Food: Small Disasters and Modest Successes

Guess what happened about 2 minutes after we should have already left for gymnastics on Friday?

Yes, that’s my butter dish, which was shattered all over the floor when the refrigerator door was opened with the vigor that is only possible when you are a 7-year-old with an obsessive desire for salami while your mother is standing by the door calling to you, “Come on! Please! Let’s go!”

So yeah, that was awesome.

I tried two slow cooker recipes that were limited successes, both from the Fix It and Forget It Big Cookbook.  First, I made a Macaroni and Cheese, which was this recipe. This was a decent homemade mac and cheese, and the whole family liked it. I thought that it was a little dull, so I added about a teaspoon of dry mustard, which helped. I think next time I’d throw in a bit of dried milk, too. So:  it was easy, it smelled good all day, and everyone ate it. On the other hand, no one raved about it and it certainly isn’t too healthful. But its a good slacker meal. I have no photos, but follow the link and Erin’s got lovely photos.

Then I tried Iranian Wash-Day Stew.

This one smelled super-awesome all day, and then it was. . . good. It could have been slightly more interesting. I’d make it again and add more tomatoes (not peeled) and some other vegetables.  Cute W and I liked it, J took one look and opted out completely, and M painstakingly picked out the pieces of meat. Also, I should have gotten better bread.

Tonight we made a recipe that’s a labor-intensive but delicious family favorite. It’s sort of homemade chicken fingers, which we call Mrs. Seals’ Chicken after our neighbor in Ft. Worth, Texas, who passed it to us in 1978. It’s a pain in the neck. And a mess (see photo below), but it’s super-yummy, and it’s good hot or cold, so it’s great for a picnic. Not, like, now. But you know what I mean.

Mrs. Seals’ Chicken

Ingredients:
2 lbs. skinless & boneless chicken breasts