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There is nothing I love more than being in the kitchen, all together as a family. Many hands make light work! And not having to menu plan all alone? Amazing! I knew it was going to be a super busy month, so we made up an extra large menu at the very beginning of Dec for lots of options to choose from, you will recognize some of these from other last Kids in the Kitchen post. We still need to do Taco Pie, Pizza Pockets and Wild Rice Mushroom soup in January. And because it's a nutso month, we also made things NOT on the original list, but it's all good! :)  This isn't a dinner, but while we had the local beef lard bucket thawed for fish night, we decided to try our hand at frying some potato chips. One batch was Lawry's and one batch was salt and vinegar flavor.  Pretty tasty but really tricky to not burn or make chewy chips. Better leave it to the professionals from now on! ;)  Dale's famous fish needs no recipe, because there is none. Crappie he caught this spring, crushed soda crackers, Lawry's, a milk bath and viola! We served it with steamed broccoli.  Nana's Famous Beef Stroganoff with steamed broccoli. Good ol' comfort food!  Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw. We did a ready made BBQ sauce version to save time, but check out the blogged one, YUM.
We had WAY too many green apples on hand, so it was time to make something yummy with them.
Skillet Apple Crisp serve with vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of caramel. Yummy!  Top Secret Pot Roast - it's so yummy! I pulled in all my helpers for this one since there was lots of wash, peel and chop. Wait until you see the secret ingredient - Game. Changer.
Crock Pot Kraut & Bean Soup - holy amazing! This is such a unique soup, totally delish. We served it at several Christmas functions, it makes a HUGE batch!  Christmas Breakfast Overnight Casserole - gorgeous but not our fav. Couldn't get past all the soft bread.
We served it with Rhodes Rolls Overnight Monkey Bread recipe. It WAY over rose in my tiny pan, but still worked out.
Perfect treat for Jesus birthday celebration!  Here are our Christmas Dinner recipes!!!  The Best Meatballs - I grew up with Ham balls at Christmas, but it's very hard to find someone to grind ham these days, so I went with all grass fed beef instead. Still yum! I will share sauce recipe next. This link will get you the oh so incredible sauce recipe for your meatballs (we just baked the day before and heated in crockpot with sauce all day........ This is also where you will get the OH SO AWESOME Gourmet Twice Baked Mashed Potato recipe! Meatball Sauce & Gourmet Potatoes  Raspberry Vanilla Jello Salad - Not too sweet, and so pretty!  Bon appetite! Hugs, T 
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The kids have been helping me make Christmas cookies since they were little and I LOVE IT! Awww, wook how wittle they were. Eeek! I can't even!   Thanks to click list, I ordered all this online and Dale just picked it up. Gotta save my energy for the MAKING part you know!  School is done - the holiday baking has begun!🎁🎄🍬🍪🍰 Cranking some Christmas music and starting things off with a few of our list: *Spicy Party Mix *Peppermint Melt Aways *Seasoned Crackers *Easy Toffee *Rolo Pretzel Sandwiches Spicy Party Mix - Dale's family recipe, not published ;) Don't worry, don't worry, I will give you ALL the other recipes, promise!  Peppermint Meltaways - nicely minty and not too sweet, literally melt in the mouth. I did peppermint oil instead of extract since doTERRA oils ARE the purest little cooking extracts from nature . I did 2 drops in cookie and 1 in frosting I believe  Spiced Crackers - we grew up eating these every Christmas! Warning : ADDICTING  Easy Toffee - totally my weakness! So easy too!  Rolo Sandwiches - YUM these were a huge hit. Gorgeous on a goodie plate  We made several batches of each, and even though that meant I had a TOWER of food in my laundry room, it was so wonderful, that no matter what we were invited to, or what we hosted, we had easy treats to make beautiful platters with AND we could plate them up for gifts too!   Tangy Jalapeno Apricot Brie from Pampered Chef - image from them too. Serve with sliced, toasted french bread or crackers.  Hot Pizza Dip - easy and TASTY! Serve with garlic salt baugette slices.  It's not too late to make this quick for your New Year's parties!!!!!
