Family Night Dinner Ideas

Chicken Basin Street

2009-09-27T05:33:00.005-05:00

This week we made Chicken Basin Street for our family night dinner. This recipe hails from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection, 1973.

This dish is really easy to put together. My teen learned how to brown chicken in a pan without burning it, which was a first.

Once you put it all together and get the sauce cooking with the chicken, the aroma is really mouthwatering.

Steaming the rice was interesting for my daughter because she kept wanting to open the lid to check on it. I told her the whole point of steaming rice is to keep the lid on. She resisted the urge and the steamed rice came out perfect.

This Chicken Basin Street dish came out really well and was tasty. Personally, I would prefer to de-bone and skin the chicken prior to putting the sauce together. We will make this chicken dish again to try it without bones.

Oven Hamburger Porcupines

2009-08-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

The recipe card pulled for this week was Oven Porcupines! When I saw it, I thought, well, it's meatballs. It turns out, they are a lot better than plain meatballs. This hamburger recipe comes from The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library, 1971, Budget Casseroles.
As you know, mixing up a batch of meatballs can be a messy job. The teen is really getting used to digging in and getting her hands dirty.

I think she did a great job with these, look how uniform they are!

I like this Oven Porcupine recipe because the meatballs are substantial. Everyone really enjoyed the taste, as simple as the spices and ingredients are. Note: we added cheese to the recipe. We are big cheese eaters around here. The meatballs are flavorful enough, but the cheese really added an Italian flare to them.

Toasty Cheese Bake with Hamburger

2009-07-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

This week we baked up a Toasty Cheese Bake casserole for our family night cooking adventure. This recipe comes from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library, 1971, Budget Casseroles.

This was another dish that was extremely easy to put together. Brown your meat, toast your bread, layer, and throw it in the oven.

The recipe calls for 1/2 pound of ground beef. We thought this amount was too little for a main course entree that contained so much bread. We decided to use 1 pound of beef instead.

Another change we made was in the cheese. We used shredded cheddar and Jack instead of Shredded American. Our grocer does not carry shredded American nor block American cheese, only sliced.

This Hamburger Cheese Bake recipe is fantastic. The hamburger almost tastes like sausage the way it blends with the egg, cheese, and mustard. If you are looking for an easy, different, meal, you might want to try this little treat.

Zippy Beef Casserole

2009-07-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

This week our Family Night meal was Zippy Beef Casserole from The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), Budget Casseroles.

When this recipe card came up I was thinking, "Oh, great, potato chips and pasta." The kids were excited about it, including the big kid, my husband.

This beef dish goes together really easily and has ingredients you may have in your kitchen right now. We decided to use small shell macaroni instead of elbow macaroni. I purchased the shell macaroni in error.

These casserole recipes are getting easier for my teen to put together. She is really getting the hang of the kitchen and is learning that if you can read, you can cook.

This time the little one got a big job and helped put the chips on top.

The Zippy Beef Casserole turned out to be one of the easiest dishes we've tackled yet. It was tasty. However, I am eliminating the chips next time. Something just does not seem right about putting pasta and potato chips together in a recipe.

Saucy Twist Pork Dish

2009-07-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

This pork recipe was pulled in haste. My teen saw the curly noodles and we just had to make it. We were all surprised to find how good it was. This Saucy Twist Pork Dish from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), Budget Casseroles is great, with some minor adjustments.

First, the pork recipe calls for a canned pork meat, you know, Spam. I am not a big Spam fan. We decided to use pork chops instead. We seasoned the chops with a little salt and pepper and browned them in a large fry pan.

While the chops were browning, we cooked the tri-color spiral pasta. The teen thought this would be better pasta than the plain corkscrew macaroni the recipe called for.

Once the pork was cooked through we cubed it and prepared to put the casserole together.

This is what the Saucy Twist Pork Dish looked like when it came out of the oven. The aroma was amazing.

I think our idea to tweak this pork recipe prior to cooking it was superb. The flavor was excellent. Everyone liked the dish and we will be making it again.

Chicken Surabaja

2009-07-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

When choosing something for this week's family night dinner, my husband wanted to know if there might be something he could grill. I told him I was sure we could find something. We came up with this Chicken Surabaja recipe from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), The Pacific Coast.

