Big Breakfast Sunday: The Importance of Eating Together as a Family

Many families don't have time to sit all together around a dinner table during the week. My family is no exception to this rule. When sports are in full swing, we find ourselves serving meals from the crockpot or preparing something later that's rather quick. Even then, it's rare that we can all sit down together at the same time.

To compensate for our lack of ability to eat together during the week, we have implemented a family tradition, "Big Breakfast Sunday." We go to the later worship service on Sunday so we can all sit down together on Sunday morning and eat breakfast together.

There are many research studies and overall opinions that suggest that sitting down and eating meals with your family (the more the better) has great benefits, and I personally agree! Why do I agree? My biggest proof is in my dining room floor. For a while my husband and I would sit down in the family room and eat dinner rather than at the dinner table with the kids. What we noticed was that whenever we weren't at the table with the kids, there was a HUGE mess. I believe children learn by example, so when we are at the table to demonstrate and enforce proper meal-time etiquette, they learn. Additionally, we are there and able to encourage them to eat all their food and try all the things we put on their plate.

Not only do I think that by sitting at the table with the kids we are teaching them things, I think we are also bonding with them. My husband and I try to talk with the kids and show that we are interested in their lives. Even though our children are all still very young (8, 6 and 3), I'm hoping that this habit/tradition will positively continue with them and demonstrate to them that we are truly interested in what is going on in their lives.

So, despite the fact that we are on-the-go during the week, we have started the tradition of at least having "Big Breakfast Sunday" (Saturday instead sometimes). I encourage everyone to sit-down and have as many meals as possible with their children!

Successful Recipes

Over time, I have taken recipes and perfected them to be just what I wanted them to be. This past week, I found that one of my recipes had gone missing (probably on the computer that crashed). I was so heartbroken!

Today, I thought I'd share with you some of my successful recipes from the past week with two motives in mind 1) To share my recipes with you 2) To keep this blog as an alternate storage method to just my home computer and binder. Enjoy!


Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup dry bread crumbs
2. 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3. 1/2 teaspoon paprika (I actually used smoked paprika)
4. 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
5. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
6. 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
7. 1 egg well beaten
8. 3-4 pieces skinless boneless chicken breast; filleted in hal

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, paprika, garlic salt, pepper and parsley. In a separate bowl beat the egg. Dip the chicken in the egg, and then roll in the crumb mixture.

Place coated pieces of chicken on a lightly oiled baking sheet (or a baking stone - which is my preference), arranging pieces so they don't touch (use two pans if needed).

Bake 40-45 minutes.

Homemade Breadcrumbs

Use whatever you have in the house for bread. Don't use stale bread though.

If the bread is too fresh or not very dry follow the directions below:

Place bread in oven on an ungreased baking sheet. Make sure they are stacked only one piece high and that there is breathing room between the pieces. Bake at 300 degrees for 10 - 16 minutes; about halfway through turn over so they dry evenly.

Tear dried bread into smaller pieces and place in your food processor (or blender). Process until desired coarseness.

Note: Coarser is better, because you can always make coarser crumbs finer later...

Beef & Bean Chili

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2. 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3. 4 cloves garlic, minced
4. 3 tablespoons chili powder
5. 4 teaspoons ground oregano
6. 2 teaspoons ground cumin
7. 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8. 2 pounds (extra) lean ground beef
9. 2 jars tomato sauce
10. 1 cup water
11. 1 cup cooked kidney beans or one can kidney beans
12. 1 cup cooked black beans or one can black beans
13. Sea salt
14. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent.

Stir in chili powder, oregano, cumin and crushed red pepper and thoroughly mix. Add ground beef and stir until the meat is browned.

Next, add tomato sauce, water and beans. Season with salt to taste, then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 25 - 30 minutes more, stirring often so flavors can meld together.

In the last 10 minutes, stir in cilantro.

