Recipe Box: Healthy meals for busy parents – The Dickinson Press

DICKINSON — In the October 13, 2002 edition of The Dickinson Press, Rhonda Hecker sat down with daycare owner Beth Strube, who shares how she makes it work as a working mother with 3 daughters at home. Her recipes include teriyaki pork kebabs, meatball hoagies and sub sandwiches.

October 13, 2002

Beth Strube, owner of Funshine Express, implemented flexible scheduling to allow employees the freedom to put family first.

Beth realized today’s busy schedules leave working women little time to spare for appointments, school activities, or even making nutritious meals for their families. Beth and the parents working for her are able to take off from work to take care of personal commitments as needed.

Personally, Beth has found “one of my biggest challenges is not running out to eat after work.”

Her “working mom’s” frequent concern is what can be done to prepare nutritional meals and after-school nutritious snacks in a time crunch. Beth enjoys cooking when she has time and when their busy family schedule allows them to eat a meal together.

Beth has been married to Ernie Strube for 15 years and the couple has three daughters, Megan, 12, Hannah, 9, and Sarah, 7.

The girls attend St. Wencaslaus School. All three daughters are involved in the Dickinson Dolphin Swim team which requires intricate schedule juggling, especially in the summertime. Ernie is involved as the swim team coach.

Beth used to be a daycare provider but found it was difficult to find a preschool curriculum to meet the needs of her daycare children.

Discovering a universal need for more preschool curriculums, Beth started Funshine Express one month after her youngest daughter was born in 1995.

With help and partnership support, her mother Patricia Ehlis and her sister Lisa Kessel participated in all facets of the business in the beginning.

Company employees design, write and produce preschool curriculum for ages 2 to 5. They offer a “lesson in a box” which includes a 50 pages handbook, a lesson for every day and all the materials needed to do the lesson, 12 times a year. They count, sort, cut, and bag even numbers of small or large orders.

Today Funshine Express has already outgrown one building and employs 16 full-time employees.

“As we’ve grown, we’ve been able to cut down on the number of hats we all had to wear,” Beth said.

The Strube family enjoys horses and have started doing more horse related activities, such as 4-H, as the girls become older.

They will move to a home in the country within the next year so the girls can experience the beneficial aspects of county living.

In her spare time, Beth enjoys gardening, canning, cooking, horseback riding, reading and working out. She is also actively involved in PEO, a benevolent society that furthers educational opportunities.

She attributes her love of cooking and canning to her father and grandmother although she credits her mom for her culinary skills.

Beth relies on quick and simple recipes and tries to do as much preprep work as possible the night before she uses the recipe.

Here’s some recipes her family really enjoys:

Teriyaki Pork Kabobs

Serves 5-6. Hint – meat, fruit, and vegetable cubes should all be cut approximately the same size.

2 ½ – 3 lbs lean pork loin, cubed

Marinate the meat overnight or at least six hours in:

⅓ cup soy sauce

⅓ cups red wine vinegar

scant ¼ cup oil

3 Tbls. honey

1 Tbls. ground ginger

1 clove minced garlic

Drain the meat and assemble it on bamboo skewers with the following items:

1 large can pineapple chunks, drained

2 Gala or golden delicious apples, cored and cut into chunks

1 green pepper, cut into chunks

Grill over hot coals until the meat is no longer pink. Serve with brown rice, white rice, or a pilaf.

Meatball Hoagies

Serves 4-6

6 Hoagie Buns

shredded Mozzarella cheese

Mix and form into balls:

1 lb. lean hamburger

½ Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs

1 egg

¼ cup milk

½ tsp. salt

Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until done. Drain and place in a crock pot.

Pour 1 jar of store bought or home made spaghetti sauce over the meatballs and add extra Italian seasoning or garlic powder to taste.

Heat for at least several hours on high or until meatballs are tender.

Slice meatballs in half and place on hoagie buns. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.

May broil to melt the cheese if desired. Serve with a salad and sliced fruit!

These freeze well and can also be served over spaghetti noodles.

Family-Sized Sub Sandwich

Serves 5-6

Blend:

6-8 oz. softened, light cream cheese

1 Tbls. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp. garlic powder

fresh ground pepper to taste

1 loaf French Bread – slice lengthwise and spread both sides with the cream cheese mixture.

Then layer the following items in order:

¾ lb lean deli meat – 2 kinds

2/4 lb. deli cheese – 2 kinds

large romaine lettuce leaves – washed and dried with stalks removed

thin green pepper slices

thin red onion slices

Wrap tight in plastic and refrigerate until serving.

Serve with a favorite soup. This will keep well overnight and is great for leftovers!