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by Cherie Logan
Tonight we had a chicken dinner.
It was delicious. Here goes.
Start with ten pounds of chicken, frozen as hard as diamonds.
Thaw in microwave for 99.99 minutes. Thaw some more in microwave for
another 99.99 minutes.
Oops! Too long.
Skin the chicken and toss in the giant tupperware bowl. Find the lid
in the vacuum closet. Clean the lid.
Open and toss in the two packets found in the one box of Shake and Bake Honey
Mustard that you bought at the local discount store.
Place the lid on the bowl and shake. When a child says, "Mom, stuff
is coming out of the bowl," stop shaking.
Place the ten pounds of chicken into the cast iron Dutch oven. Scrape
off the Shake and Bake that is clinging to the sides of the bowl into the
iron oven. Remember to put the lid on the oven.
Put the Dutch Oven into the oven at 250 degrees. Forget about
the chicken. When husband comes home and says, "Oh! Something
smells good!" then it is time to remember that you need to make vegetables
to go with the delicious chicken.
Enjoy.
You will notice that some of these recipes are somewhat vague. I have done that purposely. I feel there are three different skills I want my children to have in the kitchen. The first skill is to be able to clean the kitchen and do a decent job at it. The other two skills have to do with cooking. They need to know how to follow a recipe. The other skill is to be able to take what food is available and come up with something edible by using creativity and simply brain energy.
To help my children become comfortable with the creative part of cooking I give them some basic ideas and let practice do the teaching. Some of my children are excellent at this creativity but even the ones who like things detailed do well with creativity in the meals that they practice the most on.
You never know when suddenly you have a dozen extra people over for dinner. It seems to be a law of reality in a large and busy house that the moment you are ready for something to eat some important ingredient will be missing. Substitution is a fine art that only really comes with practice. Today my nine children range in age from 2 to 20 and the only ones not yet cooking are the 2 and 5 year old girls. They don't all love it but they can all come up with something worth tasting.
Keep in mind the skills you want your children to learn and watch them unfold a little at a time over the years. Someday you will realize that you don't cook nearly as much as you once did. And it is nice.
Spaghetti Casserole
Cooked spaghetti
Sauce
Lots of Grated cheddar
cheese
Layer spaghetti, sauce and cheese in baking pan and heat in the oven 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Loganoff
Ground meat
Chopped onions, onion
powder or dried chopped onions
Butter, a few tablespoons
Flour, a few tablespoons
or more
Cream soup
Frozen vegetables
(optional)
Sour cream
Garlic to taste
Salt to taste
Rice, pasta, cooked
potato, toasted bread or English muffins (choose one)
Grated cheese
Brown the meat and onions; drain fat. Return to stove and add butter and flour. Stir while browning. Add Cream soup. For a family of 12 we use 6 cans. Add frozen vegetables and simmer for a while, until vegetables are done or if no vegetables just until everything is hot and thickened. Add sour cream. For a family of 12 we use as much as possible while still keeping the sauce thick. When adding the sour cream the best way to do it is to take some of the bubbly cream sauce and add it to the sour cream and stir in to warm up the sour cream before putting it into the pan. That way it stays creamier. Heat on low until hot throughout. Serve over rice, pasta, potato, bread or muffin. Top with grated cheese. We prepare meals lightly seasoned and put garlic and salt on the table for those who want more. For a family of twelve this will make a generous main dish with leftover for some people to have at lunch.
CHILI SOUP
2 pounds ground
meat
2 medium onions,
chopped
2 cloves worth of
minced garlic
2 16 oz can chopped
tomatoes, undrained
2 16 oz cans kidney
beans, drained
1 16 oz can tomato
sauce
2 teaspoons chili
powder
½ teaspoon
ground cumin
¼ teaspoon
ground oregano
In 2 qt casserole dish, combine ground meat, onion and garlic. Microwave at high for 4-5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, stirring once. Drain. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to blend. Cover. Microwave at power level 8 for 10 minutes. Stir. Microwave, uncovered at power level 8 for 5 minutes longer.
HAWAIIAN HAYSTACKS
Cooked chicken,
shredded or cubed
Cream of chicken
soup
Sour cream
Raisins, Pineapple,
Coconut, Cashews, Peanuts, Green onions, Chow mien noodles, Cheese, Tomatoes,
Green onions, Crispy Bacon
Cooked Rice
Combine the chicken, soup and sour cream and heat through. Serve over cooked rice. Add any topping you wish.
TACO SALAD
2 large packages
corn chips
2 pounds ground meat
1 cup shredded cheese
2 30- oz can refried
beans
2 bunches green onions,
finely sliced
shredded salad or
lettuce
tomatoes, diced
avocados, sliced
2 pints sour cream
Tortilla or corn
chips
In a skillet, brown ground beef. Season to taste. Heat refried beans until bubbly, adding a little water or tomato sauce to thin. Serve all other items cold. Place a dish of each item on the table and let each person prepare his own salad, starting with the corn chips and adding other items in the order listed, finishing with sour cream. Because the Logan’s are not salsa or pepper fans, we skip that part but most people seem to like those ingredients added to the selection!
ITALIAN QUESADILLAS
Take a flour tortilla, spread it with spaghetti sauce and cheese, fold in half and heat until the cheese melts.
QUICK ENCHILADAS
Dip flour or corn tortilla in seasoned tomato or enchilada sauce and put in greased pan. Layer any combination of beans, cooked meat and cheese, onions if desired. More sauce. More tortilla. More inside layer. More sauce. More tortilla. More sauce. Heat through in oven.
GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES: add things like meat, dried onions or tomatoes
PANCAKES: Make extras, wrap and toss into freezer: I get fancy and call it Breakfast Before Bed
BAKED POTATO BAR: Bake an entire bag of foil-wrapped potatoes, cool and toss the extras into the freezer.
HOT DOGS, Fish Sticks, Hamburgers, Chicken Breasts for sandwiches.
MACARONI AND CHEESE,
SPAGHETTI and CHILI topped with cheese and baked in oven,
RAMEN NOODLES: totally cheap, totally easy, totally kid loved and totally non-healthy but what an emergency fix!
MINI PIZZAS (English muffins, sauce, cheese and topping heated in oven)
TACOS and BURRITOS (Burritos doesn't have to mean Mexican. Anything can be wrapped in a tortilla or pita bread and Ranch dressing makes a nice sauce.)
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