ckamom

I make soup like crazy. Currently I will have dinner ready before picking up the youngest from school. I them portion into tuperware for kids and hubby to heat up as hey need. Also make chili and curries that can stay on warm in my cooker. honestly just bored with our current stuff.

I wish. That's kinda the way it is. At least he can do homework and practice his instruments before practice. He plays lacrosse as well so this is just a sample of one night. My youngest trains for gymnastics at17+ hours a week and my oldest trains daily starting at 5 a.m. Don't want to get off topic to discuss the absolute crazy of raising kids these days.

I know that there are many kid-family cooking threads, however have found myself in an interesting situation. I have three kids, 16 to 9. All three play at least one sport, one instrument, and are academically competitive. for example, on a Monday night I have one in gymnastics from 4-7:30 one getting home at 6:60 from track and the other with basaeball practice until 9;00. Dinner is kind of a nightmare. I usually make something that can be served from 6:00-9:00 keeping warm in a crockpot. My kids are pretty picky about quality, don't eat fish, and do not eat fast food. What do you guys do to feed your busy families?

FOOD.. not FOOOd

My oldest child, 12 years old, is a very high achiever. She has a black belt in tae kwon do, holds the state championship in weapons and form. She has been ranked fourth in the world in the weapon category. Academically, in all AP courses and holding a straight A average in a very competitive school district. She has played softball in an all star level, ran track in the uppper middle, ran charity marathons.. etc. Also first year wind ensemble. Yesterday we ran out of vanilla ice cream, so instead of making it myself I decided to show her how easy it is to make it. She made the BEST ice cream our family has ever had. Every one of her previous victories have been so-so for her, but the only time I have ever seen her BEAM, is after watching the yum faces of the other four of us eating her ice cream. Moral of the story...FOOOD RULES.

I will go full 1980's with this...tiramisu. With an updated version of course!

Thank you for the replies.. we have a container herb garden going and I have my kiddos pick the herbs for me. I love that they know the difference between chives and dill.. or greek oregano and (italian?) regular. While that may be common in some families (or groups of peeps) I live in a very suburban area and most parents do not cook, so my kids have a much more well rounded concept of food than their buddies. Next week I am baking brie with brown sugar and serving with crackers and apples, but otherwise.. who knows.

Sorry if this has been done a million times!!! My kids are out for the summer, ages 12 to 5. They have pretty decent palates, but all are very different. Anyway, today, we made spaghetti tacos for lunch. There is actually a story relating to a t.v. show behind this dish. In the long run... they really enjoyed their lunch. We have a long, hot summer ahead, so if anyone has any recipes to share we would appreciate it.

We frequently aquire huge pool umbrellas in windy season. My greek oregano is doing beautifully!! It is a little difficult here (in Phoenix) to get the herbs to do well. Full sun means scorching heat, so I move my containers around daily.

Interestingly enough we are experiencing a (knock on wood) fairly mild summer so far.. as in cool evenings and mornings. Loving it so far, but sorry for your 100's.

Wow.. thank you for the replies... I had originally thought that the stems were tender, but no, in fact were tough. I have enlisted my 5 y.o. to pull the leaves off for our roasted herb chicken dinner!! I live in the desert also andiesenji! Here's to the 100's =).

I have a container garden growing, and my thyme leaves are very sparse.. my question is, should I try to pull off the miniscule leaves or just chop including the stem. I apologize in advance if this is a pedestrian inquiry, however I usually purchase fresh thyme that has very abundant leaves and I ususally only use them and discard the stem.

I personally think that by including the word stealing in the title that in general the (seemimgly) ethical forum members will automatically consider the deed as such. My opinion, no, taking an item that is offered to paying customers is not stealing. Yes, stealing a candy bar is theft, however returning to the free sample table ten times is not theft. If you asked for the item, my guess is that there would not be a problem. My local grocery store does NOT carry butchers twine the only place to get it is at the counter as a service to customers. I ask for it freqeuntly even if I do not need it for that particular meal, and would help myself if it were an option.

http://eater.com/archives/2011/04/19/the-next-iron-chef-lineup-includes-anne-burrell-spike-mendelsohn-and-marcus-samuelsson.php#more Hope the link works. Looks interesting.

Taco guy, in this age of T.V. why would you be such a shmuch?(sp) Little Wang hopefully was a transplant,, but why put your already operating places in jeopardy? Makes you really wonder about the show and the contestants.

ITA that this is one of the better episodes of Chopped. I do wonder, however, if the judges have a bit more respect for the "famous" chefs. That being said, the food looked much, much better than usual. Maybe the usual format should either be better chefs or less snark from the judges, because this is very enjoyable television.

True that, however when they select the contestants I would think that they believe that they all have some sort of "star power". I have read their bios, they are all accomplished chefs. Bringing in Chef Tsai completely insured that there would be viewers, but again I am not convinced that it is a sure win for him.

PF Changs frozen orange chicken... the only thing I ate today, so... All I can say is that frozen food has come a long way and the real thing is not that great.=)

I may be naive.. but I am hoping that there is more integrity in this show than a wink wink agreement. Again, call me naive. I (as a fan of Chef Tsai) did make note of the "the gloves sre off" quote that was used at least three times. I was seriously crossing my fingers that Chef Tsai would not become the guy to hate. Overall I do like the show, and I think that the chefs all have talent.

Can I start any of these now? They would be in pots and near a wall, therefore very sheltered. Thanks for all the great hints.

Thanks!

I hope that this is the right catagory for this. I have found that it is difficult finding information sources for growing herbs in the desert climate. I have grown basil successfuly, but have yet to expand (other than rosemary). I have a yard, but also have a dog that loves to eat anything leafy, so I need to put anything I grow in the pool area that faces north.(pots would be protected by the fence) I would love to hear any suggestions! TIA

I am very pleased to see some chat about this show!! I have to start by saying I am very biased as I absolutely love Chef Tsai. When it was announced that he would be competing I wondered why the heck he would put himself in that postion, although at this point I do get the fact that he needs to push himself in a direction that he has yet to conquer.. That being said, if he does not win, it would seriously suck. Chef Canora seems to really have it in for him, although that may be the editing gods at work. Overall, the quality of the chefs is much better than the other competitive cooking shows, so I really enjoy watching. Thanks for starting this thread!