koshergrl
Diamond Member
- Aug 4, 2011
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- #41
No way in hell I would accept the damn invites!
Seriously, RAMEN NOODLES?
Yes, seriously.
I work long, long days, and the kids eat at school and at their after school programs. Dinner in our house is a formality, not a necessity..but by necessity it must be quick, easy, cheap. I'm not running a restaurant, I'm trying to instill a habit in my family, save some money, and teach the kids how to use a stove.
I'm a cook, too. I know it's essentially cafeteria food we're talking about here, though a little better because I'm making it, and it's in small batches. But when I think of my childhood, where we had spectacular food...but not consistency....and my best friend's childhood, where they had meals like this...EVERY SINGLE NIGHT..I pick my friend's method. All the kids in that family still maintain the tradition of a sit-down dinner every single night. It's the activity, not the slop, that matters.
So I deliberately am choosing a really simple menu that I can stick to, and the kids can help with. I make wonderful bread, gourmet pies, and I can do marvelous things with meat. But I don't want to teach them to eat. I want to teach them to maintain a schedule, plan out the week's meals, and focus on the event, not the chow. Food is what we take in to keep us alive, it doesn't have to be a feast every day of the week.
I don't know how she does it, but my daughter can go into the kitchen and 20 minutes later have a wonderful meal including dessert on the table. She cooks with her crock pot a lot, and she makes a lot of salads which are inclusive of meat.
She stayed with me several weeks this summer while I was sick and I was in complete awe of her skills. She cooks with soup, rice, chicken broth, etc. And she makes sandwiches with frozen precooked chicken patties and burgers, but she puts a sensational sauce on them as well as things like sauteed onions and various colors of sweet peppers.
She also has some great veggie dishes which include meat so two birds with one stone there. She uses Stovetop Stuffing as a side, and she mixes it up with a can of mushroom soup. She cooks casseroles and soups and freezes them in individual servings.
It is all tasty and filling.
Chicken Spectacular is one I like and use a lot when I have company coming:
Chicken Spectacular Recipe - Allrecipes.com
I love cooking for my mom when I visit her. She's diabetic and doesn't eat as she should, so I like to cook early in the am for her. I come up with stuff to tempt her too...