How to Cook What Your Family Doesn't Like

Sweet Vidalia Onion Casserole, page 47 
It's really unfortunate that Geo can read.  I thought that I could cook this and serve it and if ISH didn't know that it was made with onions he would eat it and be none-the-wiser.  The plan was going brilliantly until ... Geo comes into the kitchen, reads the recipe and announces to ISH that I'm serving onions for dinner. BUSTED!  At least the other three in this family liked it.  But then when you add butter, sour cream, cream cheese, swiss and monterey jack cheese and top it off with Parmesan - well, how could anyone not like it?  Unless that "anyone" didn't like onions of course.  The best part is that I didn't take into consideration that the Florida Keys Citrus Chicken (below) that I served with this involves cooked fruit (which Geo doesn't like) so I rooked over both kids in one meal.  Best. Mom. Ever.

Southwestern Pizza, page 120
Geo's been asking to make this for about a month now and I just hadn't gotten around to it.  But it was well worth the ... well ... I can't say "effort" because it was just too simple for "effort" to be anywhere involved in it's description!  I had all the pieces ready to go and then came home from church on Sunday and threw it all together and presto!  Yummy Mexicali pizza.  LK and I were pretty sure the leftovers wouldn't keep well  so we only made two (because the tortillas are pretty good size) and divided the slices among the four of us and then kept the other pieces ready to make for lunch later on this week.  I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned since we're in the summer and fresh are readily available and I omitted the green onions (only because you have to buy the whole bunch for just one green onion.  Then the rest of them end up just hanging out in the fridge, hopeful to be used-- and I really hate to disappoint produce).  But the Creole seasoning! I've never used it before, however, I'm thinking this might become like the Greek seasoning that we used on pork chops all the time growing up.  This is good stuff!

Florida Keys Citrus Chicken, page 123
So I'm pretty picky about chicken.  Knowing this about myself I should have used thinner chicken breasts.  They were a bit too thick for what I like.  I'm also thinking that this could have been fun with a bit of honey cooked in too.  (Really I think I like the sauce more than chicken-- I think I could be a vegetarian if it wasn't for the fact that if you don't get the nutrients meat provides your hair could fall out and I'm bad with balancing nutrients anyway and my hair is waaaay to much of who I am for it to fall out).  I did like the way the red peppers (not too hot for everyone with only it's 1/8 tsp), garlic, ginger, lime and oranges all played nice together.

And now.... now it's time to get down to the dessert this week.  Chunky Chocolate Cookies, page 184.  LK doesn't really like nuts (man! I did a poor job picking food that didn't stomp on my family's dislike button this week!  I mean really!  Onions! Cooked Fruit! Nuts!  And how do you tell your family you love them!).  But he did say he felt like they weren't too overwhelming in the cookies.  I wasn't sure if I was buying the right cake mix because Duncan Hines had two boxes- one said chocolate fudge cake and the other said dark chocolate cake, but the dark chocolate cake had a fudge recipe on the back so I figured it was right.  I used dark brown sugar instead of regular.  I had both on hand but was feeling the dark brown call to me when it was baking time- so it won.  I used chopped pecans (she gives the choice between pecans and walnuts).

She says to butter a cookie sheet but I didn't feel the need because I have Pampered Chef stones (she said in her snooty tone voice-- the same voice the Vanderbilt recruiter used when he told her they don't have journalism at Vanderbilt).  I was wrong though.  These cookies need to be put on a buttered cookie sheet because they bake pretty thin and so they either crumble all gooey like if you take them off the sheet while hot or stick if you wait to long.  But really- crumbly or not they are good.  In fact, it would be a good idea to make these when you have company coming over so you're not temped (as I now am) to eat the whole batch yourself.

And of course, it's always good to have some helpers on hand for clean up time.

Happy eating!