The dish is really simple. You marinate your chicken, grill it on skewers, and serve it up!

As you can see we opted to dress up the chicken as if it were kabobs. We added pearl onion, mushroom, and yellow and green bell pepper.

Since the recipe called for soy sauce, my intuitive daughter thought it might be nice to give it an oriental appeal. We served the chicken over fried rice with egg rolls.

The dish was good and went over well with everyone. The only thing we are going to change is to eliminate the soy and butter topping. It's really potent. If you are not into soy sauce, you will not like it. The marinade alone gives the chicken just enough of the soy sauce flavor.

Jambalaya

2009-06-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

The recipe chosen for this week was Jambalaya! I was really geared up to cook this one because I love sausage and shrimp. This Jambalaya recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Creole Country.

When I was purchasing all the ingredients for the Jambalaya the teen was right by my side. When we started to put this one together, she wondered why I was defrosting shrimp. I told her it was for the recipe. She had a fit.

The teen is the only one in the family that will not eat shrimp. I do not understand why but to each his own. I told her the shrimp in this dish is whole so she would be able to remove it from her serving easily.

Slicing and dicing is really becoming her thing. She had the onions and peppers ready before I could even get the pan to temperature.

This Jambalaya recipe is extremely easy to put together. I really like having meals you can prepare all in one pan. Given this recipe has a lot of ingredients, ensure your fry pan is a big on with a tight fitting lid. We used a large 5 quart deep fry pan.

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The end result of this dish was a marvelous mix of flavor. Everything was done to perfection and everyone loved this Jambalaya recipe. The spice mix gave just enough to make it Cajun, but it was not overwhelming.

Newport Beef Casserole

2009-06-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week's Family Night Dinner Idea recipe is Newport Beef Casserole! This recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Party Casseroles.

When my daughter and I started cooking this yummy dish she barked at the ingredients. This casserole has two ingredients she despises: mushrooms and spinach. I told her, "Well, you picked the card!" She looked at the recipe and picture and as she began to smell the wondrous aroma, she decided she would try eating it.

This casserole goes together rather easily. However, the initial preparation and cooking takes some time. Not only do you have to chop and dice, you must brown and simmer. Okay, you have to do this with a lot of recipes, but I would ensure you have at least two and a half hours before you plan to serve dinner because of the simmer time.

When this dish came out of the oven we were amazed by how good it looked. The Newport Beef Casserole is a definite do over in this house, despite the mushrooms and spinach. The teen decided those ingredients are not too bad after all.

Crown Roast of Spareribs

2009-06-06T07:00:00.001-05:00

This recipe go around we chose Crown Roast of Spareribs. Pork has been on sale and I have been taking advantage of spectacular deals. We have never, ever, cooked ribs in the oven, they usually go on the smoker. My husband about fell out of his chair when I told him what we were going to do with the spareribs defrosting on the counter. This recipe is from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), The Midwest.

When we embarked on this recipe, I felt it might be too complicated for my daughter. However, she is a trooper and really managed it well.

The first obstacle was trimming the spareribs. I thought sure we need a hacksaw to cut through them. To my surprise they trimmed up beautifully. Forming the crown was surprisingly easy as well.

We opted to cook our crown roast in a large tall lidded casserole rather than wrapped in foil on a shallow pan. I figured this way more juices would be retained. I think I was correct.

We popped the spareribs in the oven and moved on to preparing the stuffing. This came together quite easily and the aroma was spectacular.

Once the crown roast recipe called for us to stuff the center of the spareribs we discovered we had more stuffing than the crown would hold. We just put the remainder in a smaller lidded casserole for cooking.

From start to finish this recipe was ready in about 2 1/2 hours. The end result was way beyond my expectations. And, my husband was astonished we could produce ribs as tender as these cooking them in the oven for such a short amount of time.

I think this would make a wonderful dish for any occasion. Here's how ours turned out:

One note I would like to add: The recipe calls for you to form your crown with the meaty side facing out. I believe they faced the meaty side in for the McCall's version. See how their spareribs have a different sway outward:

You can also see the membrane. I did not notice this until I saw our finished product. Next time we prepare this recipe I will be reversing the crown to see if it makes a difference.

