What is a good meal?

What makes a meal a good meal? Or should I ask, what makes a meal good? Is it the taste? The effort? How healthy it is? In fact, there are several characteristics that make up a good meal.

A good family meal is one that is quick, effortless, delicious, and nutritious. As well, if you want to dig a bit deeper, mealtime conversation is something that should not be ignored. Family meals are more than just sitting down to eat. It is a time to regroup with your kids and with your significant other. As your kids get older, it is a great time to find out about their day, their friends, and really talk with each other. No TV, no phone, no distractions. Just family and food.

I made one of my favorite meals last week and I will include a step-by-step recipe at the end of this post. One of the challenges with making dinner in our house is that I don't cater to anyone (maybe I cater to myself a bit, but since I am the cook, I think this is ok). If I cook it, and you don't like it, so sad, too bad. I don't actually say those words, but that is my stance.

I started with ground beef (this time lean ground sirloin), and cooked that with some Epicure guacamole spice mix. Other components of the meal included whole grain tortillas, sauteed red and yellow peppers, light cheddar cheese, salsa and light sour cream. The kids wanted their ground beef inside the tortilla with melted cheese. Easy enough. Just put the meat on half of the tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, and fold the other half over and bake for about 10 minutes. Presto. They have quesadilla's and salsa and sour cream for dipping. Add in some raw veggies and a glass of milk, and their meal is complete. I also cooked brown rice for me instead of the flour tortilla. My plate looked a bit different, but had some of the same foods. It had brown rice, layered with the seasoned ground beef and the peppers, salsa and light sour cream. Because I am a bit high maintenance with food, I also made a quick mixture of avocado and tomato, which I had as another side dish. I sprinkled the top of my feast with green onions and jalapeno peppers. My plate looked like a Christmas tree!

So what did the table look like? It had the quesadilla's for the kids, and all the rest was on the side. The beef, peppers, salsa, sour cream, avocado, green onions, jalapenos, rice...anything missing? Make up your own plate! Kid and adult approved!

Quick and easy, nutritious and delicious. 4 of my 5 criteria met right there. The last criteria is the mealtime conversation which was also pleasurable on this day. It is not always. Today there were lots of "This is delicious, mom!" which I never get enough of. There was no fighting, nobody saying "I don't like this", and in the end, the kids helped with the clean up.

Not everyday is like this in our house (not by a long shot) but that's why I needed to write it all down. Just to remember that it is possible to have all 5 criteria met during a meal.

Sherene's Quick and Easy Mexican Feast

Step 1: Cook your brown rice first. I have a great rice cooker/veggie steamer, that cooks the rice really well, but it takes a while, so do this first, and it will be done when you are ready. Just an FYI, the cooker is a Black and Decker steamer. Easy to clean, just takes about 45 min - 60 min for brown rice.

Step 2: Fry your ground beef. We use about 1 lb of lean ground geef for our family of four, so adjust as necessary. I always add in some spices, and for this particular meal, I used Epicure Guacamole spice mix. Any mix like this works, but this meal is versatile, and if you have your own set routine for cooking Mexican, then by all means, use yours. Put aside when done.

Step 3: Cut up your peppers and sautee them with a bit of olive oil. I also put a bit of my guacamole spice mix on top as well. Put aside when done. At this point, I may put the ground beef and the peppers in a warm oven while I am doing the rest.

Step 4: Prep the kids quesadillas. Sprinkle some ground beef over half of the tortilla, and then top with cheese. Fold over the other half. I did 4 tortilla's for my two kids. Bake in oven for about 10 - 15 minutes on 350. Can cut into triangles to make them finger-friendly! Save the rest of the ground beef for the adult plates!

Step 5: Prepare the side dishes. Grate the cheese, cut up green onions, jalapeno's, and whatever else you want to throw on there. Make a quick salsa. Cut up tomatoes, add your spice mix. Store bought salsa also works, but remember, I am high maintanence. I love homemade salsa. At this point, I also cut up the avocado, and threw in a bit of tomato. This way, I can have one more thing on my plate.

Everything is now ready! Call the kids, say a prayer for some good mealtime conversation, and enjoy!