Week four and five together

Why do week four and five together. Well, because week five was a total no show. I was busy with a conference for the first part of the week and we had a very special family visitor from across the ocean for the rest of the week. So the pause button was pressed!

Week four was all about how to use up left overs. We had a big turkey dinner for Thanksgiving and Bronwyn elected to make turkey pot pie. Mom and Dad had a big roast dinner also on the weekend and gave us a big piece of the left over meat which Gavin used in his pick, Texas chili and Mari also used it for her pick beef dip.

I think it is very important to teach the value of using up leftovers and doing it in creative ways so you don't feel like you are eating leftovers.

We used the new book that I got through their scholastic book order. Comfort Foods. I thought it would be kid appropriate but it wasn't, so I needed to help a fair bit. But the recipes were yummy. We adapted them a bit to suit our needs, the chicken pot pie, became turkey pot pie and the Texas chili needed a few items replaced since I couldn't find all the ingredients.

 

Bronwyn was very proud of her effort. We thought we'd make it again.

 

Gavin's chili recipe turned out a bit spicier than we anticipated. Mainly because I had to make some substitutions and should have knocked down the volume when I did it! Oops. But it was yummy. It was a "beanless" chili, which was very popular with our kids, since they don't like beans.

 

Mari did beef dip, no recipe, just common sense, and no we didn't let her shave the beef.

We got to use up left over buns from our thanksgiving dinner too. Yeah for left overs.

 

All in all a good week. Now we have to get back in the group after a weeks absence.
Time to motivate the troops!

 

Oh sorry for the terrible photos, our camera isn't working very well.
I think we may have dropped it one too many times.

Week #3

Oh, I better get week three recorded before week #4 is over. Yikes, where does the time go.

This week Gavin wanted to barbecue again. I guess he's decided that this is the way a man cooks.

He was great at doing all the chopping and cutting. I had Daddy help him with the barbecue portion, because in our house, that is how men cook.

 

Mari helped me make ribs. Mari sees this whole exercise as a way to order Mommy around. She doesn't really embrace the cooking part. Its more about selecting what we are having for supper. I was able to get her help mix the sauce for the ribs and cut up the broccoli. My nerves are getting stronger. Allowing Mari to cut broccoli shows my ever increasing bravery!

Bronwyn wanted to help me make the cake for Mari's birthday party. I didn't include a finished cake, I have to find the pictures (eeeekk). But she didn't want to ice it just help bake it. She truly is a great help in the kitchen and she absorbs and understands so much of what we do together. Clever girl!

Week two

The kids again picked their choices on the weekend. This weeks offering would be: Spaghetti and meatballs from Mari, Chicken Rockets (a recipe from Good Housekeeping for kids) from Bronwyn and barbecue hamburgers from Gavin.

Mari was extremely enthusiastic, but a little unprepared to give up time outside playing with the others, so it was a bit of a catch her when I could endeavor. She found the rolling of the balls a bit hard, but after helping her for a bit I was asked to leave it to her. There was much complaining about how hard it was, but I assured her I would fix any of the problems. A couple minutes later she exclaimed, that's it I'm done. Washed her hands and ran outside.

Can you tell which meatballs I rolled and which Mari made?

I did indeed fix them and she came back in to help me put the pasta in the pot. I had to persuade her to cooperate with my direction (threaten may be a better word) as she wanted to hand me the spaghetti one piece at a time. YOWSERS.

We did all end up eating, eventually!

Bronwyn was beside herself with excitement because her recipe called for the chicken drumsticks to be skinned and marinated. I have to confess, skinning a drumstick is not an easy task! But we carried on bravely and completed the task.

The chicken was indeed very tasty and Bronwyn was thrilled with her new knowledge.

Gavin ... was to make hamburgers but with Daddy as a stand-in since I had to leave for a meeting in Edmonton. So, apparently Gavin played with his friends while daddy made dinner! Not quite the plan I had in mind. Next week, no excuses little boy!

Week one

My oldest, Gavin immediately put dibs on Tacos. I suspect because he knows they are frightfully easy to make. Not that I'm suspicious, I just know the kid. I decided that we would also make a fresh salsa to up the degree of difficulty and use up a bunch of my garden tomatoes.

My middle child, Bronwyn is a bit of a cooking enthusiast so she dug through her cookbooks and found a Breakfast Sundae that she wanted to make. 

My youngest, Mari said she wanted to make meatloaf. I borrowed one of Bronwyn's books and we chose a fun looking Mini meatloaf recipe from that. 

The results...
 

were excellent.

All three enjoyed it and participated beautifully. Maybe a little too well. Mari was interfering so much on Gavin's night that she got kicked out of the kitchen. She was so insulted that she walked from the house to a neighbor's house (where her Dad is currently doing a renovation). I was a bit panicked until I called and heard that she was indeed with Wes. She was there and she told him, not only was she kicked out of the kitchen but that no one loved her. Poor girl.

In a happier tone they were the best tacos I've ever had. The home made guacamole and salsa tipped the balance. Oh, particularly since we used fresh garden tomatoes.

Mari cooked the following night and we did a wonderful recipe from Bronwyn's Good Housekeeping for kids book. Mini meat loafs! They were excellent and so cute. She insisted on using my square dessert plates and she even got some parsley from the garden to decorate the plates. We made garlic and parsley smashed potatoes (potatoes also from our garden) to accompany the meatloaf. It looked beautiful. The girls even took pictures.

 

Bronwyn had to wait all week to have her turn, since it was a breakfast dish and I didnt' want to rush her. She was so excited all week long. She wanted to make the Sundae on Sunday (my lovely little obsessive compulsive child), but I talked her into doing it on Saturday so we could still have time to go to church. 

She is by far the most interested and proficient of my children when it comes to domestic tasks. So I did a bit of overseeing. She does however, struggle with reading, so I write out the ingredients and we make it into a bit of a reading game too. I suppose this makes me a highly manipulative Mom, but I can live with that!

 

After each meal we discuss whether on not this is something we would make again or not.
 

All in all a great success. All of the dishes tasted great!

The grand idea is born

Thanks to a very busy summer and my own inability to organize my way out of a paper bag, our children had no activities lined up for this fall. YES you heard me. NO activities. 

They were surprisingly OK with this. In fact, they have been loving the lack of commitment and the freedom to just play.

But, I can't just sit by and watch my children be Happy! Who can do that?

So I hatched an evil plan to steal away some of their freedom. They could each decide on the weekend what they wanted to help me make and then they would each get one evening to help. 

We are not a very organized family. Nor are we very committed. 

So I thought I would chronicle our adventures, to help keep us all on track.