Kelaguen
1 pound of your choice of meat, finely chopped
1 half to 1 cup finely grated coconut (try to find the UNsweetened kind, at a helath food store maybe) You can omit if you don’t like, but it won’t be as yummy!
2 teaspoon Fresh green onion, finely chopped (I like more!)
5 teaspoon Lemon juice
4 small Chili peppers (omit for those who don’t like spice)
1 teaspoon Salt
Pepper to taste

Mix all together, cover and store in fridge at least overnight to give it time to “cook” and get happy together! It is yummy! The trick is to chop everything really finely. Leftover smoked or grilled chicken or pork is also yummy! This is served at every fiesta meal in Guam. Serve it with finnadene sauce (optional).
Finadene (Guam All-Purpose Sauce):
1 medium onion, sliced or chopped
1 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice
3-6 hot peppers, chopped or crushed
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir. Add more soy sauce, vinegar or lemon juice until you obtained the desired taste.

1. Pouch Salad: Slice pita pockets open with a pizza cutter (older kid job). Stuff with what is on hand: lettuce, bacon bits, shredded cheese, sprouts, celery curls, carrot shreds, halved cherry tomatoes, etc. Put ranch dressing in a small container to dip pocket into or drizzle ranch over the top.
2. Hot Turkey!: Turkey and Pepper Jack sandwich grilled on the stove until golden brown.
3. Silly Pizzas: Slice open a English muffin or a pita into a circle shape. Add pizza sauce and grated cheese over all and then mushrooms, broccoli, pepperoni, and other pizza toppings to make faces. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for 7 minutes or until cheese is golden. Listen to “Silly Pizza” song from Signing Time. (from SigningTime.com) ON hot days we eat these without baking them. It is ok as long as all of the toppings are able to be eaten raw or are precooked.
4. I See Stars: This is a peanut butter and whatever (banana, jam, honey, strawberry sandwich) but here is the kick… make it out of one slice wheat and one slice white. Cut out a shape with a star cookie cutter from the middle of the sandwich and flip it around so you have white stars on a wheat background. (from Family Fun)
5. Breakfast burritos: Tortilla with scrambled eggs, salsa, cheese and pinto beans. (idea from McD’s)
6. Curly noodle Soup: Chicken Noodle Soup made with Ramen Noodles.
7. Octopus and Seaweed: Hot dog (microwave it with a wet paper towel around it) with the lower half of the hot dog shaped like eight legs over leftover cold spinach fettuccini or spaghetti noodles. (I think this idea is from http://www.FamilyFun.com See the site as I am not able to explain it that well.)
8. Little Dippers: Just put out a bunch of veggies, fruits, and cubed leftover meat with a few kinds of dip. Guacamole. Salsa. Cinnamon Dip: a cup of plain yogurt, a dash of cinnamon, and a half teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix and serve. PB Dip: ½ cup peanut butter, 1 tsp. honey, a smidge of cayenne pepper. Mix and serve.
9. Quicky Chicky: Boneless skinless chicken cut into cubes, 2 tsp. paprika, ½ tsp. salt, ½ cup flour, ¼ cup sesame seeds, black pepper, garlic salt, 1 cup oil. Shake chicken cubes in a sealed bag with the seasonings. Then fry in oil until golden. Drain well on paper towels. These can be stored in fridge for four days or freezer for three months. We eat them hot or cold. Or use leftover precooked chicken from the night before ad omit the flour and the frying. This one maybe from Family Fun too.
10. S.E.T.H.’s Lunch (Skewer Everything That (we) Have): Just whatever you have on hand on a skewer. Lots of times we have this the day after we have garlic shrimp and steamed broccoli for dinner.
11. Cut It Out: This is for the day after we have pasta for dinner and most kiddos are able to do this themselves. Use small cookie cutters to cut shapes out of sliced cucumbers, sliced mozzarella cheese and a plastic knife to cut cherry tomatoes into two. Add the shapes to cooked and chilled leftover pasta noodles. Add Italian dressing to the top or leftover marina sauce.
12. G.A.B.E. Potatoes (Go And Burn Everything): Basically hash or fried potatoes and leftover ground beef. The name comes from Gabe liking his very well done.
13. Covered Moss Sandwiches: An open faced grilled cheese with broccoli, carrot shreds or green beans stashed under the cheese.
14. Let’s Wrap: Tortilla or flat bread spread with sour cream. Sprinkle ranch dressing mix over the sour cream. Then add a layer of deli roast beef or very thinly cut leftovers. Add lettuce, carrot shreds, and sprouts. Wrap it up!
15. Sailboat Sandwiches: In a roll cut with a large ‘V’ shaped wedge at the top – like Subway used to do – stuff with “salad” mix. We use shrimp salad but tuna, egg or chicken salad works too. Then slice a piece of cheese diagonally. Put the cheese sticking straight up on top of the roll so that the cheese looks like sails. (from Family Fun)
16. Inside Outs: Take a piece of bread and flatten it (kid job). Place flattened cheese on top of a slice of cheese, then lettuce and then add a piece of meat on top. Messy but the kiddos think it is funny to eat the bread on the inside of a sandwich.
17. Quesadillas: Two tortillas with cheese and leftover Chicken Enchilada inside grilled on the stove or in a pan on the grill until crispy and cheese melted.
18. Chinese Fried Rice:
19. PB and J Pizza: Whole wheat pita with jelly as the pizza sauce and small dollops of peanut butter placed around as if it were a topping. Also add sliced bananas and strawberries.
20. Macaroni and Cheese with Peas: Cooked noodles with cheddar cheese mixed in and peas sprinkled on the top.
21. UFOs: from Family Fun. Spread cream cheese or peanut butter around the bagel and add a half bagel with a hard boiled egg in the hole. You can add raisins, carrot curls, bananas, or whatever on top of the cream cheese or peanut butter.
22. “You’ll Never Get This Again” Soup: Soup for the extra bits of leftover veggies and things that freeze in a tub in the freezer. Thaw in the morning. At 10 add a can of tomato sauce, some cooked ground beef or beef cubes. Simmer until warm about lunch time. Never have the same leftover bits so it never turns out the same twice.
23. J.O.S.I.A.H.’s Lunch (Just Omelets Scrambled In A Hurry).
24. I.S.A.A.C.’s Lunch – It’s Shaped As A Circle: Ritz crackers with lunch meat and cheese in the shape of a circle the same size as the cracker.
25. Lettuce Wrap: A deli meat and cheese sandwich but instead of bread wrap it up in a large Iceberg Lettuce leaf.

