Mom's Kitchen Cafe

[Cecilie1200]

I started a new project this weekend that I'm really proud of, and wanted to share.

I'm sure every mom here has encountered the rut their families get into of being asked, "What do you want for dinner?" and answering the same three or four dishes over and over, mostly because they just can't remember all the things they've had in the past that they liked. Mine certainly does this, and I get utterly bored with those meals and want to add some variety to our diets.

To this end, I went through my cookbooks and compiled a list of dishes I have made in the past, or would be willing to make in the future. I accompanied them with a short description from the cookbook. Just for the sake of whimsy, I formatted them as a menu from a restaurant called Mom's Kitchen Cafe, and emailed it to my guys as though it was a promotion from a new restaurant.

Now we can sit down on Friday night or Saturday morning, pull up the menu, and decide what we want to have for the next week. Then I go shop for ingredients on Saturday, spend Sunday prepping anything that can be made ahead of time and stored, and throughout the week, I just pop the ingredients into the slow cooker, pot, or pan, and voila! Tasty, homemade meals that don't require the exhausted mom (Me!) to come home from work and slave in the kitchen, and no need to eat the same damn stuff every night.

I am also accepting any suggestions people might have for new dishes I can add to the restaurant menu.

 

[Disir]

Hell, I'm hoping to steal yours..... I started awhile back to put together dump recipes with a marinade included with meat and freezing them. For example, margarita pork chops.

 

[miketx]

I never ask a woman what they want to eat.

 

[DrLove]

I started a new project this weekend that I'm really proud of, and wanted to share.

I'm sure every mom here has encountered the rut their families get into of being asked, "What do you want for dinner?" and answering the same three or four dishes over and over, mostly because they just can't remember all the things they've had in the past that they liked. Mine certainly does this, and I get utterly bored with those meals and want to add some variety to our diets.

To this end, I went through my cookbooks and compiled a list of dishes I have made in the past, or would be willing to make in the future. I accompanied them with a short description from the cookbook. Just for the sake of whimsy, I formatted them as a menu from a restaurant called Mom's Kitchen Cafe, and emailed it to my guys as though it was a promotion from a new restaurant.

Now we can sit down on Friday night or Saturday morning, pull up the menu, and decide what we want to have for the next week. Then I go shop for ingredients on Saturday, spend Sunday prepping anything that can be made ahead of time and stored, and throughout the week, I just pop the ingredients into the slow cooker, pot, or pan, and voila! Tasty, homemade meals that don't require the exhausted mom (Me!) to come home from work and slave in the kitchen, and no need to eat the same damn stuff every night.

I am also accepting any suggestions people might have for new dishes I can add to the restaurant menu.

Uhhhm - will you be my Mom?

 

[miketx]

Why don't you just identify as your own mom?

 

[Cecilie1200]

Hell, I'm hoping to steal yours..... I started awhile back to put together dump recipes with a marinade included with meat and freezing them. For example, margarita pork chops.

Well, I can share some. Today we're having spaghetti with meat sauce. Then I will be using the leftover sauce (I always buy portions that allow for extra sauce) to make baked ravioli, which is just frozen three-cheese raviolis with sauce and Italian cheese layered over it in a casserole dish. After that, we'll be having chicken corn chowder (sauteed chicken, potatoes, and cans of sweet corn and creamed corn with a little milk and seasonings), then mushroom chicken and rice. Factoring in the leftovers, that'll take us to the end of the week. If the leftovers don't last quite long enough, then I can always fill out the time with cold cuts or breakfast-for-dinner (scrambled eggs and pancakes).

 

[malnila]

What a wonderful idea. Thank you for sharing. I wish I could convince my family that crock pot meals were yummy. Don't get me wrong. I live with my elderly dad and niece with dad doing the cooking because he loves cooking and it keeps him busy. Frankly, I suck at cooking except for crock pot meals. LOL I'm working on it though.

 

[SeaGal]

I started a new project this weekend that I'm really proud of, and wanted to share.

I'm sure every mom here has encountered the rut their families get into of being asked, "What do you want for dinner?" and answering the same three or four dishes over and over, mostly because they just can't remember all the things they've had in the past that they liked. Mine certainly does this, and I get utterly bored with those meals and want to add some variety to our diets.

