Carlye's Supper

Tonight, my daughter made dinner. Carlye wanted to make Mrs. Martha's chicken again (recipe can be found below). Since it's a fairly easy recipe, and since my family is completely sick of trying new things, I let her. She did a GREAT job! All the way from defrosting the chicken to preparing the pasta. We all sat down to eat as a family. Since my middle child has the flu he sat on the far end of the table. In our family we have a special plate called "The Special Day Plate." Original, isn't it? Every night someone different is given the plate, and you are NEVER allowed to give it to yourself. Before he was even sitting down my youngest noticed that it was in his spot.

"Everyone say something special about me!" he announced as he hopped in his chair. We all went around the table saying special things about Noah. It seemed to be going pretty well, until it was Nathanael's turn. I would like to blame it on the flu, but, sadly, I cannot as he wasn't actually running a fever at the time. "I don't have anything to say, " he said, "you've all said everything."

With a lot of encouragement, and finally the threat of being exiled to his bed for the rest of the evening he FINALLY came up with something to say. "He's nice, kind and loving. There that's it."

Unfortunately for him, in our house that doesn't work. You have to give actual examples, of which he claimed he had none until he realized that he really did want to finish his meal. Thankfully, he came up with some nice things that Noah has done for him since he got sick.

We ended the meal with their wish list for my grocery shopping trip tomorrow morning. With such healthy suggestions as pancakes on a stick, chicken pot pie, cake, cereal and macaroni and cheese I know my family will be thrilled with whatever I come home with tomorrow.

So how was your dinner?

Ms. Martha's Chicken

This is literally my family's favorite meal. Everyone asks for this one. The original version is not healthy at ALL. This adapted version is a little healthier, but CHECK YOUR LABELS!!! When certain things are low fat, fat free, etc, sometimes they will add other things that aren't good for you or your kids.

Ms. Martha's Chicken

4 to 6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Several pats of butter
1 pint fat free sour cream
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms or 1 can sliced mushrooms
Brown rice or whole grain pasta

Pre heat your oven to 350*. Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper and paprika and place in a casserole dish. Place several pats of butter on chicken breasts. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from casserole dish and mix sour cream, mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup with drippings in casserole dish. Replace the chicken and bake until mixture is bubbly. Serve over brown rice or whole grain pasta.

I hope your family enjoys this one as much as mine does!

Chicken Casserole Bake

My family really enjoyed this meal. Carl had two complaints - it confused his mouth to have so many flavors (which is why I liked it) and he doesn't like cilantro (again, one of the reasons that I liked it!).

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
6 chicken pieces (I used boneless, skinless breasts)
2 yellow peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced (Carl prefers that I leave this part out)
One bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 green chilies, sliced
3 tsp ground coriander
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup rice
Juice from 1 large lemon
2 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375* with casserole dish inside. Heat olive oil in skillet over med-high heat. Brown chicken on both sides, remove from skillet. Increase heat to med-high or high and add peppers and onion to skillet. After a few minutes add all of the rest of the ingredients. When it is boiling transfer the contents of the skillet into the warm casserole dish. Place chicken on top and bake for 30 minutes.

Carlye also suggested that next time we add cheese. An entire meal in one dish. This one is fun to prepare as a family because everyone can help chop, slice, dice or squeeze something. And don't forget to clean up together!