kids over to her house and she would stand and fry tortillas for the tacos for easily an hour.  We would have contests to see who could eat the most tacos in one sitting (our friend Jake still holds the record I believe with 14).  My mom made the same and she used to try to fry the tortillas to order at the table which never worked because she couldn't possibly keep up with my brother Rob and me. 

So what make a taco a White-Boy Taco?  It starts with a corn tortilla fried golden brown in hot oil. In goes ground beef, cheese, tomato, onion, sour cream optionally, and absolutely nothing that in any way resembles something you'd actually see in Mexico.  No spicy, no hot, and definitely no mystery meat.  Hot sauce can be added; our preferred is Duck Sauce (El Pato).

Problem is though, tacos are not exactly kid friendly preparation.  Frying the shells was definitely out.  I struggle with cutting tomatoes on my own.  And Wes and hot onions don't go well (he hides his eyes so they won't burn).  That did leave grating cheese which went okay.

The big "cooking" came at the table in the form of taco assembly.  And Wes definitely excelled in the table prep.  4 tacos later Wes was a happy camper.

I didn't really feel like same-old tacos tonight though.  A few months back I got a new Rick Bayless cookbook and I had been dying to try out some of the recipes.  I'm a huge Rick Bayless fan and since we had a 3rd adult for dinner (a definite rarity) I figured I would bust out tacos two-ways.  So on top of White-Boy style, we made chorizo and potato filling.

First we roasted a poblano pepper on the gas cook top.  First time for me and it was fun burning the living heck out of it.  Then we cooked a couple of peeled and diced red potatoes in the microwave on high for 4 minutes.  Chorizo went into the skillet to cook, then replaced with onion (both Spanish and a red).  Then the poblano and a diced roasted red pepper.  The whole mess went back in for 5 minutes and a crusty chorizo hash came together (it's actually substantially the same as the chicken hash recipe I stole from Truman Capote's book and which will show up in a future week).

This came together with a simple guacamole that Parker and Mom knocked out (2 avocados, juice of a lime, 1 minced garlic clove, pinch of salt, a handful of cilantro and absolutely no sour cream).  For these tacos we actually steamed the corn tortillas for 4 minutes on medium in the microwave wrapped in a damp tea towel and inside an open plastic bag; they came out tasting freshly made.  Just tortilla, hash, and a dollop of guacamole.  The filling was smokey and contrasted perfectly against the cold avocado.  Heaven.

Not to be out done, Parker also requested something different so she got a cheese quesadilla.  Thank goodness that Grammie was still here to help with dishes because I was pooped.  Dinner was a success and everyone laid around completely stuffed after, though Jake's record was definitely safe tonight.

One month down!

Week 4, Part 1 of 2! Wes Goes Solo!

Two dinners this week!  Since I worked from home on Friday, Wes and I decided to cook both Saturday and Sunday.

Mom and I went to Whole Foods to do some shopping as an extravagance.   $200 later we had half a shopping cart of food.  (Have you ever notice that Whole Foods shopping carts are smaller too?  It's like furniture used for staging a model home.  Some how the smaller cart makes you feel less guilty at how much everything costs there.  Evil, evil store but man everything looks soooo good there.)  While wandering the aisles, I tried to come up with something for dinner tonight that Wes could make almost entirely by himself.  In the produce section it hit me: Caprese Salad.

Wes washed all the produce, I sliced the tomatoes, and he did a chiffonade of basil.  Wes salted the tomatoes, drizzled olive oil and the basil.  And then the best part.

Wes got to take balls of fresh mozzarella and smash them.  He really got into it, using a pastry cutter to render the cheese into flat globs.  Then he ripped the cheese into bits and scattered it over the salad.  Pepper was optional at the table out of respect for Mom and Grammie and their pepper allergy.

Next we moved to the main course.  Jacque Pepin's perfect omelete.  Tony Bourdain says that every man should know how to make an omelet, so I figured we should knock that out early in the project.  6 eggs cracked in a bowl (with most of the shell not getting in the bowl) and whipped up with milk and a handful of chives.  I can't do justice to explain the cooking process, so if you're interested here's a link to how I learned.  And yes, I used a fork on a non-stick pan but come on, it's not like you dig in and try to take the coating off.

As another side we sauted some fresh brown button mushrooms in brown butter.  Wes missed this part because he had to go take care a neighbor's dog.  It's okay though because it was as exciting as watching a pan full of mushrooms cook in a quarter stick of butter.  Shake the pan once or twice to turn the mushrooms (but not too much or you don't get that great browning).

We sat down with a nice bottle of wine (at least for me and Mom) and best of all:  Wes loved everything we made!  He gobbled up the salad and the omelet and he went back for seconds and thirds on the mushrooms.  All in all, quite the success.

Tomorrow night:  White-Boy Tacos!

Week 3 - Meatballs for Grammie

As our third week rolled around, Wes was still riding the high from our prior week success. With his grandma in town, he asked if we could make the same meatballs again. He felt the pressure and wanted to go with something that he knew. Plus he wanted to touch more raw meat.

We followed the same exact process, but Wes was more adventurous. He diced most of the vegetables and really got into working the sauté. Plus, I felt more comfortable with him with the knife and actually let him do some of the dice on his own.

Dinner was a success and Grammie was impressed.

Week 2 - Wes Touches Raw Meat!

So as the second week rolled around, I asked Wes what he wanted to make. He said pasta again. Big surprise there.

I explained to him that we needed to branch out a little. I asked him if there was anything he wanted to try. He thought. And he thought. And he thought. Then he smiled a giggled a little and said that he wanted to touch raw meat. As budding-serial-killer visions ran through my head, I decided to make the best of it and asked if he'd want to make meatballs. He agreed and we were off to the grocery store.

My meatballs aren't very traditional. But hey, there's no Italian blood in this house. First carrots and celery were diced and dumped in a pan to sauté. Wes got to dice and to stir in the pan so he was stoked. Next came shallot and once everything was cooked, it went into a big bowl to cool. And we were off to play Xbox while we waited.

Into the bowl of cooled veg went meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal), an egg, parsley, parmesean cheese and bread crumbs. And then we got dirty! Wes got in there like a pro and banged out a dozen meatballs in no time. At first he thought the feel of the meat was weird, but he really got into it. It reminded me of him playing with Play-Doh.

We sauted the meatballs in a heavy pan (I know I should rest them in the fridge but people were starving). Then simmer in the pan with a jar of sauce. No Prago this time but instead my favorite sauce from Trader Joes. Pasta, more Parmesean and some parsley and dinner was served!

How was it? Well even Parker ate some. Mom said it was the best she'd had including from restaurants. Week 2 was definitely a success.

First Try - Practice Week

I asked Wes what he wanted to make for his first Sunday dinner, and after quite a bit of thinking he said "pasta". No surprise since that's one of the only things he actually likes to eat. So week one was spaghetti with meat sauce. Yeah, not really exciting.

Water boiled. Dry pasta got dumped in to the pot. The big challenge for Wes was calculating what time the pasta would be done by reading the box. Woo hoo!

Now the sauce was a little more fun. One pound of ground beef went into a hot pan. Salt, garlic, and dry herbs that sounded Italian all got sprinkled on to the meat. Wes got nuts with it.

Then we dumped a jar of Prego on the meat. Everything went in a big bowl and I found some parsley in a the fridge to throw on top.  Yep, it was that good.

But it tasted good. Food made it to the table. People were fed. No one got burned or bleed. No one got sick. High fives all around.