What's Cooking? B.O.W. club 6/25/13

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The hard question comes everyday, "Mom! What's for dinner?" We are all in a busy season of life around here so many of our meals are pretty 'quick' meals. I just dropped my oldest son off to volunteer at the church's basketball camp, and his brother will join him later in the week. So this week, it's all about simplicity. Here's what is cooking at our house today, and a 'guest post' by my son, who fixed a fantastic desert this week-perfect for summertime!

Chicken Italian with Angel Hair Pasta:

*Note: this recipe will feed my family of 6, including one dad and two growing teen boys, and yields leftovers. I use one of the large crockpots, if you have a smaller one, adjustments will need to be made and I will put those in parentheses

1. 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into cubes for smaller crock, I place whole ones in the big pot frozen, after thawing a little overnight in the fridge)
2. 3/4 of a 65 ounce bag of Normandy blend frozen veggies, or frozen veggies of choice (for a smaller crock, use a smaller bag and fill not quite to top)
3. 3/4 of a bottle of Italian dressing (again, for a smaller crock, just cover the veggies and chicken)
4. 1 box Angel Hair Pasta (I prefer to use Barilla Plus which is multigrain)

• Place the chicken in the crock first. For the bigger pot, just lay all three breasts in. You can split them if you want but mine are usually partially frozen. After cooking awhile, I usually cut them up. For a smaller crock, cut your chicken in cubes and place it in.
• Cover the chicken with the frozen veggies.
• Cover the chicken and the veggies with the Italian dressing, soaking all of it as good as you can. For a large crock, this usually takes anywhere from 3/4 to 1 whole bottle, but you can cover to taste as well.
• Cook on low all day. The smell is amazing! I usually start it around 9 a.m. and turn my crockpot on warm about 6-7 hours later. Toward the end, I cut or shred the chicken-it is very soft at this point-and mix everything up
• When it is getting close to dinner time, boil the Angel Hair Pasta. I use a few drops of Olive Oil instead of butter to prevent stickiness. Olive oil has many health benefits! Drain pasta well.
• To serve: place Angel Hair pasta on plate and put chicken/veggie mix from crock on top. I also like to spoon some of the 'juice' over the pasta as well.

SO EASY and SO good!! Now, L, my 12 year old son is going to tell you about the Lemonade Stand Pie he made from the cookbook, If I Gotta Cook Make It Quick! He was assisted in this recipe by his 4 and 6 year old sisters, so this is something you can get the whole family involved in!

Lemonade Stand Pie:

Hey, this is L, bringing deliciousness into your home! I'm going to tell you how to make this simple, delicious recipe in 5 easy steps. Here is the recipe for Lemonade Stand Pie:

Ingredients:

6 ounces of lemonade (any kind)

2 cups of ice cream (vanilla)

8 ounces of whipped cream

1 8-inch graham cracker crust

1. Start by pouring the lemonade into an electric mixer (or you can hand mix it, whichever is easier for you). Mix on low speed for 30 seconds.

2. Slowly pour in the ice cream.  The mix will look a little weird, but it will get better, trust me. 

3. Slowly pour in the whipped cream.  The mix should start thickening.

4. Pour the mix into the graham cracker crust. You can make your own, or buy a crust from the store. We bought a crust from the store.

5. Freeze, then let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Enjoy! 

Now, get out there and enjoy this day with your kiddos, knowing supper AND desert can be taken care of very quickly!

Do you have any 'quick' go to recipes you could share with us? If so, please let us know in the comments below or on the Facebook page. Thank you!

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