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!

Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

Tonight we had pork chops for dinner. Normally, my husband does NOT like pork chops, but he will eat them this way. My daughter helped me out by making the fruit salad - although I was slightly concerned when she asked me what would happen if she cut off her finger while slicing the banana's. Especially since she was using a butter knife! Here's the recipe

Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops:

4 boneless pork chops with fat trimmed off
Pork Chop Seasoning (or your favorite season all; or salt, pepper, garlic, onion and white pepper - can add ginger or cayenne as well)
Sea salt
Black Pepper
2 T Olive Oil
2/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp sugar

Heat pan over medium high heat. Add olive oil, heat one minute more, and then add seasoned pork chops. Cook over medium high heat until browned on both sides and cooked through (about 5 minutes). Remove pork chops from pan and place on a plate. Add vinegar and sugar and cook over medium low heat for 2 minutes. Place pork chops back into pan and cook for 4 minutes more, flipping them every minute to coat them thoroughly. Remove pork chops from stove, and pour sauce over the top. Serve immediately.

The end result (we served it with steamed brown rice, fruit salad and lima beans):


The Verdict:
My husband doesn't like lima beans, so the thumbs down was for them! Everyone else loved the entire meal, though - and believe it or not, lima beans are my 6 year olds FAVORITE vegetable (and no, we don't soak them in butter). Let me know if you try it, or have a different variation. Sorry that I don't have a calorie count on this one, but it shouldn't be too complicated to calculate. Happy family dinner time!