Piggybank Pork Bake

2009-05-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

This week we were looking for something we could do with leftovers. Earlier in the week we grilled pork fajitas I bought on sale and had a ton of meat leftover. Well this Piggybank Pork Bake seemingly just dropped from the Heavens. This recipe is from The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), Budget Casseroles.

This pork recipe was so easy the teen put it together herself. I could not believe how well she did chopping the green pepper. I wanted to take a video but the camera fouled up on me. I was lucky to get a image of the finished product:

We used Fideo for the "uncooked fine noodles" and we substituted Pam spray for the shortening. This recipe was a great guide for us to use up some leftover pork and it tasted really good. I'm thinking I might prefer a different cheese and cream soup, maybe Mozzarella or Pepper Jack for the cheese and cream of celery or mushroom. I might also like it spiced up a bit, perhaps use rotel instead of Pimento.

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Hamburger Pie

2009-05-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week Family Night Dinner Ideas is featuring another casserole (imagine that) Hamburger Pie. This recipe comes from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), Budget Casseroles. I was really excited the teen picked this card from the batch since this was one my Nana prepared when I was growing up.

The Hamburger Pie recipe comes together easily and is truly a cheap dish. For all it's cheapness it sure is filling. The recipe as written says to use Potato Buds. Well, I went a step cheaper and bought the generic version. It added up to a savings of almost $2. In the end, the potatoes tasted like potatoes and no one seemed disappointed. In fact, my husband went back for seconds.

This Hamburger Pie was not exactly like Nana's. I recall hers having a little more flavor. I think she mixed bell pepper, chopped onion, and carrots in the hamburger. The next time we try this dish I think I'll add a little veggie in the mix and see what we get.

I also think this could be done using left over mashed potatoes. We always have left over mashed potatoes around here. When we prepare mashed potatoes, I leave the skins on and add in green onion, crushed garlic, and sour cream-really yummy.

Though I think the Hamburger Pie recipe needs a little tweaking, it was good and enjoyed by all. Here's a snapshot of the finished product:

Texas Hash

2009-05-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

This week we decided to try our hand at Texas Hash, we are Texans after all. This hamburger and rice casserole comes from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971) Budget Casseroles. The dish is very simple to put together. Given that, my daughter has really come to love the Casserole section. All I did is stand by and watch this go around.

In preparing the Texas Hash recipe, she opted to use diced rather than whole canned tomatoes. Personally, I would have used Rotel to give the casserole a little kick, if you're gonna go diced. She also chopped the bell pepper very fine. I think the dish is better looking as the recipe card image has it displayed. Next time we will do the bell pepper in larger slices.

One problem we encountered cooking the Texas Hash was the rice was not fully cooked on top. Perhaps the top we use was not tight enough. The liquid absorbed too quickly. I added a little water and stirred the crispy stuff in, it worked.

Overall, the entire family enjoyed the Texas Hash recipe. The recipe is quite similar to a dirty rice dish I prepare regularly, so what's not to like? We warmed some flour tortillas to go on the side. We also topped it with sour cream.

Here's what the casserole looked like when she pulled it out of the oven:

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Brunswick Stew

2009-05-09T07:00:00.005-05:00

This week we decided to try a stew recipe: Brunswick Stew. A few weeks ago we tried Sunday Supper Soup, and found it was so delicious, we wanted to try some other soup options in the collection. Brunswick Stew comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Collection (1973), The Old South.

The teen learned about saving money buying in bulk and freezing. Instead of using a whole chicken, which I would have had to purchase, we used leg quarters I had purchased previously on sale and froze.

With this recipe she also learned how to cut raw bacon. She did not like that too much. I taught her how to brown bacon and onion without burning it: Toss ingredients frequently to avoid scorching.

Cutting raw boned chicken was new to her also. The technique here is to find the joint and cut into the bend and follow the natural line. This always works for me. It worked for her, no mutilated pieces or cut fingers.

