did they eat it?

Crusty lemon Chicken.

This recipe is from a book called Seat of the Pants Suppers. I love this book because it's made for people like me who don't like cooking all that much but want to sit down with their families for dinner. I love the name of this recipe because it makes me think of an old piece of chicken collecting dust in a corner. Old and crusty. Yumm... I should write menus for restaurants.

Ingredients:

*One Chicken Breast (about a pound) cut up into 4 serving pieces (I cut mine again because they're often too thick to cook through fast enough.

*1 Cup of italian seasoned bread crumbs (I'd use a 1/2 cup because I throw out a TON)

*Juice of one lemon.

*1/4 cup olive oil (divided)

*2Tb. butter

Dredge chicken in breadcrumbs, don't skimp on them.
Heat half the olive oil, all the butter and all the lemon juice in a skillet.
Put the chicken in the skillet. Brown one side until it's brown and crusty.

Flip it over, add the other half of olive oil and get that side all brown and crusty. Make sure your chicken is cooked through.

These breasts were awfully thick and took a while. Next time I'm going to smash them down to make them equal thickness.

We had Chase and Erin here for dinner so that affected how much the kids ate. Every kid at least tried a bite. Maddie is usually a fan but said it was too lemony.

Max liked well enough but was busy making arm pit farts at the table. Lovely.

Chase politely swallowed his bite and then ate more of the crescent rolls and the mac and cheese his mom sent along for them.

Erin also tried a bite and was enthusiastic but once she tasted it she didn't like it. She did eat the rice medley I also served. All the kids like the rice at least a little.

Logan and I love this recipe.

Extra Tip For The Lazy!

I hate grease spatters all over my black control panel on the stove. Voila!

Molasses Glazed Turkey Breast.

You can find the recipe for this here. We made roasted quartered potatoes and roasted carrots to go with this.

We've made this twice now. (Logan cooks most of the meat in this house because I hate touching it.) The first time the kids didn't really eat it but this time the sky opened up and baby Jesus himself fell on our dinner table and made unicorns dragging rainbows behind them fly out of the turkey breast.

Everyone not only liked this meal, they loved it. I sobbed at the table....tears of joy.

The only thing I'd say about this recipe is that we've made it twice, we have a thermometer in our oven and each time it's taken almost an extra hour of cooking time to get to the right internal temperature.

Here is a blurry picture of Logan's plate. He was shaking in anticipation I think.

Lasagna

I decided I wanted lasagna after being so sick the week before. I IM'd with Stefania and asked her for a recipe. She sent me to this recipe at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. Sublime. Delicious.

I made the whole thing and tried to get the oven to heat up.

But then the oven wouldn't heat up.

So the kids didn't eat the lasagna that night. We did and it was amazing.

Parmesan breaded chicken strips with pasta and sauce.

When I first started dating Logan I used to babysit for weekends or even weeks at a time for three little kids named Danny, Emmy and Willie. Sometimes Logan would come over while I babysat and the kids would show him all their Wolverine trading cards. Wolverine's (from the X-men) real name is Logan....jsyk. The kids and their cousins couldn't believe I was dating Wolverine. I couldn't either.

Anyway, the point of this was to tell you that Logan used to make these chicken strips for the kids when I babysat and you would have thought we were feeding them ice cream sundaes for dinner for how much they loved this meal.

Breaded Chicken Strips

1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound boneless skinless chicken cut into strips.

Put all this into a ziploc bag and let marinate for 30 minutes or more.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix 1/4 tsp (or less depending on your kid's tolerance for heat) cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs and about 2 Tb shredded parmesan cheese.

Dip chicken pieces in bread crumbs, coating. Put in 9x11 baking dish or on a baking sheet. (I put mine on a rack.) and bake at 375 for around 10 minutes.

Logan: Wooo!

Max: THREE HELPINGS!

This is looking promising as a family meal...could it be......

Madison: Eats two bites to "be sure" she hates it.

I drop kicked her out the front door.

Vegetable Marinara

This is a recipe we've never had before from Desperation Dinners.

3 Cups (12 ounces) Ziti
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion (3/4 cup chopped)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 large carrots or 12 already peeled baby carrots (for 2/3 cup)
2 medium yellow squash (for 1.5 cups sliced)
1 cup already sliced mushrooms (we'll be skipping this....even though I love mushrooms)
1 can (14.5 oz) pasta style chopped tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (6oz) tomato paste
1 tsp dried basil

1. Place the ziti in 2.5 quarts of already-boiling unsalted water and cook until tender, 12 to 14 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 4.5 quart dutch oven or soup pot over medium high heat. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the pot as you chop. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring occasionally.

