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.

The Daughter Does a Couple of Projects

The daughter has been giving her room a face lift...what once was pepto-pink and purple is now pepto-pink and black...

BEFORE

She found this piece of wood out in the garage and turned it into this...
Remember that cute magnet board she did HERE

Here is the AFTER of the night stand she painted.
Stay tuned for the next project--making a headboard for her bed. And by the looks of this picture, her bed is made! Glad we captured that moment.

D tells us even the busiest teenager should keep his own room and clothing in order and should not make work for someone else through his sloppiness and inconsideration.

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.

Laundry Soap Update

Remember

THIS

post I did back in November of last year?

FYI--I really liked my homemade laundry soap. It cost me around $3 a batch (I make 5 batches at a time). Those 5 batches lasted about 7 months!

I recently made 5 more batches...

BEFORE

Go HERE for the Procedure/"Recipe"
AFTER
D advises to Do things "commercially" when necessary. For example, if for some reason your laundry is the size of Mt. Everest, or so it seems, due to coming have from a camping trip, or an epidemic of stomach flu in the house, or just plain getting behind in your work, bundle everything up and take it to a commercial laundry where you can get it done in a couple of hours. This could be worth the ten dollars in quarters it costs.


Summer is winding down...School starts in a week. I'm ready, the husband is ready, the kids are ready (don't ask them, they'll deny it), and my house is ready for a schedule.

Stay tuned for a fun Fall project I'm starting next month--I'm calling it
The BFF Project!
More details to come!

The Lunch With Daryl Project!

I have been so excited for this day! And if I'm being honest, a little nervous too...the Queen of Homemaking, coming to my house!

Daryl, of course, was the guest of honor and we were also joined by...

Stephanie (sister-in-law), Tricia (sister), Emmy (daughter), Me :), Janie (daughter), Megan (sister), Kimmy (sister), Natalie (sister), Jan (mom), Tom (dad) and Lilly (daughter)

THE MENU
Rolls
Pulled Pork
Coleslaw
Frog Eye Salad
Fresh Fruit
Caesar Salad

Fruit Trifle for dessert

My sister Tricia is the Queen of Entertaining and put together a beautiful table.

Lunch was so fun! We talked about our families and many of the blessings associated with being Homemakers. We shared with Daryl how her books (she's written 7 you know) have helped us be better Homemakers.

Even my Dad had a story to tell! He's an electrical contractor and years ago he was on a job site where the work orders were changing daily...so he implemented D's filing system which saved him lots of time and frustration.

My mom told D how she used to listen to her tapes as a young mother and she followed D's suggestions for setting up a laundry room and still uses that same system today!

My sister Natalie is the Queen of Cake Decorating and she brought this beautiful creation!

During dessert we had a little Q&A with Daryl. We asked her about things like family traditions and how she got her start as the Queen of Homemaking :)

Daryl with me and my girls

Daryl requested the girls give her a little violin concert (anything for D!)

Possibly the highlight of Daryl's afternoon was Janie teaching her how to work her DS.

Daryl came bearing gifts--she gave everyone a copy of her CD Little Things That Can Make a Big Difference

Thanks to my mom and sisters for bringing food! Thanks to my sister Megan and the Husband for taking pictures! And thanks to D for all her Homemaking advice and for making this fun afternoon possible!

D teaches A woman can't be expected to be a qualified nurse or secretary without adequate training and some experience. Neither can she be a good homemaker without the proper training and experience.

Twas the Night Before Daryl's Visit...

Twas the night before Daryl's visit when all through the house

The closets were cluttered, I needed to iron my blouse

The menu was planned and the table set with care

In hopes that Daryl soon would be there

The children were told to spend the day in their beds

So they couldn't make messes and didn't get fed

The mamma in her 'kerchief and the husband in his cap

Working away with no time for a nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

The husband was mowing and doing something with the ladder

Away to the window I flew like a flash

Cleaning the blinds and windows with a sash

The sun cast light right onto the piano

Showing all of the dust and it needed a splash of yellow

When what to my wondering eyes should appear

Stains all over the floor, someone spilled the rootbeer!

I spoke not a word but went straight to my work

Straightening closets and cupboards, then turned with a jerk

I smelled something awful in one side of my nose

The trash needed emptying, maybe I'll go buy a rose

I sprang to the vacuum, to the husband gave a whistle

He was there at my side as fast as a missile

We washed, organized and cleaned with all of our might

Getting ready for Daryl the rest of the night!

New Appliances

The Husband removing our dishwasher...

The BAD News: The Beck House (our old house that we rent out) needed the stove and dishwasher replaced

The GOOD News: We have been wanting to change out our appliances to stainless steel so rather than buy new appliances for The Beck House, we replaced them with our stove and dishwasher and the husband bought me new appliances :)

That's what I call WIN WIN!

My Dad has always installed our appliances but the husband and I determined that he was a big boy and could figure out how to do it himself. He printed off online instructions for changing out a dishwasher.
(If you look closely you'll see the lovely splash of yellow all over the walls in the kitchen of The Beck House)
He was feeling pretty confident until he realized the dishwasher at The Beck House was hard wired and the one at our house had a plug...a quick phone call to my dad for instructions and away he went, rewiring that dishwasher. He asked me to please stay with him in case he got electrocuted. He didn't :)
Once we got The Beck House in order we picked out new appliances for our house.

BEFORE...

This guy hasn't worked right for years and about 9 months ago it completely died, at just 5 years old. I pretty much have a hate/hate relationship with a certain brand of appliances I won't mention but it starts with a G and ends with an E.

Thank goodness D isn't coming today--what would she think!?

The Lowes guys were scheduled to come around 1pm but at 11am they call to ask if they could come in 20 minutes...Sure, I say as I may or may not have been half dressed with wet hair talking to my sister on the other line when they called.

The husband went right to work...

AFTER...

D says Learn to do it yourself, depending on whether you want to save money or time. For example: *Do minor household repairs *Maintain a garden *Make your own cleaning solutions (stay tuned, doing more of that next week) *Cut family members' hair *Restore or refinish furniture. *Make slipcovers, window treatments, etc. *Specialize in handcrafted gifts...that reminds me, last week while I was driving to the DI I saw a sign that read "I LIKE TO MAKE HOMEMADE GIFTS, WHICH OF MY CHILDREN DO YOU WANT?" I'm still cracking up over that.