To this end, I went through my cookbooks and compiled a list of dishes I have made in the past, or would be willing to make in the future. I accompanied them with a short description from the cookbook. Just for the sake of whimsy, I formatted them as a menu from a restaurant called Mom's Kitchen Cafe, and emailed it to my guys as though it was a promotion from a new restaurant.

Now we can sit down on Friday night or Saturday morning, pull up the menu, and decide what we want to have for the next week. Then I go shop for ingredients on Saturday, spend Sunday prepping anything that can be made ahead of time and stored, and throughout the week, I just pop the ingredients into the slow cooker, pot, or pan, and voila! Tasty, homemade meals that don't require the exhausted mom (Me!) to come home from work and slave in the kitchen, and no need to eat the same damn stuff every night.

I am also accepting any suggestions people might have for new dishes I can add to the restaurant menu.

What a great idea!

When my children were pre-high school age I let each choose a meal to plan and cook - I would do the shopping - and they would prepare the meal. All three tuned out to be good cooks, even the two boys.

Not knowing what's on the menu already - here are a few of our favorites.

Stir fry - lots of fresh veggies, many of which can be purchased these days needing little or no prep, marinated meat strips - literally cooks in minutes.
Double batch of meatloaf mixture - half into meat loaf, half into meatballs, both oven baked at the same time - serve the meatballs in brown gravy over rice or potatoes. Use same brown gravy to turn meatloaf into open faced sandwiches.
Chicken and yellow rice - oven baked, sweet green peas on top - maybe 10 minutes prep time at most - 30 minutes in the oven. Warm bread, salad pre-mixed - ez meal.

I have a delicious chicken, paprika and sour cream crock pot recipe, served over noodles - if you are interested I'll try to find it.

Good luck!

 

[strollingbones]

much easier to train them to eat what is put before them....

i will admit a fast dinner when you are busy.....chili and rice...a good canned chili on top of a bed of rice....full meal and warm and kids normally like it...20 minutes to the table without minute rice

 

[Cecilie1200]

I started a new project this weekend that I'm really proud of, and wanted to share.

I'm sure every mom here has encountered the rut their families get into of being asked, "What do you want for dinner?" and answering the same three or four dishes over and over, mostly because they just can't remember all the things they've had in the past that they liked. Mine certainly does this, and I get utterly bored with those meals and want to add some variety to our diets.

To this end, I went through my cookbooks and compiled a list of dishes I have made in the past, or would be willing to make in the future. I accompanied them with a short description from the cookbook. Just for the sake of whimsy, I formatted them as a menu from a restaurant called Mom's Kitchen Cafe, and emailed it to my guys as though it was a promotion from a new restaurant.

Now we can sit down on Friday night or Saturday morning, pull up the menu, and decide what we want to have for the next week. Then I go shop for ingredients on Saturday, spend Sunday prepping anything that can be made ahead of time and stored, and throughout the week, I just pop the ingredients into the slow cooker, pot, or pan, and voila! Tasty, homemade meals that don't require the exhausted mom (Me!) to come home from work and slave in the kitchen, and no need to eat the same damn stuff every night.

I am also accepting any suggestions people might have for new dishes I can add to the restaurant menu.

What a great idea!

When my children were pre-high school age I let each choose a meal to plan and cook - I would do the shopping - and they would prepare the meal. All three tuned out to be good cooks, even the two boys.

Not knowing what's on the menu already - here are a few of our favorites.

Stir fry - lots of fresh veggies, many of which can be purchased these days needing little or no prep, marinated meat strips - literally cooks in minutes.
Double batch of meatloaf mixture - half into meat loaf, half into meatballs, both oven baked at the same time - serve the meatballs in brown gravy over rice or potatoes. Use same brown gravy to turn meatloaf into open faced sandwiches.
Chicken and yellow rice - oven baked, sweet green peas on top - maybe 10 minutes prep time at most - 30 minutes in the oven. Warm bread, salad pre-mixed - ez meal.

I have a delicious chicken, paprika and sour cream crock pot recipe, served over noodles - if you are interested I'll try to find it.

Good luck!

I have stir fry, which I love because everything can be chopped up and stored ahead of time to just be thrown together on the spot while the rice is steaming.

I have taco meatloaf on the list. You add some tomato paste, taco seasoning, and shredded cheese.

Would love the chicken recipes.

 

[Cecilie1200]

much easier to train them to eat what is put before them....

i will admit a fast dinner when you are busy.....chili and rice...a good canned chili on top of a bed of rice....full meal and warm and kids normally like it...20 minutes to the table without minute rice

I like doing Chunky soups over rice or mashed potatoes. Rice is always easy in my house, because I have a rice steamer.

