Teenagers in the Kitchen

The Short version:

Monday: Gail cooking Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
Tuesday Gail Cooking not sure what yet.
Wednesday:  Kurt cooking while Gail out playing so most likely he will take the girls out to eat.
Thursday:  Morgan cooking  Pasta with Broccolli, garlic and red pepper flakes, green salad with blue cheese dressing & rolls (because I was a bad mom and did not make rolls on Sunday. gasp!)
Friday: Date Night for mom & dad, fend for yourself (leftvoers or hamburgers) for the girls
Saturday: Lexi cooking Pork Saute with Lemon Caper Pan Sauce, butternut squash and mashed potatoes
Sunday:  Feeding the Missionaries, Yet to be determined.
Monday:  Blair cooking Roast Chicken, flavor yet to be determined.
Wednesday: Morgan cooking Quick Ravioli with Herbed Ricotta Filling, Mid-Summer Salad (aka Lexi Salad), Artisan Bread
Friday: Lexi cooking Chicken Saute with White Wine Vinegar Pan Sauce, Baked Rice and Roasted Asparagus.

Now for the long version:

My girls are each going to be making dinner once a week.  They will be primarily working out of this cookbook:

I love this cookbook.  It is the one I wish I would have had when I got married.  I bought it a few years ago and it changed my life.  Basically it is broken up into basic techniques and then variations on flavor and ingredients.  Each girl has chosen a chapter/technique that she will be working on for a month or two and then we will change it up.

Morgan chose Pasta, Lexi chose Sautes and Pan Sauces, and Blair chose Roast Chickens.

My girls are all very proficient at following a recipe.  The goal here is to learn to make a quick delicious dinner with real ingredients that you have on hand or whatever is seasonal and cheap.  For example,  while Blair will learn to roast a whole chicken, she will also make a dinner or two using the roast chicken techniques but with chicken leg quarters (the least expensive meat you can get at any grocery store.) which is also a great option if you are a college student or missionary who is cooking for one or two people.

I will keep you all posted as this experiment progresses.

My Dinner Last Night & a recipe for Mid-Summer Salad

I have been reading "French Kids Eat Everything:  How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters"  by Karen Le Billion 

Quiche with bacon, mushrooms, asparagus, artichoke hearts and onions with a mid-summer salad.

This book is for everyone,  not just people with babies or young children.  Here is my review:  

If you are expecting your first child or have young children, read this book NOT Dinner a Love Story. DALS will teach you how to create picky kids This book will teach you how to avoid it in the first place and to fix it if you have already made that mistake.

I have had this book on my to read list for months, but because my kids are teenagers, I knew I was not the target audience. I finally read it and I am glad I did. I have to state for the record that I agree wholeheartedly with the French approach to feeding children. I made the typical American mistakes with my first two children and did a complete flip with the following three. So, I feel like kind of an expert on this subject. Even though my kids are older, I find that my children and I are all snacking too much. This book was a great reminder of how we should all eat at all ages. The first 65% of the book is also a great memoir on a North American living in France. Of course, after reading this book, I had to make a french dinner. We had quiche with salad and berries with yogurt cream for dessert. My family was thrilled. 

If you enjoy memoirs about living in Europe, food & cooking, read this book.

For dessert Raspberries & Blueberries with Yogurt Cream