You Made WHAT for Dinner?!

I have been in a bit of a dinner slump.

Uninspired.

There’s just so many ways you can make chicken.

So last week, after a highly critiqued, uninspired meal,

I came up with the brilliant plan that the girls would have a night 

where they were in charge of making dinner.

They have cooked with me before and know how to read a recipe 

but they’ve never done this on any regular basis. 

And what better way to equip them to be wives and mothers 

than making them come up with a dinner plan after they have

been in school all day, are tired, uninterested in feeding 

anyone, anything at anytime?

Can I get an AMEN?

McDaniel and Ellie immediately took to the idea and then began to squabble about what to make and who would be in charge of what.

So just like magic, one night became two so they each could be totally in charge of cooking dinner.

I’m quite the magician.

Ellie’s night came first and involved chicken breasts sauteed in butter in the skillet with all kinds of seasonings like onion powder, garlic powder, salt and “some other things” she couldn’t remember.

She put the breasts on a pretty plate in the center of the table with a jar of pickles,

which ended up being the only side dish.

I wish I’d taken a picture.

The chicken was amazing!

Juicy and tender and very flavorful.

And the pickles complimented it better than you’d think.

We all gave her a thumbs up.

While we were still at the table for Ellie’s meal, McDaniel started brainstorming her night’s dinner plans.

She envisioned a creation involving a variety of meats 

called a “meat bucket” filled with mashed potatoes.

Yes, this from the girl who got her
OWN arm stuck in her hair.

We all gave her a thumbs down.

The next day at the grocery store, she modified the “meat bucket” into the “meat pocket” involving pita bread, pepperoni, roast beef, chicken, red pepper, mozzarella cheese and, of course, mashed potatoes.

Not delicious homemade mashed potatoes that she has helped me make, 

but the kind that comes in a plastic container and can be microwaved.

A jar of banana peppers and fresh raspberries served as our side dishes.

It was interesting.

As interesting as cold chicken shoved inside pita pieces that she cut into triangles thus losing their pocket-like quality could be.

McDaniel’s plate. She was quite proud of it.

Ellie made some sort of castle tower with her food.

The girls liked it.

Monte and I rolled with it.

It was no meat bucket

but for that we are very, VERY glad.

Do you have a night your kids make dinner?