Be safe! Hugs, T The kids are back in the kitchen and at it again, come check out the latest drool worthy dinners. You just might leave inspired for your next grocery run! This was an extra complicated grocery list session because we were also planning to do holiday baking and made 5 separate grocery lists for each of our 4 Christmas gatherings plus the meals needed between now and then.  First up, Ty made us some awesome Mexican Dump Soup! We used leftover Steak instead of chicken. YUM! Make sure to shred some fresh mozzarella to serve with each bowl. You cannot beat a fresh grated cheese! What I love about this recipe, is how FAST and easy it comes together on a busy day. You can grab the recipe here.
 Momma was hungry for ITALIAN, so I picked the Crockpot version so it could cook itself all day! :) I love how this lasagna tastes like you worked WAY harder than you did. Fun fact, I took small curd cottage cheese and mixed it with yummy italian seasonings to make a more hearty, ricotta style lasagna. Just add it to your alfredo layer in the following recipe from our blog. 4 little Ferguson's Crockpot Lasagna
 Miss Avery wanted BIEROCKS, so we spent the entire day making a triple batch of Bierocks, because they freeze BEAUTIFULLY! We love to serve them with a mixture of mustard, spicy mustard and worchestershire. Then French onion dip, potato chips and carrot sticks on the side. You can find the recipe here.
Destiny was super swamped this month with doubling up on some school, so daddy took over some of the kids cooking duties. He grilled us a lovely steak, sauteed cubed sweet potatoes and served it all with my FAVORITE brussel sprouts! I could eat BOWLS of just these!   And because, tis the season for soup, we made a yummy Amish cheeseburger soup for dinner this weekend! The girls were busy, so all the guys pitched in. Love men in the kitchen! :) I also love the hearty veggies this soup has tucked inside a creamy, fresh shredded, cheddar cheese base. Amish Cheeseburger Soup
 And because we all need dessert once in a while, check out this yummy peppermint pattie brownie recipe from my friend, Whitney!
Did you find something new to try? Thanks for tuning in!
Hugs, T We have always firmly believed we needed to involve our kids in the daily chores and runnings of the household. And from a very young age, they loved to be a helper and pitch in. Set the table. Unload the dishwasher. Make their beds. Fold laundry. Kids are CAPABLE! I wrote a whole blog post about this on the 4 little Fergusons blog years ago if this topic interests you. Cleaning House (With LOTS Of Help)
Recently, as everyone in our family reached the age of 8 and above, we have started including meal planning, shopping and preparing of one meal a week, per each child. This is one of the perks of homeschool! T-I-M-E to do just that. With home ec being skipped and more kids than ever leaving the nest without a clue about basic budgets, grocery trips and meal prep, we are more determined than ever, to include those things in our daily teachings.  Here is what we are making this go around, plus a couple momma threw in on the back.  Avery wanted to go first with her homemade Tomato soup and grilled cheese. It was super cold and I didn't blame her a bit! Dale and I had a class that night, so no photo of her making it. You will LOVE this recipe from my momma!  Paxton was next with some AWESOME stir fry! He gets daddy's help, but really does so well staying on task and helping out. I was home that day, so lots of photos to share! ;) You can find the recipe for this Asian Honey Sesame Chicken and Quick Lo Mein here.
Cold days call for COOKIES......Avery and Pax and I made a triple batch of gooey chocolate chip. UH OH, we have no milk. NO worries, we just used EGG -NOG in the recipe instead. HOLY AMAZING!
Ty read our school chapter book to us while we baked.....we called it HOME EC! :)  After Destiny's potato and starchy noodle dry casserole, I always give her a hard time about the weird dishes she picks. She can handle my teasing, but I really had to eat crow this time....... AND a bowl of delicious dinner she made! LOL! :) Looking at the recipe, I thought it would be absolutely dry and flavorless. NOPE! AMAZING. Check it out: Tex Mex Pasta (We don't do much with cream of soups anymore, but we did find a nice organic one in the natural section. )  I require a veggie too, so we picked a Mexican salad to go with the Mexican pasta. SO YUMMY! I don't usually buy bagged salad, but this chopped one? DIVINE!
