When my mom visited recently…
..she and Anton whipped up a delicious dinner: Ina Garten’s parmesan chicken. You basically coat chicken breasts with flour, eggs, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese; then sauté them and cover with lemon-y salad greens.
The chicken was delicious and easy enough for the boys and me to make again a few nights after my mom headed back to Michigan. (We served it here with mashed potatoes and green beans, but the chicken and salad would be enough on its own, if you wanted to keep it simple.)
A few days later, Anton, Toby and I made rice and beans, plus a bunch of toppings: red peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, corn, rotisserie chicken, crushed taco shells, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce. We piled everything into bowls and ate together on the sofa. “Mom, you should pat yourself on the back for this dinner,” Toby said, as Anton loaded up his third helping. All in all, a crowdpleaser!
I’ve always teased myself for being a bad cook — and it’s true that I am not great — but I can make a few things reliably. Here are five things in our rotation:
Coconut chicken and rice (we leave out the chicken broth to make it more like curry and less like soup)
Bonus: anything — say, a frozen pizza, rotisserie chicken, or spaghetti with tomato sauce — along with a caesar salad (my boys wolf this).
So, I’d love to hear: what are five recipes you have in your arsenal? That always turn out well? That you even know by heart? Please share below…
P.S. Bad cook, great mom; and nine family meals we’ve loved to death.
