What's Cooking?

If you've followed this blog for long, you know the kids are each encouraged to cook one night a month. They choose what they want to make, but it has to be age appropriate. They can make something boxed or something from recipe. No one is forced to cook, but if you don't. you also don't get to have what the other kids cook the next month, because it's not fair if some take the time and effort to cook and others don't. This doesn't apply to the twins of course. Their cooking days are mommy initiated and planned.

Jasmine made pot pie in pie shells.

Chicken Pot Pie with pie crust
2-3 c cooked chicken cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup undiluted
16 oz cooked mixed vegetables
2 9" pie crusts uncooked
Preheat oven 400F. Mix chicken, soup and vegetables in a large bowl. Pour into pie shell and top with second crust. Bake 30-40 minutes. We used frozen pie crusts and left them in foil pans, removing the top one with 7-10 minutes left to bake.

Jessica made teriyaki chicken, cheese muffins, fried okra and corn on the cob.

Jessica's Teriyaki Chicken Wings
Flour
Package of drummettes (approximately 14)
1/3 c soy sauce
½ c granulated sugar
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Measure 1-2 cups of flour and put in paper or plastic bag. Rinse drummettes in cool water. Place drummettes 3 or 4 at a time in the bag. Seal and shake until chicken is flour coated. Tap off extra and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375F for 35-45 minutes.

While chicken is baking, mix soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder and sesame seeds in a small bowl. Adjust sugar and soy sauce to taste.

Cheesy Muffins
½ c butter, softened
2/3 c sugar
2 eggs
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c milk
2 c grated cheddar or jack cheese

Cream butter and sugar with fork until smooth. Add eggs and stir until well blended. Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Stir so baking powder is evenly distributed. Measure the milk. Stir a little milk into the butter mixture. Stir a little of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Repeat adding small amounts of milk and flour to the butter mixture until they are all mixed together. Add cheese and mix. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Makes about 20-24 muffins.

Kaleb made shells and garlic bread. We buy the shells in the frozen section and add the sauce. He also had corn, cucumbers and tomatoes!

Kayla made taco salad. We use lettuce, taco meat, shredded cheese, tomatoes diced, smashed up tortilla chips and catalina light dressing.

And she made this taco bake. We needed way more meat than it said, so if we do this again, we'll double the meat.

You can see we didn't have enough meat and it burned around the edges. But we followed the exact instructions. We usually do the first time, and then we adapt it.

So that's what the kids cooked in October. Can't wait to see what they choose for November.