One night we got home super late from a function but still needed to throw dinner together, thank goodness for this family favorite and staple at our house!!!! It is a must try on your next menu! :) Ty and Daddy had it put together in 20 minutes! Creamy Hamburger Casserole 
We usually serve it with regular mixed veggies, but this time my shopper grabbed the kind with LIMA BEANS IN IT. Now you know I am a good eater, and I love to eat anything, but I draw the line at LIMA BEANS. I was flashing back to my elementary school days when I used to hide them in the milk carton so I could go back for seconds! Shh, don't tell!  Last 2 are from this Momma, so no cooking pics, except from the blog. Go check these out! You will love BOTH! The BEST Italian Beef Sandwiches, served with Lawry's season salt dusted tator tots and carrot sticks on the side.  Peppered Beef Snow Peas over Turmeric Rice - such a flavorful stir fry. Corn starch helps the flavor REALLY coat the steak like chinese take out does.  Recipe calls for a brown rice bake, have at it. I just did it on the stove this go around, and added turmeric, garlic and turmeric, lemongrass and ginger doTERRA essential oil to the chicken broth before I boiled it. SUPER flavorful!  That's a wrap folks, on another addition of My 4 Chefs: Kids in the Kitchen!
Did you find something you want to make? Inspired to try something new this menu? Leave us a comment, I will read them to the kids! Hugs, T and the 4 Fergusons :) Welcome to my 4 Chefs: Menu Plan Monday! Where we share our kids in the kitchen recipes for you to enjoy. Our children, ages 7-15, are old enough to not only help with supper preparations, but to make the menu, shop for the ingredients and prepare the dishes themselves. This momma is busier than she has ever been, so it's been a welcomed transition! :) We help as often as needed to complete this balanced meal, and the making of it. Alot of the kids require little to no help, and their confidence has soared over the months we've been doing this.  Here is what everyone picked this go around!  First up was Paxton. It was COLD, and time for some soup. Broccoli Cheese always hits the spot! He wanted to serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches, so I put him to work buttering a loaf of bread.
Our recipe calls for frozen veggies, but we like to steam fresh broccoli and califlower instead. Healthier for us and tastes better too!  Here is the original recipe from our old blog. We now do organic cream of soups so we avoid MSG and I did a roux with butter and flour and shredded cheddar instead of Velvetta, but do whatever your family likes best!  Destiny and Tylan both wanted to make Tacos, and both insisted they had "Called It" first, so we had them both prepare both their meals. (insert eye roll here) Siblings, jeepers!  We had leftover mashed potatoes from our German Oktoberfest Pizza night, last week. Totally YUM, check it out here.  So we used the leftovers for some good ol comfort food....Shepherd's Pie!
It was absolutely divine!!!!!!!!! We totally winged it, but used this recipe as the base.  Class nights mean easy dinner before we go, so we did a quick taco night, courtesy of Ty and Destiny! No recipe needed. We add two rinsed and drained cans of red kidney beans to stretch our 2 pounds of taco meat further. Those kids can put down some tacos! Ty had like 6!!!!!!  I picked a Beef Stew that uses Sweet Potatoes instead of the white ones, less carbs, more nutrients, as well as parsnips and a turnip.  I was super excited to try it and it was absolutely DELIGHTFUL!!!! I always like to use my doTERRA essential oils in addition to the dry seasonings for that extra POP of amazing flavor and health benefits. Perks of using the world's purest essential oil! :)  You can grab the recipe here! We served it with a crusty loaf of bread and herbed butter.  Last. but not least, was Avery's meal. She picked a Beef Tortellini Skillet with a side salad. It took quite a bit of doctoring to make it creamy and flavorful, but we got it done by adding garlic, extra seasonings and some extra broth. We also had some leftover bella mushrooms we sauteed in the dish that helped a ton!  They devoured it before I could get a pic of the plates!  You can grab the recipe here.  