My family isn't the least bit picky. They're more than willing to try any new recipes I care to experiment with. It's mostly just because when we talk about "Okay, what should we eat?" no one can remember anything that we haven't already eaten in the last month. This way, we can remember all of the possible choices.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Marry me!

 

[strollingbones]

chicken...not so quick but easy......chicken pieces....1/2 italian dressings and 1/2 soy....bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes....turning once ....then take out pieces and broil for color if you want.....chicken falls off the bone...again with rice since you got the streamer....

i use amino acids but that is rather strong

 

[Gracie]

I love frying chicken tenders after marinating them in plain ol italian dressing from the super market. El cheapo brand. Leave chicken in baggie, pour about a cup of the italian dressing on top, then after a few hours dump it all in a fry pan until chicken is done. No need for seasoning it either. The dressing does it all. It's delicious wrapped in a warm tortilla!

And for crock pot folks...pinterest has oodles of Make Ahead recipes that you just slap in the freezer. All ingredients already in the freezer bag, labeled and ready to be put in the crock pot. I will see if I can find the gal that does it if you want to see it.

 

[strollingbones]

i need good tofu recipes....

 

[Cecilie1200]

Marry me!

I think my husband might object.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I love frying chicken tenders after marinating them in plain ol italian dressing from the super market. El cheapo brand. Leave chicken in baggie, pour about a cup of the italian dressing on top, then after a few hours dump it all in a fry pan until chicken is done. No need for seasoning it either. The dressing does it all. It's delicious wrapped in a warm tortilla!

And for crock pot folks...pinterest has oodles of Make Ahead recipes that you just slap in the freezer. All ingredients already in the freezer bag, labeled and ready to be put in the crock pot. I will see if I can find the gal that does it if you want to see it.

Absolutely. Whoever invented the crock pot should be canonized, or given a Nobel prize, or something.

 

[SeaGal]

I have stir fry, which I love because everything can be chopped up and stored ahead of time to just be thrown together on the spot while the rice is steaming.

I have taco meatloaf on the list. You add some tomato paste, taco seasoning, and shredded cheese.

Would love the chicken recipes.

My pleasure!

The Chicken Paprika recipe was in a small cookbook that came with a crock pot given to me by my parents as a wedding gift 48 years ago - I still use the crock pot which is also a slow cooker and a deep fryer - as the crock is removable. Anyway - heirloom recipe, I'd say...adjust as necessary.

4-5 lbs chicken pieces, bone in............................................................1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup water.....................................................................................1 tsp salt
1 cube chicken bouillon........................................................................1/2 tsp pepper
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I always used canned).....1/4 tsp oregano, crushed
1 green pepper, chopped.....................................................................1/4 c flour
1/2 cup chopped onion..........................................................................1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons paprika..........................................................................1 cup sour cream.

Put all ingredients except last three into pot. Stir well.
Cover and cook 9-10 hours (medium setting)
Remove chicken pieces
Blend flour and water and stir into pot
Stir gently until slightly thickened
Blend in sour cream, add chicken back in - let warm back up (do not boil)
Serve over rice or noodles

Also found a similar updated version on line, tho I would not want the heat...
Manitoba Chicken : SLOW COOKER CHICKEN PAPRIKASH


Oven Baked Chicken and Yellow Rice - my sil taught me this method.

I large pkg Vigo, 16 oz (or any brand) yellow rice mix.
Any combination of bone-in or boneless chicken pieces - I use boneless, skinless thighs cut in half
1 small can tiny sweet peas
Roasting pan with lid - Oven at 350

On stovetop, in roasting pan (I use a black enamel roaster pan) - brown chicken pieces on each side - in olive oil if skinless...leave in pan. Add 4 cups water (per recipe on back of rice pkg) - bring to boil. Stir rice and seasoning into chicken and water. Boil and stir one minute. Cover and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes - remove from oven and sprinkle drained peas on top - return to oven for 5 minutes. It's best to let it rest for a few minutes with cover on before serving. I put the whole pan in the middle of the table for serving. Add warm crusty bread or garlic bread and salad. Enjoy!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Marry me!

I think my husband might object.

I would just be there for meals... Nothing more attractive than a woman that can cook...

 

[Gracie]

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