BFF Project Final Post

We've been eating at least 4 nights a week around our dining room table now for over a month! I feel like we've created a new habit that will last. We've tried several new meals and I'm having fun searching for more to keep the "variety" going at meal time.

I wanted to share one of my family's favorite recipes...its EASY and the kids love it!

NAVAJO TACOS

Now I do make my scones and it does require me to pull out my frying pan and fill it with oil. But for this meal it's worth it.
For your scone dough you can use any bread dough recipe. I use one that uses both white and wheat flour. I also use thawed Rhodes Rolls sometimes.

The Sauce (so easy!)
1 can refried beans
1can chili (I like turkey chili)
1 can pinto beans
You can warm them in a medium sauce pan or for a few hours in the crock pot.

Cover the scones with the sauce and then any toppings you like!
The toppings we use are:
cheese
lettuce
tomatoes
avocado
ranch dressing

After the kids finish their taco they get another scone with either butter and jam or honey...which is why I think they like this meal so much.

D tells us to keep in mind that the delicious dinners can be more a matter of know-how than of time and money.

I am so glad I did this project! I think the kids have liked it too. My oldest told me there is way more clean-up eating at the table as apposed to the counter--but what does he know since he is often at football practice during dinner :) My 10 year old thinks eating at the table is the best--I have come home from running errands and she has the table all set without being asked. We definitely spend a few more minutes at the table than we did around the counter so that alone is worth the extra effort.

Tune in next week when I get busy with my "Lesson's Learned from Grandma" project. I started this project almost 2 years ago and I just can't seem to finish it so I figure if I put it on the blog I'll have to finish it!

3 for 3, Fried Chicken & Mac n Cheese

We've had 3 successful BFF weeks!

Aside from the fact I cooked the Mac n Cheese too long...it was pretty good (as long as you didn't eat the real crunchy noodles around the sides of the pan).

I also attempted my first ever fried chicken dinner...
It was a lot of work...which I knew it would be, which is why I have never attempted fried chicken before. Besides, why bother when there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken within walking distance from my house :)

I'm not a fan of cooking with oil...I hate hate hate grease everywhere. But I powered through.

It didn't turn out too bad, but it wasn't too good either so I'll probably never do it again.

This child loves to build "castles" with her mashed potatoes. She eventually eats them so I go ahead and let her build away.

Since I was already in the frying mode I went ahead and fried some zucchini later in the week. The family claims they hate zucchini but they didn't mind these too much, as long as they kept dipping them in ranch dressing.

D tells us, remember the eye is the first to feast, so serve food attractively. Make certain your meals are well balanced. Nature is an artist. I've found that a dinner that follows pleasing texture and color combinations almost automatically includes nutrients from the basic four food group.

Another Successful BFF Project Week

One of my kids favorite meals are personal pizzas they create themselves. I don't know why but I forget about this meal option. We don't have them often enough. I use Rhodes rolls (the larger size) and pull a bag of homemade pizza sauce out of the freezer (I like to stock pile the stuff) but you can also just open a can of spaghetti sauce.

The best part of this dinner was having it around the family cabin table. We've had the best times around this table over the years!
The Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe turned out okay--everyone ate it but I think I can find a better recipe so I won't post this one.

The homemade Mac n' Cheese didn't happen. The kids were disappointed. It's on the menu for next week. We did make it around the dining room/cabin table 4 times this week--yay! My little girls love that we're eating at the table instead of the counter. They say it feels like a special occasion--and it is!



In addition to the Mac n' Cheese meal I am also going to try my hand at making fried chicken--I have never ever made fried chicken. I hate the mess that comes from frying food but I'm going to suck it up and give it a shot.



I always plan my meals a week in advance. D says if planning meals a week in advance sounds difficult to you, begin by planning two or three meals in advance and increase the number until you can plan a week ahead.

Lemon Dutch Babies=A Huge Hit with the Husband!

Today was our 4th dinner this week around the dining room table!

I made 2 brand new recipes and both were a hit--a minor miracle in and of itself!

Tonight the new recipe was German pancakes. We call them dutch babies because that's what they call them at one of our favorite breakfast restaurants.

We love breakfast for dinner. This might be the husband's favorite breakfast meal I've ever made. He kept "Mmmming" through the meal. I don't think I've ever heard him "Mmmm" over my cooking before.

THE RECIPE
1/4 cup butter (the best thing next to bacon)

3 eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

2 Lemons sliced into wedges

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the butter into a 10 inch oven proof skillet (you can also use a 9 inch round baking dish or pie dish)

2. Mix the eggs, flour, milk, and salt in a blender

3. When the butter has melted, pull out the oven rack and quickly pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the pancake is puffed up and lightly browned. It will flatten slightly after it comes out of the oven.

4. Cut the pancake into wedges and serve on individual plates. Squeeze the lemon on top and sprinkle with powdered sugar. A few of my kids put grandma's homemade strawberry jam and syrup on theirs.
This recipe makes 1 dutch baby. I made 3 for our family, cooking 2 at first and then 1. The 2 lemons and 3/4 cup of powdered sugar was enough for all three.

