So, I'm not sure how it works in your house, but with six boys, they each expect me to make a dinner specifically for them. I'll leave you to do that math of how many dinners I would be making each night. ;) One kid loves avocado, one kid hates it. One kid could eat salmon every day, the other won't touch it but will eat avocado if it's diced, not mashed. Heaven forbid if some tomato gets on the avocado... I'm sure you know what I'm talking about?! I used to run around my kitchen in dizzying circles trying to prepare each kid's dinner AND have it all neatly plated, and put on the table at the same time, so we could all eat together as a family. Now, can you guess how many times I was actually successful in doing that, beyond having a massive headache by 6pm?! Bingo! ;)
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And this my dear busy mom friends, is why I love bars. Nope, not for drinks... I'm talking about kid friendly bars! Our favorite weeknight dinners are DIY bars where each kid can pick and choose what he wants on his dinner plate. Anything from pizza bars to taco bars, sweet potato bars, falafel bars and salad bowl bars, we love them all! I love it because I prepare ONE dinner and put it out on the table. win! We all (all 8 of us) sit down together and everyone helps and serves themselves. win! They love it because they are in control and choose only what they like. win! I love it because they end up eating everything on their plate, so I'm not throwing away half eaten dinners. win! So, you see why I love these DIY bars so much!? It takes out all the hassle, frustration and (well, most of the) chaos of dinner time. All that we are left with is everyone sitting together and listening about everyone's day.
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Last night we had a DIY Salmon Taco Bar. The prep took me less than 10 minutes. I prepared the Salmon before I headed off to run carpool and put it on "Bake and Hold" (my most favorite invention EVER). When we came home from school I prepared the bok choy salad, the tangy coleslaw, chopped up some tomatoes, avocado, mango, green onions and radishes. Put out tortillas and the salmon and boom! We were ready to eat. Try the recipe for yourself and join us in our Busy and Healthy Moms Facebook group and let us know how it goes :)
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ORANGE GLAZED SALMON
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets
1⁄2 cup orange juice
1⁄4 cup honey
1 small garlic clove, crushed
salt and pepper
Directions:
Place the salmon on a parchment lined baking sheet. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
Make a glaze by bringing the juice, honey and garlic to a boil over a low flame. Pour glaze over salmon and bake on 350 for 15 minutes.
Serve with soft tortillas and a "bar" of toppings such as: diced tomatoes, diced avocado, diced onion, diced mango, tangy slaw, salsa