Fried Round Steak and Smashed Potatoes--Sandra age 10

Tenderizing the steak.  With that same dull knife. 

Dredging. 

I am bad at growing zucchini.  My plants always die after producing one squash.  This year I planted 10 beautiful plants.  They are doing well.  Don't you wish you were my neighbor?

Amelia and Lucy doing their howler monkey routine. 

Finished Product. 

Sandra's Take:  I think it was easy and yummy!

Amy's Take:  I was in the grocery store check-out line yesterday.  They had a cooking magazine just for kids.  It had bumblebees made out of Twinkies and candy on the front.  It bugged me a lot.  Like it's so hard to get my kids to eat Twinkies and Froot by the Foot  that we need to turn them into cute insects?  This is an ART project.  Not a COOKING project.  Plus, why would you have your kids make a Twinkie bumblebee when you could have them cook a meal like Sandra made last night?

It was a genius meal, if I say so myself.  We used a Pioneer Woman recipe for Fried Round Steak
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/08/fried-round-steak/ and added in some Southwestern spices--cumin, spicy chili powder,  as well as some Mrs. Dash's steak seasoning and some Creole spice blend (we are nothing if not creative) to the  flour mixture.  We boiled potatoes and smashed in lite sour cream, cheddar cheese, chopped green onions and chopped pickled jalapenos (I love these).  Sandra picked about eight tiny zucchini (we are trying to eat them while they are small to keep ahead of things) and we stir fried them with a little bit of butter and some minced garlic.  It was all a little spicy, so Sandra made fruit punch Kool-Aid to cut the heat.  That is a rare and special treat at our house.  It was a great meal. 

Other opinions:
Lucy:  Only wanted zucchini.  She loved it.