Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994 TAG: 9405050008
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SUSAN CORYELL SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Of course, the bad news is that your children WILL go through seven years of teen-agerhood before they grow up completely.
Having survived one teen-ager who is now, blessedly, grown and "on his own," my husband and I are struggling with the two other children under roof - a 17-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son. I offer, herewith, some recipes to help sustain a semblance of normality in the hectic existence that is a household with teens:
GREEK CHICKEN is so named because when the children asked, "What's this?" I answered, "It's Greek to me."
Ingredients: Four to six boneless, skinless chicken breasts; chopped peppers (green and/or red); chopped onion; chopped clove of garlic; 1 Tbsp. olive oil; one 16-ounce can tomatoes for cooking, or several large, fresh tomatoes; feta cheese; ripe olives.
Saute veggies in olive oil in large skillet or wok. Add chicken and brown on both sides. Add tomatoes, cover, simmer.
While chicken cooks, try to determine whose turn it is to walk the dog. Threaten 15-year-old with no driver's license, ever. Tell 17-year-old she will have to ride the school bus instead of driving to school.
Turn chicken down to low and while you are walking the dog yourself, say, "Damn, damn, damn!" Say it loud. Watch the dog's ears and tail droop. Assure dog it is not its fault.
Return to house and announce that from now on everybody except Dad does his or her own laundry, which you would never have thought of except you had all that quiet time as you walked the dog.
Top chicken with feta cheese, and when it's melted, serve. Garnish with olives, except for the serving going to son, who is suspicious of any black food.
TAC0 SALAD: Ingredients: ground round or ground turkey; one package taco seasoning mix; one-half cup tomato juice. Condiments: shredded lettuce; tortilla chips; grated Cheddar cheese; chopped tomato; salsa; sour cream.
Brown meat. Add taco seasoning and tomato juice and bring to simmer.
Answer doorbell. Realizing it's basketball practice night and your husband is coach, add another seat at dinner table for Robert, whose mother has dropped him off early so he can catch a ride to practice.
Arrange lettuce, tomato and chips (crushed, if you like) in bottom of glass dish or casserole. Answer doorbell again. Add another chair; David has joined the group.
Expand salad by chopping more veggies. Arrange warm meat mixture on top of veggies and pile on Cheddar cheese.
Curse quietly under your breath when your husband calls and tells you he's running late, so you'll have to bring the boys to practice. Try to remember you are thankful the children are old enough for stimulating activities where they actually LEAVE the house for a couple of hours, even if you do have to drive the carpool. Try to remember when they were toddlers and you thought if you had to spend one more evening cooped up at home with them you'd go bonkers. Serve salad with salsa and sour cream on the side.
MACARONI JUNK is so named because my children always say, "Oh, it's that macaroni junk again." Ingredients: ground round or ground turkey; one can stewed tomatoes; macaroni; one can Cheddar cheese soup; American cheese slices.
Brown meat. If son comes home from school first, tell him the meat is beef. Threaten to withhold driver's license until he is a senior if he tells his sister, who is a "semi-vegetarian" and refuses to eat red meat. It's our secret that it isn't ground turkey. If daughter comes home first, reverse tactics. Threaten to restrict use of car if she tells her brother it's turkey since he refuses to eat ground birds.
Put on water to boil for macaroni. Go to family room and answer phone. Since children aren't home yet, tell caller to try later. Return to macaroni.
Answer phone again. Tell caller teen-agers are at track practice and will return call. Add water to pot which is boiling down due to phone calls.
Put on answering machine and return to kitchen. Listen while you miss important call you've been waiting for since Tuesday. Say, "Damn, damn, damn!"
Add tomatoes to meat and simmer until macaroni is ready. Drain macaroni, add to meat mixture along with soup. Top with cheese slices and bake in 350 degree oven until cheese melts.
When son informs you that he forgot to tell anybody but there's an athletic banquet tonight to which we are supposed to bring a casserole, salad, and dessert and it starts in 15 minutes, smile and cover casserole with foil. Transports nicely.
VEGETARIAN CHILI: Ingredients: chopped onion and garlic; canned kidney, pinto and cannellini beans; canned chopped tomatoes; canned whole tomatoes with chilis; canned carrots; small can tomato paste; chopped fresh or frozen zucchini; chili powder; black pepper; salsa or hot sauce.
Combine everything but zucchini and mix, crock or simmer until hot and spices have mixed in.
Add zucchini during last 15 minutes.
Get teen-agers to do this recipe, which is 90 percent open-the-cans-and-dump-their-contents-in-the-pot. There's no way they can ruin it. They will feel a sense of accomplishment, and it will give you an excuse to do the laundry, which you have been itching to get your hands on since your laundry edict, seeing as how all the whites are now pink and everything is wrinkled because nothing has gone all the way through the permanent-press cycles in quite a while.
When you emerge from the laundry room, do a double-take as you count 10 teen-agers, including your own two, in the kitchen. Recant, "There's no way they can ruin it." The recipe may be foolproof, but the kitchen is not.
Help Beth clean up the oatmeal accidentally knocked off the top pantry shelf while selecting beans for chili. Marvel at how light each oat is, how incredibly far the tiny flakes can fly, how they can lodge in the hardest-to-reach corners of the stove, dishwasher and counter tops.
Assure Cindy she does not need to use a different spoon for each can she empties into the pot.
Inform Greg that his nose hairs are beginning to frost because he's had his head in the open fridge too long. Go back to the laundry room and contemplate how much you will miss your children when they go to college.
Serve chili over rice with shredded Cheddar, if desired, and tell yourself oatmeal enhances the dish's nutritional value.
TUNA CASSEROLE: Ingredients: egg noodles; canned tuna; cream of mushroom soup; American cheese slices.
Boil water for noodles. Answer phone. Tell daughter to stop crying, you will drive up to school to jump-start her car.
Leave husband a note. Tell him to order pizza.
Susan Coryell teaches English at Centreville High School in Clifton and spends summers at the family's cottage at Smith Mountain Lake.
by CNB