Cooking | Digital Dads

Posts About ‘Cooking’

The Veggie “Problem”

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

As a red meat loving, bacon craving, veggies make a nice colorful splash on the side of my dish type of guy I’m kind of stuck.

You need to know that I do all the cooking in my house. I plan the menu, do the grocery shopping and then do all the cooking. Over the years, I’ve learned what the family does and doesn’t like and can keep the variety going pretty well.

Then two weeks ago, my daughter Emily announced that she wanted to try being vegetarian. I thought this was great for her to try and was very nice these past two weeks not cooking some of her favorite dishes (such as salmon and steak) that might tempt her. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her to try it during her two weeks.

But, then yesterday she told me that she is going to keep on doing it. I asked her why and she said. “because I kind of like it.”

Now, I FULLY support the idea of being a vegetarian. For me, it is just not something I could do as I enjoy all food and wouldn’t want to limit myself. We’ve always joked about how Emily could be a vegetarian because she has always loved her vegetables, but she also loved fish and meat as well. I suggested to her that she could definitely dial down the meat and fish in her diet without giving it up completely.

But, I’m stuck now because I don’t know what to do and I’ve got some worries including:

I want to make sure she gets enough protein and iron in her diet.
The idea of cooking almost two separate meals every day is not something I’m looking forward to.
I don’t want to fall into the “well we can just make pasta again” trap because that is far from healthy.

I know there are plenty of books, articles and blog posts about this out there, but I also wanted to throw it out to you guys and gals.

While on the good side it’ll force us all to eat more veggies, on the other side this feels like a big old headache coming my way. I want to support my kids in all the decisions they make in life, but I also have to look at how this decision effects me as well.

Advice?

Tags: Cooking, vegetarian
Posted in Cooking | View Comments

Fruity Sausage

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Hillshire Farm makes some great products that I’ve cooked with and enjoyed for years, so when they contacted us here at Digital Dads and asked us if we would be interested in trying some of their sausage and sharing it with our readers how could we say no?

Kielbasa is an interesting meat that can be used in a variety of situations from breakfast to dinner. If you didn’t read Chances breakfast recipe you should, but be warned it’ll make you hungry. We were sent two packages of Kielbasa and a cookbook that I can’t wait to try some new recipes out of. We thought it would be fun for Chance and I both to share a recipe and then let you win some sausage. (really not meant to be as dirty as it sounds!)

Here is my recipe for a quick, easy and tasty supper that is a breeze to make any day of the week. It is a little weird and a little different, but you can keep the ingredients on hand and whip it up when you suddenly have soccer practice and no time for anything else.

Fruity Sausage

Ingredients

2 packages Kielbasa
2 Large cans of Fruit Cocktail in heavy syrup
2 Boil In The Bag Brown Rice

Cooking Instructions:

Cut the Kielbasa into bite size chunks and place into a large frying pan over medium heat.
Cook until heated all the way through
Drain out as much of the fat as you can
Place the sausage back into the fry pan and pour in the two cans of fruit cocktail
Heat all the way through until the fruit is hot
Make the rice as instructed on the packaging
Place a few large scoops or rice on the plate and spoon over the fruity sausage mixture
The rice won’t be good left over, but the sausage and fruit will reheat just fine on it’s own

We want YOU to get something out of this in addition to 2 great recipes, so Hillshire Farm has agreed to give away a year supply of sausage to one lucky reader. This contest is open to US residents only and don’t worry about the size of your freezer, you’ll be getting coupons from the company rather then a stack of meat.

You can enter the contest one of two ways. Either rename this recipe for me since I had to make up one for this post OR post your favorite Kielbasa recipe in the comment field below and then I’ll pick a winner and announce it here on the site.

If you are looking for recipes, swing on by Hillshire Farm’s Recipe Page for a variety of options. If you try one let us know.

