This year Joshua took a class at our homeschool co-op entitled For Boys Only. They have studied finances, banking, insurance, renting policies, and COOKING.

This evening our family was the grateful recipients of Joshua’s final project.

Dinner for Seven hosted by Joshua

Chicken Bake Appetizers
Fresh Veggie Crudities
Yogurt Fruit Salad
Homemade Rolls (Mesa Manna recipe)
Juice Spritzer Punch
Baked Potatoes w/sour cream, shredded cheese, and turkey bacon
Steamed Broccoli
Salad w/toppings
Grilled Steaks
Layered pudding dessert as the finale

Joshua worked for hours preparing the meal. He planned the menu, organized the recipes, and did the shopping. He even used existing groceries rather than spend too much at the store. It was truly a culinary gift to the whole family. He set the table in fine style and helped (through his exhaustion) with the clean up.

I’ll have to share his chicken bake and layered pudding recipes because they were quite the hit with the family.

Thank you, Joshua, for the amazing meal.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 107

My mom is making me blog. She does the typing, I do the talking.

Last night, Mom and Dad had a Date Night. That basically means the kids go off in the garage to eat, watch movies or play games while the grownups stay in the house, have a nice dinner and talk.

We had pizza, curly fries and broccoli. Joshua and Rachel made a delicious pudding parfait for the kids’ dessert. They layered vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate pudding, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, and more Cool Whip.

It was wonderful!

Feel free to have another Date Night soon, Mom and Dad.

Daniel
Project 366 - Day 78

This evening I prepared some delicious roasted vegetables for dinner. I took 3 small yellow onions and 1 large sweet onion, diced them all and put in a large baking pan. I misted them with some olive oil (with my wonderful Pampered Chef spritzer), added lots of minced garlic and some seasoning salt. I chopped three small red potatoes and added them to the onions.

Not my actual spritzer, my hands or my peppers.

Bake 400 for 20 minutes

Asparagus was $1.49 a pound last week I still can’t believe I didn’t buy more when it was so gloriously cheap. Still, it only lasts so long in the fridge and I’m the only asparagus lover in the family, so perhaps three bags was enough.

“Sarah, you want any asparagus? Me neither!”

Snap woody ends off asparagus and add to onion/potato combo. Toss sliced mushrooms on top. Mist veggies with olive oil again and salt lightly.

Bake 425 for another 20 minutes

Okay, so the cooking time is approximate. Roast veggies until tender and delicious. Next time I’m adding some squash and fresh tomatoes in at the end with the mushrooms. Yum!

Enjoy!

Kathy
Project 366

Sorry no gorgeous food shots to include with this post; just a few basic recipe ideas, per your requests.

Roasted Asparagus with Onion

Chop two sweet onions and spread on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Add some garlic and sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Roast in oven 20 minutes.

I was baking chicken at the time so the temp was lower than I would normally favor for roasted veggies. 400 or 425 works best.

After the onions have softened a bit (turn over with fork), add fresh asparagus (woody ends snapped off). Drizzle (or spritz) with olive oil, sprinkle salt and fresh Rosemary. Bake for another 10 minutes. When asparagus is done to desired softness (I like mine crisp), take out and garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese.

I love roasted onions so I took the opportunity to cook them along with the asparagus. You’ll have to experiment with the baking time. I was working on pulling everything together for dinner and didn’t time the veggies very precisely. Okay, I barely timed them at all so I am not responsible for your under or over cooked veggies.

Roast at your own risk.

I lied. I couldn’t really post a blog without a few pictures. Sarah and David spent hours in the sand box this afternoon.

Tuscan Chicken Breasts

This is a super easy recipe, I can hardly take any credit for it. I buy the frozen chicken breasts at Costco. I find they consistently give me tender results. I marinated the chicken in Trader Joe’s Tuscan Italian salad dressing over night. I only had a little bit of dressing left so I added some balsamic vinegar and olive oil to the jar and poured it over the chicken.

Bake chicken in oven at 375. Normally this would take 30 to 40 minutes. I HATE dry, overcooked chicken breasts, so I tend to check my chicken as it is cooking. I took the pan out, cut the chicken into smaller pieces (best way to see how it is cooking) and then returned it to the oven. I’ve found that the secret to tender, juicy chicken breasts is in the length of cooking time. You can NOT let it cook too long.

This dinner had several dishes that needed the oven so I ended up pulling the chicken out and finishing it (only 2 or 3 minutes) in the microwave. After it is finished baking, sprinkle with fresh Parmesan.

Yum!

Trader Joe’s Tuscan Italian Dressing with Balsamic Vinegar - try it! It’s one of Tim’s favorites.

Of course, my lovely Mesa Manna recipe has already been fully documented (complete with lots of pictures) here on this post.

Next time I feature a recipe, I simply must share our very favorite blender oatmeal pancakes. They are delicious AND healthy.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 54

The sun was shining today - a near miracle in Washington state during the month of January - so I decided we should take advantage of the good weather.

…by baking bread and taking pictures.

Yes, that’s actually what I thought. Not, go to the park, take a walk or get some fresh air.

