Homemade “Magic Shell”

Remember “Magic Shell” ice cream topping? That super-sweet chocolate coating that magically hardened into a crisp “shell” the second it hit the ice cream was a favorite when I was growing up. Turns out, it’s super easy to make yourself.

Buttered Rice with Green Onions and Pecans

It’s always good to have a few easy and delicious sides in your recipe arsenal! This one has become a favorite in my house. The title basically says it all: make some long-grain white rice (add a little salt to the water before cooking.) Once it’s ready, fluff with a fork, then stir in some butter, sliced green onions, and chopped pecans. Serve hot.

Carrot and Fennel Salad

I’m posting this lovely spring salad not because it’s a delicious recipe (though it is perfectly yummy,) but because I made it after declaring that there was nothing in the fridge–Nothing but some wilting fennel and a carrot. After trimming and shredding them, I made a little vinaigrette with a spoonful of mustard, some vinegar, sugar, and olive oil. Tossed in some chives and mint (the only herbs that have come up yet in the garden) and some salt and pepper. Easy, delicious veggie side about a minute! It just goes to show that if you can get creative, you can almost always pull off something healthy and homemade.

Zucchini, Green Onion, and Yogurt Quiche with Feta

I had to share this lovely quiche I made last night for dinner. It needs a bit more perfecting before I’m ready to post the recipe, but maybe it will inspire you to make something eggy and delicious this weekend. (Forgive the iPhone photo!)

Picky, Picky

I was recently interviewed for this piece about picky eating on the Huffington Post. (For those of you who don’t know, I’m Regan.) I’m lucky in that my kids aren’t all that picky. I mean, they’re still little kids–they don’t always eat whatever I put in front of them, and they often drive me nuts at dinnertime, but I’m proud to say that I very, very rarely make something extra for them to eat. (My husband and I always say that we don’t win every battle, but we’re winning the war!)

There’s a lot of information and tips on the Web about how to get your kids to eat better. For us, it’s just cooking from scratch, serving a reasonable variety of foods, eating at the table (even snacks), and not making a big deal about the kids’ refusal to eat something (but they do need to try it!). I, in turn, try to make the food taste good, and sometimes that includes the use of a little (gasp!) butter, white flour, or sugar. In my opinion, if your kids are gobbling down bowls of kale chowder, who really cares if there’s a tiny bit of heavy cream or bacon in there? Not me! It’s better than a diet of vanilla milk and Goldfish! (Yes, I know a family whose kids ate that way!).

We’re also lucky that I enjoy cooking and have a decent amount of time to prepare and plan meals, but I can tell you that even when I was working full time at Martha Stewart and commuting over an hour each way to New York City, I still made homemade meals and baby food about every day. How, you ask? Well, a little planning helps (though as my husband will assure you, I am NOT a great planner or scheduler!) But if you take a few minutes at the end of each day to think about dinner the next—maybe even marinate a piece of meat for tomorrow–you’ll be in a good place when you get home. Another big help–learn to cook some dishes from memory! Following recipes–all that measuring and timing–can make cooking tedious. When you’re making savory dinner foods, once you know the basic method and ratios, you won’t need to follow a recipe. (But stick to recipes for desserts, always!).

How about you? Are you winning the dinner wars?