Quick & Easy Ghetto Fabulous Kid-Tastic Recipes for the Anti-Cooking Moms

Being a mom of two-and-a-half year old twins, a ten year old, a twelve year old, a fourteen year old, plus organizing a large playgroup.... makes me a pretty busy person, Therefore, I do not always have time to cook. I often have to come up with something that is really easy to cook. One dish meals and casseroles are quickest and easiest for me. Sometimes we are so busy during the week, I have to make up a new dish or find a super easy and quick recipe to make online.

Sometimes I have to get really creative with the ingredients we have in the pantry. I like to watch cooking shows and skim through recipes books but the recipes sometimes seem a little bit intense to me. They make it look somewhat easy on the cooking shows, but then when you start mapping out what really goes into what they are making..it seems to be a bit too intense.  I really did not learn to cook growing up. I actually, believe it or not picked up all of my cooking skills from various male friends over the years. It's strange but most of my male friend, over the years have quite fantastic cooking skills and knowledge. The skills I learned from my male friends have allowed me to cook for my family and develop my own "in a pinch" recipes.

I have branched out a bit in the past few years and just this week have tried two new recipes that I found online. They turned out really well!  YUM!

I know a few Moms who say that if they go near the kitchen, it turns into a dreadful disaster. I know the feeling, but I have actually developed a few ways of cooking that have helped me a LOT!

The Biggest tip I can give any Mom who thinks she is an Anti-Chef is:

Frozen Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Are Your Very Best Friend.

Because you can thaw them while they bake in the oven and at the same time bake them to perfection with any oil based salad dressing.

Seriously.

Step 1. Get a bag of frozen boneless, skinless,  chicken breasts.

Step 2. Grab a bottle of oil based salad dressing, zesty Italian is an excellent choice.

Step 3. Put chicken breasts into a deep baking or casserole dish.

Step 4. Drown the chicken breasts, still frozen, in the salad dressing.

Step 5.  toss that bad boy in the oven and set it to Bake at 350 degrees.

Step 6. Cook until it is done all the way through and no pink is left.

Step 7. Serve with some veggies, rice, potatoes, rolls, etc. (anything you want)

One great side dish for your super easy chicken would be potatoes.

Step 1. Get a bag of potatoes. (I love the yellow or red ones)

Step 2. Wash the potatoes in the sink.

Step 3. Cut the potatoes down to small chunks (not tiny but bite size or slightly bigger than bite size).

Step 4. Toss them in a big bowl and pour in a little bit of butter or olive oil. (get the potatoes coated but not overly coated in the butter or olive oil).

Step 5. Put the potatoes into a deep baking dish.

Step 6. Sprinkle a spice packet(found by the potatoes in the produce section) or use a season-all type spice. Spanish based season salts or salt-free seasonings are great. Garlic herb ones are nice, lemon pepper, or anything like that. Coat them pretty well but do NOT drown them in the spices.

Step 7. Bake at 350 degrees with the chicken. until they are soft.

Serve with the chicken and some rolls!

If you are looking for some fabulous rolls, buy a bag of frozen yeast rolls, arrange them on a cookie sheet, brush the tops with some butter, sprinkle on some garlic-herb salt free spice mixture and bake according to the directions on the package...your kids will be fighting over those rolls!!!!

I also like to make easy-peezy carrots and apples.

I will wash up a bag of apples, sometimes various kinds. Cut them into slices and remove the peels or even sometimes leave the peels on, make sure when you slice them that they are not too thick or too thin..coat them with butter, cinnamon, sugar, and a little pinch or two of ginger, put them in a baking dish and bake at 350 til soft and bubbly. The kids LOVE them!

For the carrots, I usually use baby carrots. Just wash them and put them in a baking dish, coat them with butter, cinnamon, and ginger....and bake at 350 until they are soft. They are a big favorite too!!

Oh and cranberries!! They are a great side dish too!

Get a bag of cranberries, wash them, put them in a pot on the stove,

Then get:

• 1-1/2 C sugar
• 1 navel orange
• 1/2 t grated ginger(pre-grated from the spice aisle is fine)
  Then you, Grate the orange peel and add to a pot with the sugar and ginger. Add the juice from the orange into the pot and simmer over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and cook until they pop - about 5 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.. YUM!!

So on to my new and infamously ghetto fabulous recipes.....

The Anti-Chef's Home Made Chicken Pot Pie.

I make two pies, we have seven in the family.

FOR EACH Pie You will need:

• Two pre-made pie crusts from the refrigerated section at the grocery store)one is the top and one is the bottom)
• One can of canned Tyson white meat chicken or 1 large chicken breasts baked in chicken broth, then cut into small pieces.
• One can of cream of chicken soup
  a few splashes of chicken broth
• One can of veg-all(in the canned vegetable section)
• an egg
• salt and pepper
• one 9 inch  pie pan

You will get the pie pan, unroll one of the pie crusts into the pan and make it even on the bottom and sides as best as you can. Then just let the sides flop over the edge of the pie pan. Then you get a big mixing bowl and dump in the one can of chicken(DRAIN IT FIRST), the one can of Veg-all(DRAIN IT FIRST), and the one can of cream of chicken soup..whole can. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. gently mix well. Once the ingredients are all mixed well, dump it all slowly into the pie, using a nice spatula to scrape it into the pie crust. Then unroll the other pie crush and place it evenly on the top. Now you will grab those loose edges and (TOGETHER) roll them towards the pie and then push them down with your fingers.  Then get that egg, break it into a small bowl,  beat it until it is all mixed, them brush it over the pie, including the rolled edges. Just lightly coat it, do not drench it and you will have a LOT of that one egg left over. Throw it away. Then grab a knife and make four one inch slits in the pie. Towards the center. This vents the pie. Place your pie, in the throw away pie pan on a big cookie sheet, place it in the oven and bake at 375 until he top is a golden color. (about 45 minutes)

It should look similar to this. You can cut it into 4 large slices and serve with a roll.

....... and not last but least....my latest Frankenstein concoction.....Easy Chili Casserole.
You will need One large sized can of Bush's Chili Beans(mild), One large can of Hormel Chili with no beans, One box of elbow macaroni. One 16 oz bag of shredded cheddar cheese.....and some bean-o for later (KIDDING)

You pre-cook the macaroni "al dente" and then take all of those ingredients, dump them all into a deep baking or casserole dish, mix thoroughly with a spatula and then even it out with the spatula. Almost like spreading icing on a cake, you just want it to be all even in the baking dish.
Toss that bad boy in the oven and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is all melted. Serve with rolls or cornbread.. They will be coming back for seconds!!

Also, I found it VERY simple to make both this Chicken a-la-orange recipe and this Maple-Apple Chicken recipe.

Happy Ghetto Fabulous Cooking Mamas!!