Gary L Kelley - Journal

I am not a chef. The kitchen makes me uncomfortable. I’m pretty comfortable with cooking on an open flame, and during a summer job learned how to deep fry (once it floats, it’s cooked.)

So when my wife and I separated, the challenge of feeding my children (every other week) was something I needed to learn how to do…and quickly.

Breakfast was simple, lunch not too bad, and years later my children have told me my dinners were…”not so much.” Over the holidays, they teased my about my dinners…and I’ve shared so other fathers can benefit, too.

The Hits:

Breakfast for dinner – High marks for breakfast served at dinner. Not cereal, mind you. Bacon and eggs, or sausage and eggs, with Bisquick biscuits.

French Toast – for some reason, my kids distinguish French Toast from breakfast. Whenever my kids had friends sleep over, I made French toast. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it goes well for large groups.

Hmm. Maybe breads and butter were the key.

Steak – steak got high marks. I would get a 7-bone Steak, which tended to be a little less expensive. Cooked on the grill, it was always a hit.

The Misses

The misses were a surprise to me…

Shake ‘N Bake Chicken – I’ve always found Shake ‘N Bake pretty tasty. Even today, cooking up some chicken with Shake ‘N Bake just works for me. It turns out my son doesn’t like anything with bones (and not knowing this, I was buying whole chickens.) My daughter just didn’t like Shake ‘N Bake.

And all along I though Shake ‘N Bake was a great kids meal. Obviously advertising influenced me:

Boiled Dinners – I found a “boil in a bag” serving of roast beef, turkey, and pork. Here I was thinking I was serving the best of the best…a feast. Years later…they didn’t like it, they were salty, and what a waste.

How about at your home? What is a hit and what is a miss?