2. While the onion softens, peel the carrots (if necessary) and slice them into 1/4 inch circles and add them to the pot. Slice the squash into 1/4 inch circles and add them to the pot. Add the mushrooms, cover the pot, and continue to cook until the carrots are tender, about 6 minutes.

3. While the vegetables cook, open the cans. When the carrots are tender, add both of the tomatoes with their juice, the tomato paste, and the basil. Stir well. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat until bubbly, about 4 minutes.

4. When the ziti is tender, drain it and place some on each serving plate. Top with the sauce and serve.

Serves 6.

Soy Ginger Salmon with roasted red skins.

Dear God this was tasty and really simple. Recipe Here.

We ate a little late because of painting the ceiling and then Logan fought to hang up the new light fixture. But it's done now.

I loved the sauce. Next time we'll try it with pineapple juice instead of honey and marinate chicken instead of salmon. I really think Maddie would like this more if it wasn't salmon.

Logan: Loved. Also he would like you to know, "Wild Alaskan Salmon is so incredibly good for you. Way better than black beans or even Turkey Jerky. I would like to talk about salmon for hours if you're interested. I really love it. Where are you going?

Melissa: Inhaled.

Madison: Ate two actual bites, but informed us this was just because she wanted to "be sure" she hated it. Whatever. She ate the mixed veggies and tons of potatoes.

Max: Liked it well enough but ate his leftover sesame chicken from dinner the night before. Oh well.

Overall the kids were lukewarm but Logan and I were thrilled.

Broccoli Garlic Pasta.

I like this dish a lot. It's quick and easy and my family is a big fan of broccoli, especially since I decided to go all fresh broccoli (rather than fresh frozen). Recipe here.

Logan was out that night after work, so just the kids and I ate it.

Melissa: Loves. I made it while I balanced the checkbook and planned our finances. (Thank You COBRA!)

Madison: Loves! I died. I'm dead now. She loved everything and wanted it for lunch the next day. Doesn't like the pine nuts but whatever. She ate it and it has flavor. HOORAY!

Max: Liked it too! Not as much as Maddie perhaps because he's not as big a broccoli fan. Still he ate two servings so I am thrilled.

(Logan's had this before and likes it as well....so we have one of our very few EVERYONE LIKES! Sweet Baby Jesus In His Fleece Diaper.) (We watched Taladega Nights this weekend.)

Mexican potatoes and corn.

This is a really silly casserole thing but three out of four of us love it. So it's a good 'end o' the pay period' meal. This means: It has black beans, cheese and potatoes.

I wrote the recipe here.

Logan: Has Logan ever told you how much he likes black beans? Do you have any idea how good black beans are for you? Soylent Green.

Melissa: Easy to make, satisfying. Not gourmet but still a nice week night meal.

Madison: Nope. No. No way. Ate 3 bites of potatoes after carefully wiping everything else off them. Grrrr.

Max: Ate with enthusiasm.

Pancakes.

In honor of Pancake Day I did end up making pancakes at home. I was going to do 'from scratch' but I go lazy. Surprise!

So we stopped at the market and bought this mix, Multi Grain Buttermilk Pancake w/ Milled Flax Seed & Soy from Hodgson Mill and some blueberries.

I made them and they seemed way too watery, so I added a bunch more of the mix into it. Well and then, when I let it rest for 5 minutes like the box said, it was guess! TOO THICK! Duh!

I can even mess up a box!

I added some more milk and it worked out okay. I'll try again and do it correctly and see what happens. I liked the texture of them and they seemed so much more filling than regular fluffy white pancakes. I was convinced the kids wouldn't eat them, but I guess if you throw butter and syrup on anything they'll eat it.

Logan: Yes! Omega-3's! This is better than sex!!!!!

Melissa: Maddie is eating...gasp...protein? Wow.

Max: Ate loved.

Madison: Ate loved. Didn't say a word about the grains (Flax?) it left in your mouth. I am flabbergasted.

Chicken Casserole Thingie.

This is a super easy thing I like to make. It tastes really good but it's really....not fancy.

Take 3 cups cooked chicken (I usually have some in the freezer, I make extra whenever I'm making a chicken dinner), mix with 3 cups rice and a jar of gravy (we use a fat free chicken gravy). Mix together and put in a pie plate.

Add melted butter to some italian bread crumbs, cover dish with the bread crumbs like a crust. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

It's comfort food kind of.

Logan: Loves this dish.

Max: Loved it.

Melissa: Shamefully loves it.

Madison: Started out saying she liked it. And the angels in heaven started singing and the dining room filled with an amazing light and I thought I might have 3 dishes in the world my whole family enjoys. But then she changed her mind. And I killed her.