"Love What's on Your Plate" by Stephanie Valentine

Meals are an adventure. I've been saying it for years. I have three children, one of whom is a vegetarian. Sometimes I will cook a meatless meal for everybody if things are busy enough. If I have the time, and I usually do, I will cook one vegetarian meal for The Oppressed and a meal with meat for the rest of the family.

Trying New Recipes

Wife and I like to try food from different parts of the world. Her tastes are a little more exotic and adventurous than mine, but that doesn't mean I would say "No" to something new. Wife and the kids do like to eat Asian cuisine. I lean more toward Cajun food. I cook it whenever I get the chance.

Cooking meals can be a bit of an adventure for me in other ways. Three children to cook for means looking for the lowest common denominator when I do decide to cook one meal for everyone and not a separate vegetarian meal. I have to find something I know all of the children will eat. Of course, there is also the issue of Wife and myself, who will also be joining the family in the evening. My selection usually pass with the family and no one leaves the table hungry.

Need a New Recipe? Here's Some Help

Stephanie Valentine
(photo: svliving.com)
That's not to say every cooking chore is a hit and every meal earns rave reviews from the Miracles of Christ. My children can be some of the harshest critics around. After years of time in the kitchen, I have learned to just go to work and prepare something for the family. Kids may like it, kids may not like it. Daddies and Mommies know dinner may or may not pass with the critics.

There are plenty of recipes to try. Whether the children try them is a different story. Thankfully, Stephanie Valentine has more than a few ideas for when it's time to figure out what's for dinner. Stephanie has written "Love What's on Your Plate: Wholesome Recipes to Cherish and Share", a book that is, "built for busy kitchens" as she likes to say. She has taken her background in food and cooking and combined it with her work in helping people find and create healthy, satisfying meals despite a busy lifestyle. This combination has resulted in tackling the daily "What's for dinner?" dilemma that families everywhere deal with.


"Cooking became my creative outlet and our kitchen became the heart of our household. In it, there was a buzz of warmth and love, bonding. Through sharing meals and hosting holidays. memories were always being made, which turned our house into a home."- "Love What's on your Plate: Wholesome Recipes to Cherish and Share" 

Stephanie grew up in a home where people gathered around home-cooked meals and shared stories. She wanted to have the same loving atmosphere when she had her own home, and when she met her husband, Mark she "played house" by cooking dinner for both of them to enjoy at the end of the day. Her bridal shower was a cooking class where people brought their favorite recipes. Stephanie still has the binder of recipes filled with favorite meals friends and families shared.



Daddy Needs to Cook Dinner

Rocket Salad 

Rocket Salad. Our first course.
I got a digital copy of "Love What's on Your Plate" and set out to find a recipe that my family would enjoy. Lucky for me, I was able to find two recipes for the same meal. I started with Stephanie's "Rocket Salad". This is a quick, easy to make salad that is a great start to your main course. The recipe includes a dressing that is just as easy. You can garnish your salad with fresh Parmesan cheese peeled from a block if you would like.

There was a small problem for me when shopping for the ingredient. I went to multiple stores and nobody had a pomegranate. The recipe called for pomegranate seeds. I thought Pomegranate was one of those superfoods that all of the stores were carrying now. None of the stores I went to were, not even pomegranate seeds themselves. I had to freestyle and use dried cranberries for this recipe. Rocket Salad was a great start for the family. Even The Oppressed was willing to try a plate.


Tipsy Garlicky Chicken

Tipsy Garlicky Chicken. Our main course.
Our main course, tipsy garlicky chicken was another easy recipe to put together. I started by making the marinade, then coated the chicken and finished with white wine. After that, it baked in the oven for 40 minutes. Wife, Lovie, and the Boy liked this recipe. I did too. If your looking for a relatively fast recipe to use up some chicken that needs to be cooked, try Stephanie's Tipsy Garlicky Chicken.


"Love What's on Your Plate" also has recipes for breakfast and desserts. There are tips for setting your table and, for the Jewish readers, there is a section for the Passover Seder and the book's introduction gives a little more insight to the recipes and dishes inspired by Stephanie's upbringing. There is plenty to learn and enjoy from Stephanie Valentine inside this book.

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