Tags: "hillshire farm", Cooking, recipe, sausage
Posted in Cooking, Recipes | View Comments

Memorial Day Essentials

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

The time has come for the official kick off of summer. Now all those ice cream stands we love and the clam shacks we shouldn’t eat at but do anyways will begin to open up. We’ll flock to the beaches, hit the trails and spend as much time outside as possible.

I’m a year round grilling guy. As long as there isn’t a foot of snow on the ground I’ll try to BBQ. When it is warm out I grill pretty much every night that I can. Some people are scared of the grill and there is no reason you should be. It is a magical and awesome thing.

This weekend is actually a boys weekend for me because my wife and daughter are headed camping with the Girl Scouts. We’ll be finally taking in the latest Star Trek movie and I can’t wait. But, what do you need to survive the weekend? Here are my essentials for a good Memorial Day Weekend.

Beer
There are few things that top an ice cold beer outside on a sunny day with friends. Lots of brands will put out special summer brews or new varieties. Summer is a great time to try new beer because there will be plenty of friends around to give them to if you don’t like them. I always try to stock up with at least one staple and then mix it up every time for variety. By the end of summer you’ll have a scattered few of everything which is fun. Give Sam Adams Summer, Magic Hat #9 and Harpoon IPA a try as great starters that never miss.
Meat
Sure, you might want some vegetables and other things to go with it, but at the end of the day I’m a carnivore and thus I need good quality meat to make it through the weekend. Don’t skimp and save a few pennies. Get the good stuff! Most grocery stores now have a section of the meat counter for the better cuts of meat. Sure, they cost more, but they also taste better. When I really want to go all out I make my way down to Whole Foods because they have an amazing meat counter and I can get lost there. Mix it up with some fresh fish and grilled veggies. Few things top a nice New York Strip and some fresh shrimp on the grill. (Recipes soon I promise)
Sunscreen
This is essential and don’t you dare get all macho on me and say you don’t need it. The sun is bad for your skin and that is a fact. If you are going to be spending time outside this weekend (and you better) then you need to put on the sunscreen. Get one that has a high SPF and is sweat proof. That way you can put it on and forget it. Read the bottle though to see how long it is good for so that you make sure to put more on when needed. Make sure to put it on your and the kids and get every corner of exposed skin. Don’t forget behind the ears!
Music
You can’t have a great summer without awesome music. Fill up your iPod and crank the tunes. Make a playlist that you can fire up any time you want to get your grove on. Don’t just stick to the mainstream and find new artists. I always like asking friends what they are into and always check them out. Some personal favorites for this time of year would be Lee Coulter, Matthew Ebel and Now is Now.
A parade
Show your support of the veterans and the town you live in. Most will have a Memorial Day parade of some sort and maybe it is the small town guy in me, but I love these. Something old school Americana about them and it wouldn’t be the same without them. We’ve always gone to the cemetery over Memorial Day as well because it is an important thing. I know that Emily is going to be flagging graves as well. Don’t forget why we have this weekend and all the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy it.

What else do you need for a successful Memorial Day weekend?

Tags: Barbecue, beer, Cooking, Grill, Memorial Day
Posted in Guy Stuff, Holidays | View Comments

You MUST Learn to Cook

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

I’m always amazed at how few guys know how to cook. I don’t care if you are a Dad or not, you must learn how to cook more then ramen noodles and anything you can pop in the microwave.

I show this picture of a Christmas Prime Rib I made not to showcase what you should be cooking, but to say you can cook this. I had never made it before. I was watching The Food Network with my daughter one night and it sounded yummy so I gave it a try. I was scared to death that I was going to burn it or mess it up in some fashion, but in the end it was simple to make. Pretty much, stick it in the over and forget it.

Trust me when I say that there is no faster way to a woman’s heart (and other parts *grin*) then through her stomach and if that isn’t enough of an incentive to learn to cook, then I don’t know what is!

To get you started, here are some of my personal favorite sites to find simple, well documented, easy to make recipes:

In the future we’ll be posting some of our favorite “guy eats” right on this site to help you confident enough in the kitchen not to be scared of it. If you have some favorite recipes please contact us so that we can share them.