Summer Cooking - Luke

Back in the Summer, I stole a good idea from my good friend, Crystal Intfen.  She assigned her kids a night and they were in charge of dinner for that night.   They figured out what they wanted to cook and did as much of the work as possible in the kitchen.  

That sounded fun to me so I threw it out to the boys (all except Alex who was on a trip with friends).   Landry immediately thought of his idea .....going to Pie Five where everyone would "make" their own pizza.   While I applauded his good idea, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  

I'm going to post these stories in 3 separate posts.  Here's Luke's night ....

Luke and I had been studying the menu for his upcoming week of camp and he'd seen Chicken Fried Steak on the menu.  So he asked if we could make that.   Now I've never made a chicken friend steak, much less a gluten free chicken fried steak and I was a little leery of the idea, to be honest.  But Luke  has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen many times and I researched recipes and we jumped in.  

These pictures are all pretty terrible, but that was the least of our worries!!

Here's Luke working on the dry ingredients ....

The recipe suggested using baggies to coat the meat so that's what we did. 

Fryin it up baby!!!

Mashing those taters!

We can even make gravy!!   Oh yeah!!!

This boy can even make pudding for dessert!!  What a multi-tasker!!

And the finished product ......

He didn't want anything else .....just chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. We threw in some watermelon for good measure!!  And I have to say, the CFS was awesome!!  I was very surprised ....until I realized that anything fried in a half cup of Crisco is probably gonna taste awesome!!    

(Sorry Mom, Grandma, and anyone else whose arteries are hardening just thinking about that!!)  

Anyway, it was a great meal and Luke definitely chose a winner!!

Summer Cooking - Parker

Parker knows a good idea when he sees (or hears!) one, so he jumped on the pizza idea that Landry had originally thrown out.  It seemed simple enough and it became even more simple when Parker headed off by himself in Walmart to figure out what he needed!  Self-sufficiency at its finest!!

So here he is putting on the sauce .....

And ready for the oven ....

Parker's not one for a bunch of picture taking ....in fact, I think this might be the last picture I may ever get if him in his glasses.   He had recently gotten his contacts and was still limited as to how many hours he could wear them each day.  

Anyway, this dinner wins the award for the easiest!!  And it was pretty tasty too!!  

Summer Cooking - Landry

Landry had a hard time getting away from something already "fixed."   You'd think the boy never gets a home-cooked meal!!   We compromised and got a rotisserie chicken from the store because everyone likes those.  He also wanted to do mashed potatoes (big week for those!), broccoli, and crescent rolls.  

Here he is working the camera with his goofy faces while peeling potatoes ....

After the potatoes were cooking, Landry disappeared for a while.   When it was time for them to be mashed and finished up, I called out to him, thinking he was in his room.  I said, "Landry .....the potatoes need mashing ...."  And without missing a beat, he yells back, "I'm taking a dump!!!!"   Ummmm .....ok .....I think I'll do the mashing!!    Ewww!!

He did come along in time to lick the beaters ....

And the finished meal ....

Landry did a great job on a super yummy meal!!!

Four Eyes No More

Parker has been wanting contacts for a very long time.  His wise eye doctor has insisted that he could not get contacts until he kept his room straight on a regular basis.  While Parker is not a neat freak by any standard, we decided to give contacts a try.  It also helped him on the football field, as he didn't have to squeeze his glasses into his helmet anymore!  

Here he is learning the delicate art of putting a small plastic disk directly on your eyeball!!  

 It was no easy task!!  After approximately 57 tries, he got one on!!   Then he had to go to the other eye!  Then he had to take them out and put them back in again!!  It was grueling!!  But he didn't give up! 

 And look at him now!  He NEVER wears his glasses ... not even around the house!   He loves his contacts and hasn't looked back!  

It has totally changed his look.  He's had glasses since the 4th grade so it's a big difference. Looking good, dude!!