chicken milanese

We had chicken milanese with spaghetti pomodoro again. Forgot to take pictures. Everyone loves this. The girls love the pasta and Mike tolerates it. He likes it better than jarred sauce and loved the chicken.The chicken began to brown too quickly so I put it in the microwave to finish cooking through and quickly crisped it in the pan before serving. Everyone had seconds. Except Will, but that's another story...

Impatient Pasta

Tonight we had Impatient Pasta from the Mad Hungry blog. I used bacon instead of the pancetta and onions instead of shallots. It was very easy and quick. This would be a great work night meal. The sauce simmered for 30 minutes but I think you could cut that short. Madeline hated it, Mike and McKenna both had seconds. I was expecting this dish to be amazing but found it to be just really good. Maybe a different brand of bacon would have changed the flavor a bit. We also had the buttermilk bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Of course everyone loved the bread!

Pappardelle with creamy chicken sauce

I had the day off today so I thought I'd try a new recipe. I made the pappardelle chicken from the March 2011 issue of Everyday Food. Joe was not home but everyone else liked it quite a bit. I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. I also used fettucine instead of the pappardelle since the grocery store didn't carry it. This was quick and easy. Creamy and very satisfying. We will definately be having this one again.

Tartine bread

I had heard a lot of great things in blog land about Tartine bread and the Tartine Bread book. Just look at the pictures. Sigh. I love bread and have been using this book successfully for some time now. The whole family loves the bread every time I make it. The difference in the recipes has not been very obvious to me. It has all sort of turned out the same. I have also been longing for an airier silkier texture to the crumb. And, there is a little piece of me that feels like I have been cheating and not making REAL bread. So, when Martha had an article in the January issue I was thrilled. To my delight it featured a recipe! Here we are and it's almost March and I am just getting around to making up a batch of starter. Admittedly I am a little intimidated by this whole process. Three weeks on the counter before I can even make leavening?! Will I remember to feed the starter every day? I feel like it's a great time for me to have a project. I have the extra time to devote and hopefully I will stay motivated. We'll see how it goes and hopefully this bread will be all I have been dreaming of.

our daily dinner journal

I really feel that it is important for my family to have home cooked meals on a regular basis. With such a large family it can be difficult to please everyone. My husband suggested that we write down dinners that have been deemed a success. So, I thought it might be fun to keep a blog. No clutter added to the house with a notebook or binder. We'll use it as an online journal of the meals that have had general acceptance by everyone in the house. As an added bonus I can practice my photography skills and also add a link to where my recipe came from.