So, growing up in a house where big, huge, flavourful meals were the norm, you can imagine that I acquired a taste for the tasty. Now, I’m not a food snob, by any stretch of the imagination. I do enjoy a fancy-pants dinner out every now and then (Shmenkman, are you listening?!?), however I’d pick a big ol’, down home Sunday dinner with all the fixings over fancy-pants any day. My foodiness doesn’t just extend to dinner… there are so many layers. Does that make me an onion?? Hmmmm, okay, but just as long as it’s a Vidalia… But I digress ;)

I do love to eat, and being invited to someone’s house for dinner is, in my mind, a huge honour. The fact that someone would like to spend their time and money to prepare a meal for my family is something I don’t take lightly. The reverse is true as well. When we plan to have dinner guests, I usually spend at least a week agonizing over the menu, just to make sure that I’ve got all the bases covered as well as enough food. In typical Ukrainian style, I usually prepare WAAAAAY too much, but that’s generally because I’m horrible at judging amounts. Part of this stress also stems from the fact that, unlike my mother, I am an utter slave to cookbooks and following recipes to the “T”. If I don’t have every single ingredient on the page, I don’t make it, plain and simple. This fact absolutely mystifies Shmenkman who always says to me “So what do you think will really happen if you don’t add the ‘eye of newt’ or ‘wing of bat’?” Um, I don’t know… maybe the house would explode?? Do I really want to take that chance?? Better to just go by the book, right?!?

When Shmenkman and I moved from Alberta to Boston in 2002, I was about 20 weeks pregnant with Frank #1. Strangely, I had very few food cravings while pregnant with him, but the one I did have was Cheez Whiz on toast. Don’t judge me, I already told you that I’m not a food snob and this should pretty much cement that statement. So, after nearly a week on the road to get to our new home, all I could think about was how good that first piece of Cheez Whiz toast was going to be as soon as we got unpacked. There was only one problem. We couldn’t get Cheez Whiz in the greater Boston area (and believe me, I looked everywhere; there’s no determination like a pregnant woman with a craving). So, when my good friend Dave came to visit us a few weeks later from Ottawa, it was like the angels united and rejoiced when he popped open his trunk and there sat a gleaming, 2 Kg jar of Cheez Whiz. I nearly cried. In fact, I probably did… I rationed that puppy like there was no tomorrow, and whenever we had family come to visit, the standing request was for them to bring me Cheez Whiz. I completely overdosed on the stuff, and now I can barely look at the jars in the grocery store without gagging, but at the time it was such a comfort and reminder of home.

This “comfort-food” theme kept up while we lived in Boston. When we did get back to Alberta to visit family, we’d schedule time to see people only if they could meet us at our favourite restaurants. I’d also call my mom months in advance and casually (okay, repeatedly) throw out dinner menu requests, which she was always all too eager to fulfill. Due to the ridiculously high cost of living in Boston at that time, we really couldn’t afford to eat out very much, so our favourite restaurant became “Friendly’s”, which was especially fitting since they were great with kids, and Frank #1 was great with French fries. There was one fancy-pants place downtown that we went to once with Shmenkman’s old boss and her hubby, who were visiting from Alberta. It’s an Italian restaurant, and the name escapes me, but it was one of those multi-course extravaganzas where you eat until you hurt and pray that the button on your pants holds out… Believe me, we’ll go back there for sure some day (in elastic waist-band pants, though).

The other shining food moment that I can remember from the Boston years, was when I found out that Tim Horton’s had expanded into Rhode Island and upstate New York. Are you kidding me? I know that the Americans in the audience are likely Dunkin’ Donuts diehards, but opening a Timmy’s a mere 1.5 hour drive from an “Iced Cap”-starved Canadian girl is like presenting a swimming pool of drinkable water to one dying of thirst.

So, despite the fact that we’ve now moved back to Canada and I can get all of the Cheez Whiz and Iced Caps I want, there are still some foodie items that one just can’t get in the greater Toronto area. Shmenkman has a standing order to bring me a HUGE box of chocolate from “Chocolate Arts” in Vancouver, whenever he’s there on business. If you’re ever there, DON’T miss this place; they make the best chocolate in the world. My mom spends hours whipping up Ukrainian delights for our freezer when she comes to visit: perogies, cabbage rolls, crepes, etc. We usually also whip up a batch or two of borscht, although the kids won’t touch it with a ten foot pole; pshaw, what do kids know?!? My in-laws just spent a week visiting us and, prior to their trip, they had called to ask me if there was anything they could bring me from Alberta. They also casually mentioned that they’d be driving through Mundare on the way here… OH. MY. GAWD. Mundare is a teeny tiny Alberta town that is very well known for its Ukrainian garlic sausage. I’ve tried to find its equivalent out here, but it’s like that Cheez Whiz hunt in Boston; not gonna happen. So despite the fact that we haven’t seen my in-laws for months, and the fact that they came bearing many other gifts for my family and I, what was I most excited to see?? Yep, you guessed it: two glorious rings of Ukrainian garlic sausage. My cholesterol has, I’m sure, spiked a few notches, but I know that somewhere up there my Baba is looking down and smiling at her foodie grand-daughter who will, happily, pass the food obsession torch on to another generation. In fact, the process is already well under way… My youngest child, “Little Bit”, recently took her first steps. Despite months of all sorts of motivating techniques and words we had used like “Come to Mommy”, or “Go walk to Daddy”… she just wouldn’t do it. However, the first night my in-laws arrived, she took her first steps, from Shmenkman to his Dad. The motivator? A homemade chocolate chip cookie. Being a mom I got teary, of course. Being a foodie? Well, kids, some things you just can’t teach… and I nearly exploded with pride :)

ShaMoo

Is that not an adorable idea?! I totally have to try that. The thing I like about Bakerella’s creations is that they’re usually so easy even *I* could do it. Remember the burgers?! Keeps me coming back time after time.

