Penne, Peas & Carrots

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By Marilyn Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

There are certain food combinations that will forever be associated with children – peanut butter and jelly; macaroni and cheese; and peas and carrots. Our boys love them all but prefer to eat their peas and carrots in a simple pasta dish that I’ve been making since they were toddlers.

This simple dish is perfect when you're in a hurry, but still want to prepare something wholesome and tasty. I use frozen peas and carrots to save time. Skip the half-and-half if you're counting fat grams and add a little more chicken stock instead.

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Breakfast for Dinner

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By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

I love breakfast but I don’t always get to enjoy it until the weekend. I mean the hungry man’s breakfast, such as eggs or pancakes or hash browns. So during the week, when I’m just about spent at the end of the day, I cook up what would be a Sunday kind of breakfast for dinner that takes less time than ordering takeout.

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Caramel Banana Bread

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By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

As the weather outside is getting slightly chillier, my need to start baking cinnamon-y, spicy or pumpkin-filled baked goods kicks into gear. I mean, just look at the fervor surrounding pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks; those flavors are what we all look forward to this time of year.

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Try a Chocolate Sandwich

By David Hu
A new video for Video Friday

I love pain au chocolat, similar to a croissant, but shaped in a puffy rectangle, wrapped around a core of dark chocolate. Since making French pastry is beyond my ability, I make the next best easy thing: Chocolate Panini.

This is a very simple recipe. You just sandwich baking chocolate between baguette slices, butter the outsides and cook on stovetop until the chocolate melts. The result is a buttery, melted chocolate concoction you will love.

The only tricky part in cooking is that, when you press down on the sandwich with a spatula, the bread tends to stick to the spatula, unsettling your sandwich, so a little patience is required. It is super-easy if can grill using a panini press, as in this demo.

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Aunt Jean’s Tucson Skillet Tacos

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

The Darland side of my family, that’s my Aunt Jean and Uncle Dick, and cousins David, Julie and Greg, live in Tucson. As a kid, Tucson seemed like a million miles away, and it truly was because instead of flying for a visit, in those days we piled into our “wood” paneled station wagon and drove the 1,951 miles southwest from Ann Arbor.

When we got there, the leafy green farmland I loved became a sandy hardscape with prickly cacti and scrubby brush that I feared. I thought we had landed on the moon.

I have lots of fond memories, though, once I acclimated to the foreign land. But one that stands out is my Aunt Jean’s tacos.

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