Southern Homemade Cornbread

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup sifted flour
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 4 teaspoon baking soda
5. 1 1/2 cups corn meal
6. 2 eggs
7. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
8. 1 stick unsalted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, add eggs and milk. Melt butter in skillet and swish around to grease well. Pour batter into mixture; mix well. Mixture should have bubbles but no dry lumps. Pour mixture back into skillet.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until top springs back.

Cool slightly, slice and serve.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups sifted flour
2. 2 teaspoons baking powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1/4 cup butter
6. 1/2 cup sugar
7. 2 eggs
8. 3 medium ripe bananas
9. 1/2 cup butter milk or sour milk (to sour milk - had 1 teaspoon vinegar to milk)
   

Directions:

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs in a separate bowl. Mash the bananas into the mixture.

Alternately add milk and flour to the mixture.

When well blended pour into a greased bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Mission Hidden Veggies = Success!

So, last night for dinner, I serverd Paremsan Crusted chicken as our main dish. For a side, I decided to hide our vegetable, zucchini, in an ever so comforting starch (at least for my family), potatoes. The mission was a huge SUCCESS!

Below is our recipe for Zucchini Pancakes:

Ingredients

2 cups coarsely grated peeled potatoes
2 coarsely grated zucchini
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
3/4 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt
Olive Oil

Directions

Wrap grated veggies in a large, clean dish towel and squeeze excess moisture from them. Combine grated veggies in a bowl with eggs, flour, onion, parmesan cheese, and salt. In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat enough vegetable oil to coat the pan. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil and flatten into pancakes. Fry until browned on the bottom, flip, and continue cooking until the other side is browned.

Lessons Learned and Our Newest Ventures!

So far, everything has been going smoothly. We have run into a few bumps in the road though... One weekend, I was extremely busy, and another I was just not feeling well, so I didn't get all the baking done. Those weekends, I bought bread. What this has taught me is that I need to both plan ahead a little better, and plan for the unexpected.

So, how do you plan for the unexpected when it comes to baking? Simple, have some bread that you've made stored away in the freezer, and prep some extra cookie dough and do the same. That will eliminate the prep time (and in the case of the bread - all the baking time too) and make it even something the husband or kids can help out with.

Baking has been our primary change. The other has been a slight limit on the dinner meals. My husband is sort-of bored with the quick evening recipes. So, now part of my mission is to come up with 365 different recipes for dinner entrees, snacks, desserts, breakfast dishes and side dishes. Lunches are pretty consistent sandwiches for the kids and salads for the grown-ups, and I don't think I should add to much variation here, because that might otherwise overly complicate our on-the-go life.

We have however, recently decided to try out our local Organic Co-op, The Neighborhood Garden (www.jaxorganic.com) . I found one in the area that seems like it will be a perfect fit for us, as we are not obligated to purchase from them every week, and it isn't expensive at all. The goal of utilizing the co-op for us is to sort-of force us to incorporate more vegetables into our meals. The challenge will be getting the kids to eat their vegetables, but I plan on doing some research and experiments there (like Zucchini Pancakes). I of course, will post all of my experiments and their results here.

I will also post some of my recipe plans, including our weekly lunch salads based on the co-op's offerings. For example, this week, I plan on making an Italian Green Butter Leaf and Arugula Italian Salad. See Below:

Italian Green Butter Leaf and Arugula Salad

Ingredients:

• 1-2 heads green butter leaf lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 bunch baby arugula, washed and dried
• 1/3 cup sliced raw almonds
• 4 ounces shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese
• 4 ounces Asiago cheese
• 3 ounces bacon bits (we of course will make our own)
• 2 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon (2 tablespoons)
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and sliced

Directions:

Combine the lettuce, tomatoes, bacon bits, arugula, almonds and the 4 ounces of Asiago cheese in a large salad bowl; toss gently.

Drizzle enough oil over the salad (to taste) to thoroughly coat but not saturate the greens. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the salad, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently yet thoroughly.

Divide among individual plates and garnish with shavings of Parmesan cheese and slices of hard-boiled egg.