Here is to another great week of meals! CHEERS! Did you find something you want to try? Hugs, T  Welcome to the latest edition of My 4 Chefs! I have had a lot of good questions about this part of our blog and I want to answer them here before we go on to the yummy food I have to share with you. Do the kids have to do the grocery shopping too? YES, they take their list to the store with us and while we are all shopping, gather their part. I want them to learn to price compare, read labels and navigate a grocery store well. How much help do you give the younger kids? Or do they choose something they can fix on their own? They can choose whatever they want! Even a "big" meal like meatloaf, mashed potatoes, sides and dessert. (which Ty did last round) However, we are close by in case they need us, more or less help, depending on age. I have to say, we have already seen a huge improvement since starting this a few months ago, in what they can accomplish without us. How do they choose what to make? Do you give them options or can they find their own recipes? They are given free range, as long as its a well balanced meal and includes a veggie! :) They like to look through our cookbooks or go to the 4 little Fergusons blog, where ALLLL our family favorites got blogged for 5 years! Does everyone cook on certain nights, or who cooks when? Depending on weather, and depending on whose meal uses the fresh ingredients that go bad the fastest, is how we decide what we are making from our list of menu options. What age did you start this? We started this about 4 months ago. We have 4 kids, 15, 11, 10 & 8. We have had them in the kitchen with us, unloading dishwasher, helping make bread or dessert, setting the table for dinner, tossing salad, since they were toddlers. How much do you all budget for this? Same as we did when momma was the main chef. For 4 to 5 meals, plus breakfast, fresh fruits and veggies and snack foods has been running us about $150-200 depending on the area we are in. We can make these meals last for a week to week and a half, with leftovers.  There is nothing better than new cookbooks! I get SO excited to find things to cook from them! Thanks to Grandma Eileen for donating TWO new 5 ingredients ones to our stash! :) Avery was up first....Pepperoni Pizza Pasta with garlic bread and salad. You can find the recipe here.
Avery loves to cook and bake, so she also picked a dessert! Whipped Chocolate and Cherry Pie I found a non red dyed, no HFCS, pie filling. We still didn't love the cherry layer, the whipped chocolate tastes EXACTLY like hot cocoa, so we thought next time we'd make it into some kind of layered whipped hot cocoa layered dessert, or bowls of mousse with tiny marshmallows and chocolate shavings to garnish.
I picked something new and unusual, and it was yummy! (some people didn't like the olives and feta, but they will get over it) ;) It is amazing hot like casserole or cold like pasta salad: Greek Chicken & Spaghetti I thought Kalamata olives were more greek than black, so I switched it. Totally a yum move.
Tylan picked Cheeseburger Pockets with carrot sticks. (he wanted french fries, and momma said nope.) ;) Gotta choose a well balanced meal. Only changes we will make is a better quality american or cheddar cheese, as the velvetta that was purchased, made us a little gaggy because of it's fakey flavor. You can find the recipe here.
Sweet Destiny made her dinner for the kids while Dale and I were at class, so I don't have pics of her prepping it, but here is the recipe from the 4 little Ferguson's blog! The only thing I told her was next time she needs to plan to steam some mixed veggies or something to go with it.
Paxton has surprised me the last few times with his choices, and they have been a hit with everyone! We all ranted and raved about the glaze on this Honey Sriracha chicken.  We love to cook with our oils, so we served it up with some turmeric rice.....such yummy smokey flavor. Just cook basamati rice in chicken broth with a hearty shake of turmeric powder, garlic powder and 4 drops doTERRA turmeric oil. So healthy for you!!! Next time, I want him to plan to steam some broccoli or plan to stir some veggies into the rice for a pilaf.   That is it for this edition of My 4 Chefs! Which recipe do you want to try first? Any other questions you want me to answer in another edition? Hugs, T  We have been trying something new the last 5 or so months and it's working GREAT! Everyone in our house is of an age, where they can easily (or semi easily) help to prepare food. I wanted to take things a step further. I wanted the kids to help me look up the recipes to make our weekly menu, make a grocery list, and do the shopping once we are at the store. I want them to learn to menu plan, price compare and know how to navigate through the grocery store. I also want them to learn how to prepare good meals for themselves and someday their families! And so family meal planning began......  For some reason, I have more meals photographed for the boys than the girls, but bear with me, we will get it all covered.  Paxton picked an easy weekend meal of Oven Meatball Subs with a veggie platter.  Do you remember all those yummy recipes we used to share on our old blog, the 4 little Fergusons?! Well this one comes from there. You can head here to go check out the recipe! Easy peasy!  