Going solo
Chicken Escalopes. Photo: Fiona Feasey
Many of us have been a solo parent at some time in our life, and generally speaking, at least at the beginning, it’s not much fun.
I read an article recently about how newly separated parents cope, or don’t cope, with cooking for their kids. Some dads find it all fairly new, discovering themselves in an unfamiliar kitchen with “starving” kids to feed. One child remembered the first meal his dad produced as being “strangely brown”. A following salad was “strangely dirty”, the quiche “strangely chewy”, and there was the strangely dropped, strangely burnt, strangely stringy and once even the strangely good.
Trying to keep some normality in day-to-day life when everything seems anything BUT normal can be tricky. Our kids depend on us to maintain some sense of order, offer reassurance and, of course, love and comfort. Sitting down to eat together each night is a vital time to connect and check out how everyone is doing. Though it’s always going to be easier to plonk yourselves down on the sofa and turn on the telly, making the effort to continue normal mealtime routines will often become a looked-forward-to part of the day. Talking to the kids over dinner makes them feel important and nourished.
Making a nourishing meal at the end of a busy day at work, however, can also be tricky, and the temptation to pick up something quick and easy on the way home needs to be avoided if you are to give your kids the nutrition their growing bodies need.
A roster works well for preparation, so each child has a day when they peel and prepare the vegetables after arriving home from school. If they wash some jacket potatoes to bake, or peel and chop some carrots and find some frozen peas to steam over the top of the carrots then all YOU need to do is BBQ some meat or chicken, and voila! All of you will have produced a meal to be proud of. Make a big batch of chilli beef and beans and freeze portions in pottles for those nights when you are just too tired to think, and you have a delicious family meal in the guise of tacos, nachos, spag bol, pies, etc.
Making more of everything (ie cooking twice the amount of potatoes or rice that you require) gives you wonderful leftovers to use the following night. At the end of the week, or before you do another shop, there is nothing wrong with a good ol’ fry up to put any lurking leftovers to good use. Stir fries are also easy to complete if the kids have done all the chopping beforehand. If the children are too young to master knife skills, a peeler might be the tool of choice instead.
Bacon and egg pie and peanut brownies directly from the Edmonds Cookbook are two snacks that are fondly remembered in this family, while chops and mashed potato were an often repeated favourite, too. Children are more likely to eat something they have helped to create, so you are not only encouraging good life skills but giving them a sense of responsibility over what they eat.
These chicken escalopes are similar in method to the old wiener schnitzel, but even tastier and loved by kids and adults alike. If you flatten the chicken breasts, then the kids can do the messy part of egg and breadcrumbing. This recipe is also successful with beef, pork or turkey breast.
Chicken Escalopes
100g panko crumbs from the supermarket (or use fresh white breadcrumbs)
30g grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
4 skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying
Slice each breast in half horizontally. Lay one side on a chopping board and cover with clingfilm. Bash with a mallet until quite thin (1cm). Repeat with the remaining breasts. Dry each slice with a paper towel, then season each with salt and pepper. Dip into the beaten egg and then into the combined breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesan cheese. Coat well. Place onto a plate and refrigerate until time to cook. Heat the oil in a pan and cook the chicken until golden on each side. Remove and serve with new potatoes and peas.
Fiona Feasey
