Thursday, May 21, 2009

"MomDonalds" Dinner Date

So tonight I decided to try a fake-them-out "MomDonald's" Happy Meal. I even made up some bags to serve them it--toy prize and all! They liked the idea of it (and loved the toys) but were not going to be fooled by the food. Well darn them! It was fun to try anyway. ;o) I also used this dinner date to showcase our food of the week-berries!
(at least they had fun)


Blueberry Fontina Sliders
(serves 2 adults and 2 toddlers)

Ingredients:
1 lb. 94/6 (or 80/20) ground beef
1/2 pint of fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp. herbs de provence
3 slices of fontina cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Slider buns (Pepperidge Farms just came out with some that are HFC free!)
olive oil

1. In a blender, puree the blueberries until smooth
2. In a medium bowl combine the beef, berries, herbs de provence, salt and pepper
3. Using your hands, form slider sized patties.
4. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the burgers to the pan and cook on both sides until desired doneness (ours were med-well).
5. In the last minute of cooking top each slider with a small piece of the fontina cheese
6. Serve on the slider buns. (I also wrapped them up in parchment paper fast food style.)

These were really good. The girls weren't impressed honestly but I think that had more to do with overall disappointment at it not actually being from the 'real' golden arches. Kara and I thought they were really good. The blueberries made what could have been drier/less flavorful burgers (due to the 94/6 ground beef) juicy and flavorful. I served them with carrot and zucchini sticks cut to french fry size with some ranch dressing for dipping. Again...non-plussed.

Blackberry Mango Smoothies
(serves 2)

Ingredients:
8oz. Ceres mango juice
4oz. vanilla soymilk
1/2 pint fresh blackberries
1/2 c. frozen mango

1. Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Serve!

Here's a little video to show the reaction to this meal. You can see the initial excitement shortly followed by disappointment. Be sure to watch Abby's reaction to the smoothie and her realization that her french fries were swapped out for veggies. Priceless.



Maple Sour Cream Strawberry Pies
(serves 6)

Ingredients:
2 frozen or refrigerated pie crusts
1 pint fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 egg white

1. Roll out the crusts and cut into rectangles
2. In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, sour cream and maple syrup
3. Top one half of each rectangle with a scoop of the strawberry mixture.
4. Brush egg white along the outside edge of the rectangle. Fold it in half and pinch the sides closed with a fork. Cut a couple slits in the top.
5. Brush the tops of the individual pies with more egg whites
6. Bake on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve!

These were the all around hit of the night. So easy, good ingredients and oh so yummy.

Just for fun...the toy prizes in action...


I hope you all have a nice Memorial Day!

3 comments:

Kara said...

Bwa ha ha, I just noticed my HUGE glass of wine right behind the dancing toys. Our dinner date secret is out ;-) Sorry Abby was so anti-smoothie - I keep trying them on her, but the kid does not like smoothies one bit!

Unknown said...

So wicked cool! I've actually made smoothies for Ben. He only drinks them if he helps make them. It's weird. I usually just do Yoplait Strawberry banana yogurt, a banana, some strawberries and milk if it's too thick.

Kirsten said...

I just stumbled on your blog - thanks for all of the great recipes! :)