Tylan, our 11 year old, spent the first few months was picking super easy things like Taco Pie, Kabobs on the grill etc. As the months have gone on, he has become quite the chef. He picked, for this particular menu, Cheddar & Onion Meatloaf with mashed purple potatoes and fresh steamed green beans. Holy amazing!  Cheddar & Onion Meatloaf is on the 4 little Ferguson's blog as well. The sauce MAKES IT stand apart from any other "loaf of meat" you have ever tried. Promise!!!  Destiny tends to pick the most unusual dishes of our crew. After a nasty run in with dish containing both cooked pasta and cubes of potatoes with no sauce, {gag} I was hesitant to let her try this one using boxed (gasp) mac and cheese, but you know what? I have to let go of all that if I want them to help me menu plan. I make them eat my dishes! I will eat theirs happily, and you know what, it was REALLY good! :) And, BONUS, it came together quickly on Wednesday night as we were flying out the door to church. You can get the recipe here: Taste of Home Pizza Mac & Cheese
 Even Dale got in on the menu planning action, with some fresh fried crappie and steamed broccoli.....I made some butter seared crappie, as well with Old Bay Seasoning, which is my fav! Dale is frying in our new fryer using cast iron and local rendered beef lard. If you are going to fry, that's the way to go!!!   Avery was hungry for comfort food, and she picked a recipe we like to call, Man Casserole. Layers of seasoned beef, fresh butter sauteed mushrooms, mushroom soup, french fried onions and a yummy layer of egg washed biscuits on top, make this cozy dish.
 One of my favorites from this week, was Paxton's Barbacoa and Rice.
We added some doTERRA amazing lime oil to our recipe. These beautiful oils can be used for health and wellness AND cooking. It tastes like you zested the lime and everything! It doesn't replace juice, rather just adds a concentrated taste of lime. Other changes to this recipe, include using BEEF broth instead of chicken, whole can. Then dip some of the yummy simmered beef juice out when it's time to cook your rice right before dinner, for that extra kapow of flavor. We also don't like half cans of anything leftover, so we chopped the rest of the adobo peppers and the saucey stuff, and added it to cooked rice. YUMMY! This was SO FANTASTIC! We served leftovers on tiny street tacos (tiny flour tortillas) for an easy school lunch.  Lest you think I never cook, here are just a few of the things I made this past couple weeks! :) Do you LOVE cast iron? Oh man, I do. I love how easy it is to go from stove to oven. I love this orange sets I was gifted with my retro oven and fridge purchase!!!! Saturday morning, I was digging around the cute little 1950's fridge and inspiration struck....... Side note: This is the most current pic of our kitchen and shed house. I have never blogged the finished product! OOPSIE. Note to self. Photograph the apartment and blog it - asap!  In that fridge, we had whole bella mushrooms, some cooked crumbled bacon, ham, the amish version of Velvetta, steamed broccoli left from Dale's fish night, and a dozen eggs. I decided to make an broccolli, ham and cheese oven skillet bake, and some pumpkin pancakes!
 IT WAS SOOOO YUMMY!!!! On Sunday's we grew up doing Sunday night snack supper, it's a mennonite thing I think. So this is something we have continued as a tradition in our own home. I made a plate version of this 9x13, 7 Layer Dip. Our Dillons doesn't sell sprouts anymore, so I did romaine lettuce shredded up and my family loved it better. We also had fresh avocados so that helps it be extra yummy too. Amazing 7 Layer Dip   One last Ty dish and then we are done. Are you excited to menu plan yet? Ty wanted to grill some wings this week and serve them with mashed sweet potatoes. He wanted them grilled, but sauced too. So we ran out to the local butcher shop, got some wings and we grilled to almost done. Then, tossed them in 2 different sauces. Back on the grill they go, to seal it all in. OH MAN, these were so amazing and I have to say.... This is the BEST spicy sauce I have EVER tried! I had to get out some grape sherbet for my burning mouth but it was WORTH EVERY HOT BITE.  There was also a second option, Thai Chili BBQ. It was very good as well!  Well, that concludes our first ever My 4 Chef's episode. Did this interest you? Shall I do it again sometime? Leave me a comment! Hope you are well, sorry I have been so quiet. We have the worst wifi when we are in our apartment, and it is so many hours to first download all the pics, then create a post, but never fear, we will be back on the road before you know it! :) Then I will have lots of fun to share again! Hugs, T  |
Tonya Ferguson
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