We had to buy celery for this dish. We do not use celery as often as we probably should, but in light of the occasion, I introduced her to our trusty FoodSaver. She was stuck cutting an entire bunch of celery for future recipes. I told her this will save money and time later.

These handy pouches are in the freezer ready and waiting for the next recipe! I love my FoodSaver!

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The results of the chicken Brunswick Stew were fantastic. For those not akin to Lima beans, you could not even tell they were in there by taste. The okra made the dish almost like a southern gumbo. Take a look at our chicken Brunswick Stew:

Potatoes Anna

2009-05-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

My daughter was looking for a different potato recipe and found Potatoes Anna in our collection. This potato recipe is easy to prepare and creates an interesting dish to place on the table. This family night dinner idea side dish recipe is from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), The French Touch.

We did not have a frying pan I wanted to risk putting in the oven, so we opted to use a covered Pyrex baking dish to create our Potatoes Anna.

Though the extra three minutes over the stove would have probably given this potato dish an extra browning, the result was really grand. The whole family really liked Potatoes Anna and we will make it again, after we try the Potatoes Au Gratin on the bottom of the card.

The only changes I might make to Potatoes Anna would be to reduce the amount of butter used and perhaps mix in some shredded cheese and bacon bits or sour cream for a little recipe punch.

Pork Chop Scallop

2009-04-25T07:00:00.003-05:00

We came across this easy Pork Chop Scallop recipe and decided we just had to try it. Pork chops and pork in general has been on sale a lot lately. Having a variety of pork recipes will keep the family from getting burned out on pork chop a la surprise.

This pork chop scallop recipe was so easy the teen could manage it all on her own. Just look, all you need is pork chops, salt, pepper, pimentos, and boxed scallop potatoes. From The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), American Classics.

For this one we opted to bake the pork chop scallop in the oven instead of cooking it on the stove top. It worked out really well this way. The chops were not as tender as I would have liked them but everyone seemed to like the dish overall.

For a quick and easy pork chop dish, you may want to try it. Here's the results of our efforts:

Sunday Supper Soup (Meatball Soup)

2009-04-18T07:00:00.003-05:00

The Sunday Supper Soup is a card my husband pulled when we were deciding what to cook for family night this week. He thought meatballs in soup would be an interesting combination. I have to admit I thought the same thing. The girls were not so enthusiastic. Sunday Supper Soup is from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Sundays at Home.

The ingredients in this meatball soup are some you may have on hand. I just happened to have everything except for the beef broth. I should start keeping some. Thankfully I did not have to drive all the way to the grocery store, they had some at the convenience store.

The teen was not too excited about mixing and rolling up meatballs. This is not one of my favorite tasks either. She did get right into it and get it done. She learned trying to mix raw meat with a spoon is not how you go about making meatballs. Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

Another thing she learned was sometimes meatballs don't cooperate when you brown them. Gentle persuasion with tongs may be necessary. One broke during the browning process. We decided it's all going to the same place, what difference does it make if one or two break?

She learned a new term preparing this recipe: Paring. Paring is peeling. Peeling used to be done with a paring knife before peelers became popular. I'm sure there are a lot of cooks who still use paring knives for peeling. However, I had not used or seen this term since my Nana taught me how to cook.

The end result of this recipe was a delicious combination of meat, broth, and vegetables. We served our Sunday Supper Soup with pan fried garlic bread and a tossed salad. I'm not changing a thing on this recipe, it's perfect!

Baked Cheese & Tomato Fondue

2009-04-14T07:29:00.011-05:00

For Easter we decided to create a little appetizer for our family gathering: Baked Cheese & Tomato Fondue. This cheese dish recipe turned out to be a real hit. From McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Budget Stretchers.

The recipe is pretty easy to follow. However, the dish requires two days for completion. You build up your fondue the night before you plan to serve it, refrigerate it over night, and you cook it the next day.

My daughter learned a lot about preparation with this meal. The store we frequent does not sell grated or shredded Swiss Cheese. We were able to pull out the old shredder, which was fun. Grating the onion was not fun. We were in tears. It was a powerful onion.

I think this Baked Cheese & Tomato Fondue would make a nice side dish for a family dinner, as long as your having guests over or have a large family. The cheese dish recipe calls that it makes 6 servings. I really think you get more out of it.