Another Baking Weekend

This past weekend was another successful weekend of baking. Cookies, muffins and bread keep me standing in the kitchen for 3-4 hours, but the end result is more than worth it! Last weekend it was bread, multi-berry muffins, oatmeal scotchies and chocolate chip cookies. This weekend it was bread, chocolate chip muffins and oatmeal raisin cookies.

As I've mentioned before, we are a family on-the-go, so we need quick out-the-door breakfasts. The muffins are perfect, and we can change it up weekly depending on what fruit is on sale, or just use chocolate chips for a treat, like I did this week.

Lunches consist of organic milk boxes for Michael, Almond Milk for Marcus (he's lactose intolerant) and water for me, a piece of fruit, a sandwich and cookies. For the sandwiches, I make the bread, and we use Hormel Natural Choice meat, because it is nitrate/nitrite free. Cheese goes on Michael's and my sandwich. We like provolone or swiss cheese. The hubby usually takes the dinner leftovers, or he enjoys a salad.

Dinners have a bit more of a challenge since we're always on-the-go, and last week our house was a construction zone and without a kitchen (redoing the floors after a flood). Monday night ended up being sandwiches. Tuesday we ate at the ball field. Wednesday, I took my crockpot over to my mothers and made a pot roast with potatoes. Thursday and Friday I still didn't have a kitchen, so these days were grab and go too. We'll have to see how dinners are this week! I will also post our recipes.

Why I Say Preservatives are Bad, and Our Changes!

You are what you eat?!?!? That’s why I say preservatives are bad. While some preservatives are okay in limited quantities according to the FDA, such as Sorbates, Sodium benzoate and benzoic acid, Vitamin C and Citric Acid I challenge you to look at the ingredients of what you eat every day. How many things that you eat have the above mentioned ingredients in them; most? I’d say chances are you are consuming, as most people do, more than a limited quantity. I know my family was. Now, that being said, limited quantities of these things wouldn’t be bad. If the aforementioned things were all that was in my family’s diet, I wouldn’t be on the rampage I’m on to rid our diet of preservatives all together. I dare to say we were eating quite a few things that had “bad” preservatives in them such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), Sulfites, Nitrates. The aforementioned all have horrible side effects, including the possibility of cancer. Having already had thyroid cancer myself, I am on a mission to be a little more vigilant about what this family eats!

We still haven’t used up all of the boxed and canned food in the house yet, but I’m not one to let things go to waste…so we will continue to use that up. However, we are starting our preservative free campaign.

We are still a typical American family and very much on-the-go. Both my husband and I work full-time jobs outside of the home. Two of our three kids are in school, and the other one attends daycare (where they feed him all organic food J). So, it has been muffins during the week so far for breakfast, and everyone seems to like this. I bought a great cookbook King Arthur’s Flour Cookbook, and it has provided me great options for muffins, breads and the like. Today I will attempt to make my very first loaf of bread! I’m not above buying sandwich meat, but this family is only going to buy nitrate/nitrite free sandwich meat, such a Hormel Natural Choice. For snacks, we’re going to make cookies instead of eating chips, and we’ll make crackers and eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

Doesn't Anyone Cook Meals From Scratch Anymore?

My husband and I have discussed for sometime now about eating healthier and stopping the habits of eating stuff from a can, or things which have ingredients that we can't pronounce, especially those with 13 syllables.

The first and most obvious change I could think of was to start cooking meals from scratch. From scratch means cooking with non-prepared ingredients, to me. I started searching the internet for recipes that were "from scratch" and found that a lot of these meals and desserts called for pre-prepared items. This infuriated me. So, I went to the bookstore, thinking that they have to have some "from scratch" cookbooks, right? I scoured Barnes N Noble and turned up not one cookbook that had meals in it that weren't strictly Vegetarian or Raw Food diet books that had meals from scratch.

So, I've returned home, armed with one of my mother's cookbooks, a few websites and blogs which I've marked as favorites, and I'm here to post my recipes (as I perfect them), experiences of cooking from scratch, and hopefully satisfactions of cooking from scratch.