Nope, it was more like, “Hey kids, the sun is out which means we could take some good pictures inside (without the flash, of course) for the blog. Let’s make bread!”

Apprentice baker and photogenic blog hog.

Some people are sort of pathetic.
I am one of those people.

But I do have a delicious bread recipe to share.

Years ago (for an exact date I’ll have to ask my mom or one of her sisters) my beloved Nana wanted to create a recipe for bread that would be delicious, simple, require few ingredients, and be low in fat. She devised this recipe, named it Mesa Manna (after her home which was nicknamed, The Mesa) and shared it with the family.

I have made all sorts of different bread recipes over the years, but I continually come back to Mesa Manna. It is just what Nana desired: simple to prepare, delicious and low in fat.

I use my Kitchen Aid but this could also be made by hand. If you are a baker extraordinaire, please excuse my long (rather redundant) explanations. Also, I’m afraid I NEVER measure anything but the water for this recipe so you might have to experiment a little bit here and there on the exact amount of the ingredients. Thankfully this recipe is incredibly forgiving.

Mesa Manna

Ingredients

1 tbs salt
1/3 to 1/2 c. sugar
7 cups of flour

Directions

3 cups warmish/hot water (not burning hot or it kills the yeast)
1 tbs yeast
1 tbs sugar

Add 1 tbs salt
1/3 to ½ cup of sugar (honey or brown sugar)

Begin to add flour. I usually stir in 3 or 4 of cups first. After a little bit I can tell my Kitchen Aid is itching to do it’s thing so I attach the dough hook, toss in another cup or two of flour and turn it on.

Sarah scrapes the edge of the bowl. Such a big helper!

The dough probably needs one or two cups of additional flour. I let the Kitchen Aid knead a little while (there’s time to check my e-mail or put in a load of laundry but not much more). When dough forms a nice ball in the Kitchen Aid, it’s done.

If I were making Mesa Manna by hand (which Tim and I have done many times over the years), I would stir the flour into a large bowl until it was coming together nicely (no longer terribly wet like cake batter). Then I would put it out on a clean counter top that is floured. The dough will be sticky so you need to have additional flour on hand. Knead it, adding flour as necessary, until the dough shines and has an elastic feel to it.

Put oil (I don’t measure–probably a tablespoon or two) in bowl and add dough, turn dough so it’s all “greased”. Cover bowl (I use a clean dishtowel–you could use plastic wrap or foil) and set aside.

I usually let the dough rise in either the microwave (that has run for 30 seconds) or a warm oven. This is a tip an older woman from our previous church shared with me, and it works beautifully (especially when the temp varies in your house). Turning the oven off is KEY! Do not neglect this step. I use a metal bowl if I’m putting it in the oven or a plastic bowl for the microwave, but I’m boring that way.

It has nothing to do with a melted Tupperware bowl - baked plastic and bread dough, yum! Nope, not at all.

Let rise 1 hour or so. I don’t really pay too much attention to the time–it might need more. Check it and see how it’s rising. This dough is very forgiving so if you have less time or more time just go with it. If you won’t be cooking the bread for some time, you can easily punch it down and let it rise again.

Bread bowl experiments.

Make into rolls on greased cookie sheet. I usually cut the tops of the rolls (with my kitchen scissors) to make them look pretty and my mom puts a dash of water on the top of each one. Let them rise (if you have time) another 20 or 30 minutes. If you don’t have time (and they look fluffy enough already) you can put them in right away. You can also cook them in a ‘cold oven.’ They rise as the temperature in the oven increases.

400 degrees for (approx) 20 minutes.

This will make 3 large pizzas or a very full pan of rolls. I’ve also used the recipe to make sweet rolls. Tim likes egg Stromboli for breakfast (basically just scrambled eggs wrapped inside the dough and then baked). The kids really love them made with all white flour (I must admit, they are VERY yummy that way). These days I immediately mix the whole wheat and white flours together in my bin so all white bread is not an option. I sometimes add additional ingredients - powdered milk, plain yogurt, oatmeal, different types of flour, or even spices (Italian Seasonings if I’m going savory or Cinnamon if we’re feeling sweet). Experiment and have fun with this very versatile recipe.

Making bread bowls for soup.

Yesterday I made a delicious pork stew and thought it would be fun to bake our own bread bowls. We tried them again today, this time cooking some over top of upside down popover tins and others on top of over turned bowls. The bowls work much better because the flatter bottom. We put on a light egg wash before baking.

We also discovered greasing the bowls is a crucial step and shouldn’t be missed. If you happen to run out of baking spray, don’t shrug and figure it will be okay, take the time to put oil or butter on the baking dishes.

Trust me on this one.

Who’s up for some soup, in a freshly baked bowl? If you have a favorite bread recipe, leave a comment and share it us.

Mom, Aunt Kate, Aunt Stephanie, Thom, or Joyce did I miss any crucial steps in describing Mesa Manna? This is how I make mine but I bet your version might be slightly different. Tell all!!

Stop by Works for Me Wednesday for other tips and treats.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 15