So of course I got thinking about how to turn these to my advantage. I’m thinking school lunches here, folks. My Wee One is such a busy bee at school that she rarely ever eats her lunch, and then she’s beside herself starving by the time she gets home. We all know what that entails – tears, the odd tantrum, exhaustion. Yeah.

So how do I get this kid to actually eat? I often cut her food into sweet shapes with a canape cutter (the heart one is her fave) or small cookie cutter. That only works every so often though. Now I’m thinking Bakerella is on to something… bite size food on a skewer! Well, lolly pop stick anyway – can’t be sending skewers to kindergarten after all. Seal it up with “Press n seal” (with a lip that she can easily grab to remove) and that might actually do the trick!

Now, obviously I’m not going to send cake to school as her lunch. What else can I do that would be nutritious but fun to eat? Fruit skewers for sure. Some cheese… she loves deli meats. Hrm…

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for me?!

Anyway… late this afternoon I was sitting here working, when I was interrupted by a voice at my elbow.

“Mom. Mom. Mom. Mommy. Mommmmm. Mooooooommmmm. Mommymommymommymommymommy!!!!!”

It belonged to Wee One. “I’m hungry again!” she says, when I turned to press our noses together. OI! What is it about these kids that they expect me to keep feeding them?! What is she, four? Oh. Right. But then I looked at the clock, and it was just about 5pm. Oopsy.

Alrighty then! What to have… what to have. Did I mention I hate cooking?

Ok, spaghetti is quick… nope, no spaghetti in the pantry. Hrm. I know – penne with a quick meat sauce! Nope, no penne, no ground beef. I was sure I had both… better write them on the board. Ok, lets see what we do have then. Ok, well, I have a package of Smart Pasta rigatoni. Check. Pasta sauce… check. Nothing fancy, but I always add stuff anyway. Ok. Hrm. No meat. I really have to go grocery shopping! Oh wait, I have a coil of polish sausage in the freezer! Ohh, and I have cheese! Rock on! (geez I hope this doesn’t suck).

It didn’t suck! I got a thumbs up from every thumb at the table! Right on! Mom SCORES!

Here’s what I threw together prepared:

[Note: I could give you exact measurements, but I'd be lying. I rarely measure anything... I will never make it into a cookbook, but I'm ok with that.]

- 1 pkg Smart Pasta Rigatoni
- 1½-2 cups Sharp cheddar, grated
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
- a dash of olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 or 3 garlic buds chopped (or more, your choice)
- Half a coil of polish sausage (about 10-12″) cut into medallions or whatever shape you prefer. You could do more, but only if you have a BIG casserole dish. Half was good for me.
- 1 can of basic pasta sauce
- Oregano, Marjoram and Sage – a pinch of this, a dash of that…

Set your oven to 350°F

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain but don’t rinse. Pour it into the casserole.

Toss with the cheddar cheese.

While pasta is boiling, do the sizzle thing with your olive oil, onion and garlic. When it’s soft, add your polish sausage and brown it up a bit.

Add your pasta sauce and spices.

Simmer a few minutes, then pour over the pasta in the casserole. Carefully mix together – it’s probably pretty full now! Cover and bake for 15 mins.

I put the mozzarella on just after it came out of the oven and allowed it to melt, but you could put it on at any point, and cook uncovered if you like it browned. My kids don’t, so I did it at the last minute.

It’s not pretty, but it tasted pretty wonderful!

Today she’s asking about how people stretch their food budget. Interesting topic – I didn’t even realize that I was doing just that until I started reading her blog a few months ago.  There are 4 of us, not including the furry, finned, or shelled beings in our home. I have a silent “rule of thumb” that I try to keep dinners at $10 and under, except on special occasions. It’s not so much that I “have” to do it, but it’s a psychic challenge I started a long time ago when funds were especially tight for us.

Meatloaf is a good way to do this – ground pork is much cheaper than ground beef, so I use a smaller amount of ground beef  and combine it with ground pork, plus all the other ingredients, like egg, bread crumbs, etc. I put diced olives in my meatloaf to give it a bit of extra flavor. Makes for a very yummy meatloaf.

We have fajitas quite often, and I slice a bunch of veggies to help fill our wraps, along with the chicken. This way we end up using less chicken, and we get the extra veggies in our diet.  My kids adore red bell peppers.

We love fish. Well, my husband and youngest daughter and I love fish. The Teen… notsomuch. I try to have it once a week, and Talapia is a very yummy, fairly inexpensive fish. I put them in a pan, put a dash of HP sauce (or whatever) and then some grated cheese, and bake it until it’s flaky. OMG yum! Put that with Basmati rice (I adore my rice cooker!!) and some veggies, and it’s an awesome meal.

I buy in bulk when there’s a sale. I bought a small freezer that I call my “stock up” freezer. We especially adore pork tenderloin, and it tends to go on sale on a monthly basis at the nearest SuperStore. I buy 5 or 6 packages each time, and that lasts us nicely until the next sale.

We have pasta once a week, and that is about as economic as you can get – buy a cheap pasta sauce and add your own spices and veggies/meat to it. I buy the slightly more expensive “Smart” pasta that has extra fibre, but it’s still a very cheap meal.

I don’t do coupons usually, but that is because I never EVER remember to bring them with me. I’d love to be as organized about that as this lady is, but alas, I just don’t think it’s meant to be.