You have to be a fan of Swiss cheese to eat it. The dish is rich and Swiss cheese is the dominant flavor. Well it does require 3/4 lb of it.

I believe this recipe could easily be cut in half. We did have a little left over and it refrigerated well to be served the next day-my husband popped it in the oven for lunch, it was still yummy! Here's how our Baked Cheese & Tomato Fondue came out:

I think Swiss cheese is a good cheese to use for it. The cheese melts fantastically and pulls through the fondue like pizza cheese does on commercials. I imagine you could use Mozzarella, but you would lose the flavor.

Frankly, I'm not going to change a thing with this appetizer recipe. I think it's perfect as it is.

Chicken Kiev

2009-04-11T07:09:00.004-05:00

This week's family night dinner idea recipe is chicken Kiev. This is a dish I would usually buy frozen and bake. My daughter saw the card and thought it would be a good learning experience for her and me. Let me tell you, it was. The recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), A Worldwide Medley.

I decided not to enter into this without first doing a little chicken Kiev recipe research online. The instructions seemed a little vague cutting the chicken in half. I found chicken Kiev can be done in a variety of ways. You can do it as these instructions direct you. You can cut a cavity in the breast for the butter filling. From what I gather, as long as the filling gets into the chicken breast, you can do anything you please.

Compared to some of the recipes I saw online, I felt the herb butter filling was a bit lacking. I also saw a few that included Parmesan cheese in the crust, which I liked the idea of. Still we followed the recipe as it was written.

The flavor was pretty good and everything came out as expected. My daughter was able to experience safe food handling, meat flattening, herb chopping details, and food frying precautions.

We will make this dish again but I'm going to change a few things next time. Here's the results of our efforts:

Ukrainian Goulash

2009-04-04T07:00:00.005-05:00

For our first family night dinner idea recipe, my daughter chose Ukrainian Goulash. I have never made this one before, that's for sure. The recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Budget Stretchers.

Ukrainian Goulash is easy to make, yet it has several steps and it requires a long cooking time in the oven. It's all well worth your efforts. Here's the result of our work:

The beef sauce is mild yet very rich. The recipe calls for you to brown your beef in "salad oil" then to use the drippings to brown your onion. For my taste, it's really too much oil. The next time we prepare this dish we will be using a cooking spray rather than oil.

The meat is tender as can be when it's done. However, next time I plan to cut the chuck a bit smaller than 1 1/2 inch cubes.

The recipe as written will definitely provide you with 8 servings. I froze our leftover sauce for a future meal.

I think this recipe could adapt well to being cooked in a crock pot. I'll have to experiment a bit with it and see what results.

The recipe suggests you serve the sauce over buttered noodles. We chose fettuccine. I think the dish would be excellent over white or brown rice.

Overall we really enjoyed cooking this dish. It gave the teen some experience with cutting raw meat, chopping per recipe directions, and browning.

Family Night Dinner Ideas Store

2009-04-02T11:42:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Family Night Dinner Ideas

2009-03-27T09:41:00.001-05:00

This blog is dedicated to family night dinners. Today we need to get back to our roots, our foundation, and family is what it's all about. This blog will highlight one dinner entree, side, or dessert idea a week. Sometimes I may throw in other things, but mostly this blog will feature recipes.

The idea for this blog came about while my oldest daughter and I were doing some spring cleaning tasks. We came across an old recipe card box my Nana had left to me. My teen started filing through the cards and thought it would be nice to start varying up our menu a bit by trying some of the recipes.

I agreed and showed her an entire cabinet full of two other recipe card files and a slew of cook books. She was astonished.

She asked if I had ever made any of the recipes. I told her I use a lot of them all the time. But I put my own touches on them and make them mine. Mind here that recipes are only guides. Recipes can be changed to suit your needs.

She continued filing through the cards and picked some she liked.

So here we are. We have a family night tradition already, but we're going to change our regular junk food choices (quick fix meals like frozen pizza, chili dogs, or burgers) to a real recipe cook-off fest the whole family can partake in.

Join us in our new recipe venture...

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2009-03-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

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