Special Supper Sunday

I love that as my family is growing, we're getting our own traditions. I love to think about when Princess and Tobes start school and get older, and what things we'll do as a family. Special Supper Sunday is one I hope we always keep. Usually it's an occasion for Hubbyman to flex his creative muscles, and his amazing talents in the kitchen by trying new or more involved recipes, but lately (like tonight) it's just been a chance for us to cook together as a family, especially since Princess likes to participate.

We rarely miss an opportunity for family dinner, unless I'm working or Hubbyman is away. Or unless it's Tuesday, when Princess dances. But I want to make sure that even as our lives get busier, we make sure to sit down at LEAST once a week to have dinner together, and Special Supper Sunday gives us that chance.

So keeping with the theme of this blog (and I promise I'll come back and post about my 21 days of cleaning tomorrow. I promise), I present this week's Special Supper Sunday (I want to come up with something more clever eventually... I hope!)

This week was inspired by a recipe I found in a magazine yesterday at the spa. It was a simple chicken dish, but it's something we've never tried. I glanced through at the instructions (I would have ripped that page right then and there but I was wearing a robe with no pockets, and the girl doing my manicure was right there) and tucked it away in my memory. We also attempted a potato cake thing we saw on the food network, but it didn't quite go as planned (still good though!)

First step we took a boneless skinless chicken breast and pounded it flat(ter). I say "we" because everyone got into it (minus Tobes).

While Hubbyman and Princess flattened the meat, I got to work on the stuffing. The one from the magazine that caught my eye was breadcrumb-based, but I decided to make up my own. I used salsa, some seasonings, breadcrumbs, and mozzarella.

I spread the mix onto the chicken, and then rolled them up and placed them in a baking dish. We hummed and hahh-ed as to whether or not we should top them with more cheese, but decided to forgo it.

 

They were place in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes(ish). I know it sounds like a really short time, but they were pretty thin pieces. Meanwhile, we got the side dishes ready, including the failed-but-yummy potatoes, and asparagus (my favorite way is to blanch it, then place it single-layer in a casserole dish with lemon juice and parmesan cheese, then put it under the broiler until the cheese browns. See pictures below)

Blanching

And ice bath (this will come in handy in a minute...)

We like a LOT of cheese... Usually I brown it a little longer, but the littles perfer it like this)

That bowl of ice water comes in handy for later when you burn your middle finger on one of the baking dishes. So just keep that in mind ;)

The littles set the table, and we sat down for dinner :) It was a fantastic evening! We sat down and talked about our weekend (I had a mommy-day yesterday, so they told me more about their day) and we talked about the plans for the week.

I could have rolled it more, instead it basically was a stuffed chicken breast, which was delicious.

On the bed of potatoes, with the asparagus. We have freakishly large plates.

Princess wanted us to take a picture of them eating, but she didn't want to look at the camera. Tobes, on the other hand...

Things I learned:

1. Next time I'm going to try the breadcrumb filling I saw - it was breadcrumbs, butter, rosemary and thyme. It's a completely different flavor palate
2. This is an easyish dish for a weeknight, I can always butterfly the chicken too
3. We need to figure out something different for the potatoes. We know a ton of potato dishes, but the cake seemed like a good idea!
4. This would also be great with quiona.
5. It's embarassing how little I know about our new stove. Seriously. It's touchscreen with a ton of different settings (including convection) and complicated! *lol* Apparently I need to spend more time with it...