Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Sausage and Cauliflower Gratin

Before the arrival of baby #2, I need to figure out how to do a meal plan once a week then stick to going to the store twice a week, without Charlie.  He thinks he gets a cookie every time we go to the store.  How do I avoid breaking him of this habit?  By not taking him anymore and when I do, he gets a special treat.  Is that bad?  I potentially have a VERY spoiled child on my hands.  My sweet little 2 year old.

I signed up for emeals.com through groupon and so far the recipes are working. 

I made this last night and my two picky eaters ate it.  Charlie just picked through for the cauliflower but at least he ate something other than breakfast food!

Sausage and Cauliflower Gratin 
8 cups cauliflower florets
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 (4-oz) links sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2 cups chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 (26-oz) jar bottled marinara sauce (I think you should add less to taste, one jar was too much to me)
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped (I would half this next time)



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange cauliflower florets in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam cauliflower 2 minutes; pat dry. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; sauté sausage in oil 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Stir in salt and marinara sauce; reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes. Toss cauliflower and olives together; arrange in a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Pour sausage mixture over cauliflower; bake 25 minutes or until heated. 

Here is a photo just to make this post more interesting (we are redoing our backyard, it's going to take about a month):  


The ivy is gone, the fence is new, and we have removed all the trees but two.  The rest were dead because the ivy grew up into the branches and suffocated them.  Ivy is evil!


Charlie LOVES the improvements.  Backhoes!  Excavators!  Dump trucks!  Rocks! He had an absolute melt down last night when it was time for bed.  "I want more running" was said over and over and over.