What's for Dinner?

Our 10 year old nephew, Will, is visiting us from California. I adore this kid. He's very sweet and has such a teachable heart! I pray he holds on to that for the rest of his life!

It's been quite comical to see him try to make his preferences known when it comes to food. I'm sure he was warned/threatened by his parents to eat everything we put in front of him no matter what and to not complain about the food. Still, a 10 year old boy is a 10 year old boy, and it worries him a bit when he sees me in the kitchen, preparing food.

All of the kids (except Ty, and Kelly less now) do what I call a "flyover" to see what I'm making. They casually stroll through our narrow, galley kitchen and slow down when they get near the stove so they can peek into the pot. I once had this cookbook titled, "365 Meals" and some of the fare was more exotic than what they were used to. Ty used to send Kelly on a spy mission, and she'd run back and report, "She's making something from that book again!" (Groan, moan.)

This is the best picture I could find right now of our kitchen. Right behind Kelly, you see the new fridge. If the dishwasher is open, you have to go out of the kitchen and around to get to the other side. I've also shown you the kitchen after the girls have been cooking so you can appreciate the mess. I have no pride. ;-)

Anyway, Will, (insert southern expression of "Gawd luv 'im" here) has not learned to be so covert, yet he's still remembering he's not supposed to complain about anything I make.

His first attempt came when we were shopping for groceries. He saw me place a package of onions in the basket and his eyes got really wide. "Um. . . I'm not very fond of onions."

Ok, I admit it. I could have ended any torture here by stating that Himself hates onions, too, so I never put big raw onions in anything. I always saute them until they're not really onions anymore, or make them so small before sauteing that they disappear and leave only some flavor.

Instead, I said nothing.

First dinner, I'm making lasagne. Will comes right over and states, "Are you putting onions in that? Because I really don't like anything crunchy in my food and I'm really not fond of onions."

Again, I could have said, "No, no onions in this."

WHY? Why can't I just give the easy answer? My son has asked me this over and over again. Once a girl came to the door trying to sell magazines so she could earn a trip to Cancun if she won the contest against the boys (SCAM. I never fall for it). I entered this great debate with her when she said she was going to "drink da beer" on why I couldn't possibly send her to do that. Ty moaned, "Mom, why can't you just say no thank you?"

In the picture with Kelly, you'll notice a little blue sign near her head with a bear on it. I directed Will to the sign and invited him to read it out loud.

"There are two choices for dinner: Take it, or leave it."

He looked at me. I smiled. He looked at the sign. I turned my head so he wouldn't see me laughing. He walked out of the kitchen. Of course, the lasagne was delicious and he loved it!

Next, I'm making this beefy macaroni and cheese. Will sees the can of mushroom soup and spies the recipe for tuna casserole on the label.

"Uh, Aunt JoAnna? Did you just put tuna in that?"

"Tuna in what?"

"That stuff you're making."

"Will. Read the sign."

Ok, that didn't work, but he's still really worried about what type of food he'll be forced to eat. He tries again.

"So, what kind of fish do you guys like?"

"Fish? We don't like fish at all."

"You don't? YES! But that can says tuna on it!"

"Will, if I were to make tuna casserole and give it to Uncle John, he'd divorce me. Do I look like I want to be divorced when he treats me so well?"

"Oh. Ok."

"And Will? Read the sign."

Last night, I made tacos. I've told the kids over and over not to look at the food as I prepare it, since it never looks appetizing until it's done [to them]. Will had decided that all subtlety doesn't work and he should get right to the point.

"What's that?"

"Dinner. Read the sign."

Beef Sammys

My family LOVES these sandwiches, and some things are just too good not to be shared. I can't take pictures of recipes like the Pioneer Woman does on her site (did I mention you can donate to my camera fund?), but picture this--your family members at the table with their eyes rolled back in their head with happiness, enough food to feed your family and a rock band, and warm leftovers to get through dinner so you don't have to cook that night. Sound good?





I got this recipe years ago from The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet. I did this 30 Day cooking for over a year and loved it. Then I did the Menu Mailer at Saving Dinner for over two years, and now I'm signed up with Menus4Moms. I kind of rotate between the three.





This recipe is so EASY and yummy! Yummy enough to have a teen ask how I made it, and yummy enough to have Himself reacting with hostility to the rest of us when he discovered most of the leftovers were gone. "WHO ate some of this? Huh?"



"Uh, we did dear. It's leftover night, and those are leftovers."



"Grrrr. . . . . "



Ingredients:

2.5 lbs beef roast, chuck roast, or thick chuck steak, fat trimmed and discarded

2 pkgs. dry Ranch salad dressing mix

1 c. Water



Throw the meat in the crock pot. Sprinkle the dry Ranch dressing over the top, pour the water over all. (I then turned the meat over once and back over to coat.) Can be cooked overnight on low, or 6 hours on high heat until it shreds easily with a fork. I recommend cooking it on low, though not necessarily overnight. It might cause you to wake up periodically during the night because of the heavenly aroma and invade your dreams.



Serve on buns or hoagie rolls with fresh fruit on the side. We also add a slice of Provolone, because we like it like that. :-)



Caution: Crock pots cook differently! This weekend I started this on high while I was getting ready for church (so, from 7:30 to 8:55) then turned it on low as I headed out the door. It was perfect when we got home. You may want to try this on a day when you're home all day so you'll know how long to make it.



Variations:

Use dry Italian dressing, or Onion soup mix instead of the Ranch. We've tried them all, and Ranch is our favorite.



This can easily be doubled or tripled. I've made it with 5lbs of roast, 4 pkgs dry Ranch, and 2 c. water. This is the volume that fed the family and the rock band with some to spare.



Let me know if you try it!