We had some great family time around the table. As soon as we sat down the 2 year old asked the 17 year old, "What did the Dr. say Jax?" He had been to the eye Dr earlier in the day and she was so concerned about her big brother. Today was Dad's first day of school so he told us (between "Mmmm's") about his funny math teacher (thank the heavens for good math teachers!) and what a lifesaver the website http://www.ratemyprofessor.com/ has been this semester. Wish we'd found it sooner! The 7th grader filled us in on the do's and don'ts of the Jr High world and the 10th grader told us she had lunch with 5 guys today (she was the only girl). The husband asked her if the guys knew they were having lunch with her--ha!

We added cheesy hash browns and I had good intentions of adding fruit but was an almoster and didn't make it to the store.

The 2 year old asked for more "pancake pizza" :)
D shares that A woman at the supermarket was heard to say, "I'm sick and tired of planning meals. I'm just going to kick the shelf and cook whatever falls down." Almost every homemaker feels this way occasionally. What she needs is some new ideas--a recipe exchange with a neighbor or a few minutes browsing through the pages of a tantalizing cookbook.
Stay tuned for next week's BFF projects where I'll be trying out new recipes for Sweet n Sour Chicken and Homemade Mac n Cheese :)

BFF Project...Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

My cousin's wife, Rachel has a GREAT recipe for White Chicken Chili. I've made it for the family before but I have wanted to try it in the crock pot so I tweaked the recipe a little.

THE RECIPE

1 lb precooked shredded chicken

2 TBS dried onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 cans white beans

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup sour cream

1 cup half & half

Throw everything but the chicken, sour cream and half & half into the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4. Add chicken, sour cream and half & half and cook on low for another hour or so.

I also made some corn bread to go with it.

We added cheese and the secret ingredient to assure EVERYONE would eat it...

You can never, ever go wrong around this house with bacon!

I tried to find a quote from D about bacon but there was nothing...I should ask her if she has any feelings on the subject of bacon. She does give the following advice about preparing meals...After I have greeted the children and they are busy with homework or other after-school activities, I complete the dinner preparations from a menu made out on a weekly basis. This way, I am never distressed over what to eat tonight, and we have a much better meal when things are planned rather than thrown together. I can coordinate menus with busy days and out-of-the house days so there is always a nourishing meal ready at dinnertime.

The BFF Project!

Meal time has always been family time at our house.

It's a time we all look forward to, however over the last few months I've been feeling like I could improve my homemaking skills in the dinner area...thus I've committed to the

BFF Project!

Better Family time and Food around the dinner TABLE
My goal is to find some new recipes my family will love and to eat around the dining room table at least 4 times a week.

With the exception of Sunday brunch and dinners and date night, we all gather around our kitchen counter for dinner. (Little disclaimer: this picture was taken about 6 months ago on a Saturday where the family is eating Ramen for lunch. I draw the line at serving Ramen for dinner.)

Sunday brunch and dinner are my favorite family meals and I think one of the main reasons is because we eat around our dining room table. Everyone just seems to relax more, and I actually sit down for more than 5 minutes to eat.

The Excuses: 1-I am too lazy to move our morning scripture study materials off the table every day (who am I kidding, I am too lazy to tell the children to move the scripture study materials off the table) 2-I get in a hurry and just figure it's faster and easier to set the counter instead of the table

The Procedure

I stopped making excuses, started looking for new recipes and cleared the dining room table.

Today was the first day of school for most of the family...with a schedule back it was the perfect day to start the BFF project.

THE RECIPE: Parmesan Ranch Chicken
2/3 cup Ranch Dressing (I used homemade)

1 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic salt

2 pounds chicken breasts

1/3 cup butter

salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan

2. Pour the ranch dressing into a shallow dish or pie plate. Mix the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and garlic salt into another shallow dish. Dip each piece of chicken in the ranch and then cover both sides of chicken with the bread crumb mixture to coat.

3. Arrange the chicken in the prepared pan. Melt butter and pour over chicken. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

I served the chicken with peas, pasta and marina sauce.

It was a great meal! We discussed the events of the first day of school...how the daughter tripped 3 times at the high school, one of those times she tripped UP the stairs...the son who just started Jr High said the highlight of his day was walking home with his friends, stopping at the grocery store and buying a strawberry milk...another daughter was so excited to find out there was a mistake on her class list and her BFF was supposed to be in her class...etc etc. It was the best!

FYI--The big boy is NOT in the habit of wearing his sun glasses to dinner. You can read why he's wearing them today HERE.

The best part of the dinner? The whole family gave a THUMBS UP for Ranch Parmesan Chicken! Woo Hoo!

Actually I lied--this was the best part of the dinner! Thanks to Grandma Linda for the delicious homemade strawberry pie!

D says Seriously, it really isn't too difficult to be a good cook. I'll always remember the advice from a friend who said that if you can read, you can cook--provided you read the right recipes. It's smart to constantly upgrade your recipes, have a good cookbook collection, and be alert to new ideas in magazines and newspapers.