Cajun Pork and Orzo

1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 cup orzo (rosamarina) pasta
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Cajun/Creole seasoning, divided
4 boneless pork loin chops (about 1 lb)
1 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, cut into wedges, leaving root intact
1 green or red bell pepper, quartered
2 large carrots, halved lengthwise
1 large tomato, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper

In 2-quart microwave-safe casserole dish, combine broth, orzo, thyme, and 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning. Microwave on high for 12-14 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time, until orzo is tender and broth is absorbed. Season pork chops with remaining 1/2 tsp seasoning.

In small bowl, combine oil and garlic; brush over onion, bell pepper, and carrots. Place pork and vegetables on grid over medium-high heat. Cover and grill, turning halfway through cooking time, until internal temperature is 155 degrees and vegetables are tender (about 10-12 minutes).

Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces; toss with cooked orzo and tomato. Serve with pork chops.

Makes 4 servings

1 jar “Kraft Three Cheese Ranch Drsg. & Dip”
Dip with Baby Carrots (addicting!)
Dip with Red Grapes(use a toothpick)
Zucchini, raw, sliced
Walnuts
Portabella Mushrooms
Celery
Cucumber Slices
Cherry Tomatoes(use a toothpick)
Apple slices
Any favorite cracker, I like Triscuits(original)-Has unusual flavor with this.
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1 jar”Marzetti’s Sweet & Sour Drsg.”
Broccoli florets(microwave for 2-3 min.)
Spinach
Celery
Portabella Mushrooms
Brussels Sprouts(very unusual taste-good)(microwave for 3-4min)
Hard boiled eggs(cut in half-drsg.on top)
Tastes like a deviled egg. No more-all that work.
Red Grapes(use a toothpick)
Cherry Tomatoes(use a toothpick)
Cucumber slices
With any fish or seafood-cooked or canned. I use in sandwiches too with these. With mackerel it is very unusual.

Keep these in a wide mouth jar in refrig. for snacking. Watch out the carrots are very very addicting. These make a wonderful lunch, and can be filling. The kids will have fun dipping their favorite foods-like at a party. Experiment too. That is how I arrived at these, and I have just started.
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Lee’s(a friend) Marinated Carrots:
Two 14oz cans of sliced carrots, drained
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can tomato soup (Healthy Request is what I use.)

Drain carrots.
Mix remaining ingredients with the can of tomato soup until sugar is dissolved.
Then add drained carrots.
Make ahead so carrots can blend. Usually 24 hours in Refrig. It takes this long to blend the flavors-very important.
Serve cold in a bowl.
This is addicting too. A good take-along-dish for gatherings because it is cold and unusual.

But one of the roasted chickens at the grocery store (usually under 5 dollars here). Shred the chicken and add it to a bag of salad. I have a recipe for a broccoli salad from Kraft Food and Family that is just broccoli, red onions, bacon, and slivered almonds tossed in a vinegar/may/sugar dressing. Adding chicken to it makes it heartier.

I use my crockpot a lot too, since it doesn’t heat up the whole house. I use leftover taco chicken (chicken breasts with taco mix and salsa cooked all day in the crockpot) to make taco salad. Bag of romaine, taco chicken, tortilla chips, corn and black beans tossed in a salsa/ranch dressing mix. Delicious, the kids even eat it.

We also do yogurt, popcorn, fruit, and milk. I can get away with these easy meals because my husband works some evening shifts and the kids don’t usually care what we eat; they actually love cereal for dinner. I do try to cook something nice when he’s worked all day….thanks for all the great ideas here!

All of these ideas can be applied to hot weather except the spaghetti sauce. We eat a lot of salad in our household. In fact most of our dinners are protein and salad, especially me, the gluten free girl.

Also, make a potatoe salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a bit of basil and chives. It keeps well for a few days and can be used on a hot day so you don’t have to cook.

Make pasta and peas with sauteed onions and garlic in the morning, and serve that for dinner. Let it sit out for a bit before serving. Easy and the kids love it.