what a week!

Well, we made it through the first week, managing to sit down to dinner, all together, no television, no laptop, just me and the family, face to face. 
  The first night was Monday, i was still fresh from the weekend, so i really did it up right.  a full course meal with beans and corn and desert.  It took me half the afternoon to find and clean the dining room table.  On the plus side, i found twelve dollars in change, my work keys and the hampster we lost last fall.  At my house we have a disorder, Flat Surface Syndrome, or FSS, as we call it.  Every flat surface in the house has turned into a pile of books, school papers or newspapers.  i even tried building more flat surfaces, but we seem to find more stuff that absolutely has to sit out in the open.
  Anyway, as i sat down at the table i expected two things.  First, speed eating, and second, awkward silence.  To my surprise, we didn't get much of either.  As we ate, we took turns telling the best and worse part of our day.  That sparked other conversations until soon we had spent 45 minutes together.  I guess that is the point, huh? 
  Two of the dinners this week were with others, as we had a big gathering at my niece's home in Albany.  We sat together, and afterwards we played a little music, then something strange happened.  I got up, went into the kitchen, and started cleaning up.  Before long there was another, then soon all the men were washing dishes, wiping tables and putting food away, while the women sat watching football.  It was like something straight out of "Twighlight Zone", where the roles of nature are somehow reversed.
  Well, it's now Saturday evening, and i just got up from a big meal of turkey and ham with all the fixins', and i'm starting to get used to this eat with me thing.
  Below you will find a few recipes i used this week, simple and quick.  Try them out, i'm sure they will be at hit at the table.

Sisters Tuna Casserole With A Twist

Ingredients
Two small cans of tuna
1 cube of unsalted butter
I can cream of mushroom soup
4 half inch slices Velveeta cheese
1 small bag baked potato chips
One 12oz bag of Amish egg noodles
1 table spoon of salad dressing
¾ cup milk
2 chicken bouillons
Garlic salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350*. Boil egg noodles in water with chicken bouillons for half the recommended time on the bag. Strain the noodles but don’t rinse them. Put them back in the pan with the butter, milk, salad dressing, cheese, cream of mushroom soup, tuna and salt and pepper to taste. Put into baking dish and spread contents of crushed potato chips on top. Cook for 30 minutes or until brown on top.

Tater Tot Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ pounds of hamburger
1 bag Tater Tots
8 oz mozzarella shredded cheese
Garlic salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350*. Fry hamburger in a big frying pan on high, stirring constantly until it is crispy and crumbly, being careful not to burn. Turn heat to medium, salt and pepper to taste and pour in soup, stirring constantly until mixed. Line up Tater Tots in the bottom of a medium size baking dish. Spread half the mozzarella cheese over the Tater Tots. Pour in the hamburger mix and pat down into dish. Line Tater Tots up across the top over the hamburger mix, then spread the rest of the Mozzarella cheese across the Tater Tots. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

The first day of our family dinners.

Hello fellow dinner eaters.  Today we start the "Got a Minute, Eat With me" campaigne, and i am in charge of dinner preparation.  There will be three of us eating tonight, unless one of the kids I already threw out of the house gets hungry and stops by.  We have three children in their5 20's and "on their own", and one ten year old still under our roof.  He happens to be a finicky eater, so this will be my opportunity to say to him "You can't leave the table until you eat your brussel sprouts." just as my father used to say, although I may change it to "You can't have your laptop until you eat your brussel sprouts."
  Seriously, I believe this is going to make a big difference for many families.  We get so busy, we forget to ask the little questions that keep us all close, like "How was school today?" and "What do you want to do this weekend?". 
  I will be blogging tonight or in the morning on how the first night went, so keep checking in, will you?