Sing, O Siren of the Crock Pot!

I made an awesome crockpot recipe tonight for dinner and my children ate TWO helpings each! Thank you, Cynetha, for the fabulous recipe.

Here is the recipe (I was too busy stuffing my face and refilling my children's plates to take a picture):

Crockpot Angel Chicken

6 boneless chicken breasts (I only used 4)
1/2 cup butter (that's one stick for those of you not familiar with Paula Deen)
1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup (NOT cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup white wine (then you drink the rest of the bottle during dinner!)
4 oz. onion and chive cream cheese (that's half of a round tub)
1 package of angel hair pasta, cooked according to box directions

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. In saucepan melt butter, stir in Italian dressing mix, soup, cream cheese and wine. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 4-5 hours. Shred chicken with two forks and then pour chicken mixture over cooked angel hair pasta.

YUM-O! (Rachel Ray reference)

Butterfly Cookies

Yesterday Lindsay and I were watching The Food Network (as we like to do) and Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee was on. She was "hosting" a fairy princess party and made these Butterfly Cookies. Lindsay said she "really, really, really, really" wanted to make them since they looked "so pretty and yummy and fairy princess". So, today we bought the supplies - including a butterfly cookie cutter - and made the cookies. They are pretty tasty!
I am always searching for a good sugar cookie recipe for Christmas cookies and this is one I will remember to use. They are tender, but hold together well and aren't overly sweet. They would be perfect as iced Christmas cookies. Here is the link to the recipe (note: I used vanilla extract instead of strawberry):

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_37250,00.html

Patsy's Chicken Enchiladas

Patsy was the cook at my sorority house in college. She made the best food that I have ever eaten - and that includes any 5 star restaurants. Not only did she cook breakfast, lunch and dinner (including dessert which is why I gained 10 pounds living in the Theta house) for 55 girls, but then she would go home to her THIRTEEN children and cook for them. I have several fond memories of Patsy, but here are a couple:

Patsy is famous for many dishes, but her homemade lemonade was incredible. I remember going into the kitchen to say hi to her (she was SO fun to talk to) and there is Patsy sitting with a huge bucket between her legs. She is squeezing about a hundred lemon halves with her bare hands into the bucket. Then she poured an entire 5 lb bag of sugar into the bucket and stirred in water. She didn't miss a beat in the conversation - squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. That lemonade sure sounds good right now!

Patsy always made dessert to put out for lunch and dinner (see above: 10 pound weight gain!). One particular dessert that she was famous for was Chi-O balls. Supposedly the Chi Omega house cook invented this recipe, but several of my Chi O friends who lived in the house had never heard of them. So, I give Patsy credit for them. They are balls of vanilla ice cream rolled in crushed Oreo Cookies and then frozen. After dinner we would take a ball and drizzle Hershey's syrup all over them. Heaven!

OK - last Patsy story for today. We would have "date night" at the house once a semester where you could invite a boy over to eat dinner at the Theta house. Patsy went all out for those meals and usually made a wedding cake for dessert (Patsy was NOT subtle!). But one time she made a big chocolate cake. My brother in law does not eat mayonnaise. In fact, the very thought of it makes him sick. Well, Matt ate that cake all up and raved about how moist and delicious it was. When he went into the kitchen to compliment Patsy and ask what the secret was to her delicious chocolate cake, she said, "Honey, I put a cup of mayonnaise in there!"

Tonight I made Patsy's famous chicken enchiladas. She usually served these for lunch on Fridays (yes - LUNCH - again, reference the above gain of 10 pounds).
Did they eat it?
Brandon: gobbled it up and said they were "awesome"
Lindsay: ate the chicken and cheese out of the middle

Did they eat it?

Tonight I made Calzones with Italian Tomato Sauce from a very old Southern Living magazine. The filling is ground beef, mozzarella cheese, spinach, tomato paste and Italian seasoning. The crust is refrigerated pizza dough. The tomato sauce is tomato paste and sauce, Italian seasoning and minced garlic.
Did they eat it?
Brandon: LOVED it and ate every bite. Said it was delicious.
Lindsay: Liked it a lot. Ate mostly crust. But on a positive note, she ate all of her salad with ranch dressing.

I don't know if the kids were being nice to me because I have bandages on my face and body from the dermatologist, but they seemed to really enjoy this meal!

Fish Tacos with Peach Salsa

Tonight Jeff came home from work early, which enabled me to prepare a more involved recipe. Not that this recipe is complicated, but it requires a lot of chopping to make the peach salsa. And when your hands are covered in peach skins and juice, that's not the time you want to have to referee a fight between the kids. It's better to pass off their entertainment to another capable adult while you prepare your ingredients!

So, I made Tilapia tacos coated in panko breadcrumbs and baked in the oven. They are served in warm corn tortillas with the fresh peach salsa. This is a Cooking Light recipe from last summer.

Did they eat it??

Brandon: He ate the fish dipped in ketchup, but wouldn't touch the salsa. He also isn't a fan of corn tortillas (unless they are fried, sprinkled with salt and served with melted cheese).

Lindsay: Turned her nose up at the entire dish and opted to eat what we call "Banana Sushi" instead.

Banana Sushi is banana slices topped with peanut butter to look like California rolls. A kid favorite.

Grilled Salmon and Confetti Corn

Did they eat it??
Brandon: Ate his entire portion of salmon. Said the corn was "half and half" which means it's okay. He didn't eat the rest of his corn. Ate all of his carrots.

Lindsay: Ate a bite of salmon. Said it was "not good". Spit the one bite of corn she took into her napkin. Ate all of her carrots.

The Fried Confetti Corn is a Southern Living recipe and has onion, green & red peppers, fresh corn cut off the cob, cream cheese, half n' half, seasonings and crumbled bacon. What's not to love? The salmon is a Cooking Light recipe and was seasoned with salt, pepper and cumin and grilled outside.

Art Medium: Pizza Dough

Tonight we made homemade pizzas with dough from the bread machine. The kids LOVE making their own pizzas and it guarantees that they will actually eat dinner. Afterwards, the kids unleashed their artistic capabilities on the leftover pizza dough.

Dinner: Homemade pizza

Did they eat it: Lindsay: yes Brandon: yes