DAY 8

Prosciutto, Cheddar, and Apple Sandwich

Grade: A-
Source: Pure Flavor, by Kurt Beecher Dammeier and Laura Holmes Haddad. Copyright 2007 by Sugar Mountain Cookbooks. Used by permission of Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Pots: 1
Planning suggestion: Slice the cheese and bread in the morning, and assemble everything except sliced apples.
Notes: Oddly, making four sandwiches was more time-consuming than I thought. I used Pullman bread and a makeshift panini maker (a 28-ounce can of tomatoes inside an all-clad soup pot, all on top of the sandwich.) This was not exactly healthy, but with an arugula salad I could justify it. I've since made it for lunch with weekend guests—huge hit!
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DAY 9

Fish Tacos on Homemade Tortillas

Grade: A+
Source: Tortillas from Rick Bayless on squidoo, recipe by Cindy Kennedy/Our House and Garden.
Pots: 2
Planning suggestion: Chop the cabbage and the tomatoes in the morning.
Notes: This was an example of how you can upgrade one part of a meal to completely alter the experience. We've had fish tacos before, but we'd never made tortillas from scratch. It was nothing short of miraculous. Phoebe got really into making the tacos (and was actually a help as opposed to an impediment) and loved eating them. She ate the taco with fish, tomatoes, and ketchup. At least the fish was inside and there were things mixed together. Abby was less enthusiastic—she ate about half a small tortilla, six or seven grape tomatoes, and one bite of flounder that she promptly gagged up. But all in all, a big success.
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DAY 10

Chicken with Alanna's Brussels Sprouts

Grade: A
Source: My coworker Alanna
Pots: 2
Planning suggestion: Prep sprouts and marinate chicken in the morning.
Notes: Short on time, I soaked the cutlets in olive oil and "Abby's special spice" (a.k.a. garlic salt). Like most successes, the overall meal was a happy accident. Although I wasn't planning it, I had bought some beautiful Brussels sprouts, and at the last minute decided I didn't want to waste them. I made my friend Alanna's recipe but added a little bacon and pine nuts, since grilled chicken and sprouts sounded like a cruel joke for the girls. It reminded me that with an interesting side dish, you really don't have to do anything to the main dish. The kids ate the chicken, bacon, and tried a sprout each.
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DAY 11

Shrimp Curry

Grade: A-
Source: Epicurious
Pots: 3
Planning suggestion: To cut the preparation time to 20 minutes, buy the shrimp shelled and chop the ginger and onion ahead of time.
Notes: I decided this was the perfect marriage of two things that the girls loved separately: Phoebe loves curry (Abby can tolerate), and Abby loves shrimp. As usual, Phoebe ate it up, but Abby proved a harder sell. We added lime juice, salt, and Vietnamese sriracha chili sauce for some heat, eventually evolving the recipe into a keeper. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking that maybe mangoes would have been nice, too.
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DAY 12

Steak Salad with Horseradish Dressing

Grade: B+
Source: Me
Pots: 2
Planning suggestion: Steam potatoes and chop onion and tomatoes the night before.
Notes: The goal was to replicate this entrée from Keen's Steak House in Manhattan, which is basically just a steak salad with horseradish sauce. It worked well for the kids because we served it the way we serve all salads—deconstructed. Abby ate tomatoes, potatoes, and a little steak; Phoebe had everything. Neither would try the horseradish sauce, which was disappointing, but we'd definitely make it again.
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DAY 13

Salmon with Todd's Minty Pea Sauce

Grade: B+
Source: My friend Todd
Pots: 1 broiling pan, 1 cookie sheet (but foil on both means no cleanup)
Planning suggestion: Make pea sauce on the weekend and freeze it. You could also slice the potatoes the morning of and keep soaked in water all day to prevent browning.
Notes: Last summer, my friend Todd made us a minty pea pesto for toasts. It was basically pureed thawed frozen peas with garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, mint, and Parmesan. I've made it for myself a dozen times since then and love the fact that you can make it year-round. Here, I was trying to convert it to a sauce, so I omitted the Parmesan and added more oil and a little water. With the broiled salmon, it was delicious. Phoebe tried dipping her potato in the sauce, but not her salmon. Abby wouldn't go near it, but ate the salmon begrudgingly.
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DAY 14

Swedish Meatballs and Potatoes

Grade: B+
Source: Alton Brown and The Food Network
Pots: 3 plus 2 big mixing bowls
Planning suggestion: There's not much you can do to make this easy—embrace this as a weekend project.
Notes: We discovered something about Abby tonight: She can get embarrassed about liking new food. Her first instinct is to say she doesn't like it, so we don't make a big fuss over her. Tonight, we pretended not to even notice that she was eating it. Andy even whispered, "You don't have to tell us you like it if you do. You just have to eat it." And then they pretended it was a secret. It was also fun to do some project cooking on the weekend; we knew they'd be somewhat receptive because we were employing a familiar vehicle—the meatball.
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Next Page: Week Three Meal Plan