Lentils and kale, it's kid food?!!

We had a fantastic trip to California last week. Everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly and I spent today getting back to the grind. Went to the market, attempted to clean house (didn't get far...) and made a yummy dinner tonight.

Made our standard roasted chicken (check old blog entries for recipe), some rice, roasted kale, which we call "disappearing chips" in our house and some delicious lentils.

I got Emma to help me prepare the kale by tearing the leaves from the stem, I drizzled the olive oil and she added some pinches of salt. (recipe is also in old blog entries).

Was craving some whole grains so I made some lentils, they are so easy and really good mixed in with rice and kale.

I boiled 2 cups of water and a little bit of chicken bouillon. When the water was boiling, I added in 1 C of rinsed lentils and a Tbs. of butter. I reduced the heat to medium low and covered. I let the lentils cook for about 25 minutes until they were soft, but NOT mush. I turned them off, tasted them and seasoned with a little salt and pepper.

I still can't believe my eyes when I see my kids piling on roasted kale to their plates followed by spoonfuls of lentils and rice. They didn't really even want the chicken! My girlfriend dropped in and I had her kids eat a "disappearing chip", they both liked them, and I whispered to her what it was!

Don't be intimidated to give your kids foods you think they will NOT eat, you will probably be suprised.

We also packed our food for the plane trip home yesterday.

Here are some foods that travel well.

Boiled edamame in the shell
Baby carrots
Presliced apples in the bag (these come straight from the market)
Roasted chicken roll ups- perdue cooked chicken breast rolled up in a tortilla, easy and clean to eat.
Rinsed and dried garbanzo beans
Any kind of nut, preferably NOT salted.
Small bag of chopped lettuce (can be purchased chopped from the market) with a little package of lite dressing (also prepackaged). SImply open the bag of lettuce, add the dressing and eat with a fork directly from the bag. Clean, healthy and you can add in some of the apple, carrot, garbanzo bean and almond to spice up your salad.

Glad to be home and a BIG THANK YOU to those of you who told me what you were having for dinner. Your meals sound delicious!!