Kids Cuisine

Funny how it’s the little things you are proud of. We were eating dinner out, pizza, for the Kiddo’s birthday. One pizza had meatballs on it. The waitress asks us if we like our dinner. The Kiddo tries a meatball, picks at the pizza, and looks at the waitress and says, “These meatballs aren’t like my Mommy’s.”

To be fair, they were decent meatballs, but made with sausage and a bit heavier on the pepper. Still, these are the words that make a Mom’s heart sing. She likes my cooking! After all the food worries from the days of baby food, to eating dirt, to Battle Orange, to now, she likes my food.

It’s these comments that keep me trying. I decided maybe I would take on the, uh, cuisine at school with some real versions of their dishes. First I had to figure out just what those are.

Basically, two-thirds of the meals consist of some kind of condensed canned soup, a meat, and a starch. So it goes like this; chicken and noodles, ham and noodles, beef and noodles, beef and rice, chicken and rice, ham and potatoes … and so on. Three ingredients, not a tough challenge. I had some Thanksgiving turkey, cooked, in the freezer, so I opted for the recipe du jour of Turkey and Noodles.

Real Turkey and Noodles
1 lb. cooked turkey, chopped
1/2 lb. pasta (I like whole grain Barilla plus)
1 shallot, chopped
4 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Cook the pasta as directed. While waiting for that, heat the butter in a sauce pan. When it is melted, add the shallot and sweat until translucent. Add the flour, whisking and cooking the “roux” until it just starts to smell nutty, or cooked, but has not yet started to brown. Slowly add the stock, whisking as you go to keep it smooth as it thickens, about five minutes. Add the cooked turkey and heat through. Season to taste.

Drain the pasta when it is just al dente. In a 9×9 baking dish, combine the noodles and the turkey mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the panko crumbs with the grated cheese. Sprinkle on top. Place baking dish under the broiler for just a few minutes to make the crunchy topping golden brown. Serve.

This is basic and tasty comfort food. What makes it good is using real ingredients, not processed, canned soup full of saturated fats (it uses just butter and not cream as well) and salt in a gluey mass. The Kiddo really liked it, and frankly, so did I. Real food doesn’t always have to be slow. The recipe takes less time than a trip through the drive-thru. However, I am now being requested to pack someone’s lunch for school every day.