Dinner Tonight

Today the hubby is at school. Usually I do not cook on the days he is at school, but today I let Estrella cook with me since she was so eager to. I decided not to follow the recipe I had plan for  today. Instead I wanted to use some left over uncooked Fettuccini I had and some sour cream. Here is what we made.
Fettuccini with Creamy Spinach and Tomatoes
 4 portions
Cooking Time: with a child doing almost all the cooking, 25 minutes! just you, probably 15 -20 min.


Ingredients:

6 oz. fettuccini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups of baby spinach
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sour cream (I like Daisy, best flavor)
1/4 grated pecorino
grated parmesan for serving
Salt, pepper
1 envelope of seasoning Goya, cilantro & achiote


1. Cook the pasta according to package, I put some salt on the water so the pasta has some flavor.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until beginning to brown, stir. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to soften tossing frequently. Add the sour cream an the seasoning Goya.
3. Add the Pecorino and the pasta, toss to combine.
4. Serve with some parmesan.
5. Enjoy!

This picture is nothing compare to the flavor of this meal, Estrella was so thrilled that she had cooked the whole thing, she ate it all and she doesn't even like onions!! but she overlooked that and thought it was delicious, it was!!!  She even served it and shredded the parmesan by herself. The only thing I did was to chopped the onion and the garlic, then handed her the ingredients as I explained and be sure her and Isabella didn't burn themselves on the skillet. That's why I didn't take any pics. I can't believe how much making a meal made a difference in how much they ate, Isabella had a big bowl of this meal and previous to that she was "helping" Estrella to stir but really she was getting little pieces of this and that on her spoon and eating them. She loves onion. Anyway, I thought it was an easy and child friendly meal, they loved doing it and they loved eat it. Hope you try it. Do you let your 4 year old cook with you? What are some good child friendly to eat and to cook recipes?

My inspiration came from the Real Simple recipe Whole-Grain Spaghetti with garlicky Kale and Tomatoes, on the February issue, you can totally try that one as well, it is fast and easy. I like to follow the recipes from the Real Simple Magazines, Cooking Light or Food & Wine. I make my menu once a week and go to the store with my list of ingredients for the recipes that week, sometimes I have all the ingredients but one at home, so my shopping list is not too big, sometimes I can't find one thing at one store and then I forget to look for it on the other one (I know, too much for a list) We have found this to be the best method for us, it helps us to avoid wasting food, we eat all the left overs in the same week we made the meal, and the best part, we don't spend too much on groceries. You won't believe it,  but I usually spend between $50 and $60 a week. I think that is a good deal, don't you think? How do you plan your meals? weekly, monthly?