Family Dinnertime: Chicken Fajitas and Jim Brickman...

 Sliced onions, green bell peppers, yellow/red/orange sweet peppers

 Boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into strips  Seasoned with garlic, Lawry's seasoning salt, and Ken's Steak House Four Cheese Italian dressing.

 Let veggies grill until they are the consistency that is to your liking.  Somehow, I skipped the picture of the chicken grilling in a separate pan, but I just cooked it over medium heat with just a little bit of oil.  You want to let the dressing marinade carmalize on the meat.

I let everyone build their own fajita.  We all like sour cream and shredded cheese, and a few of us even add a dash of Tapatio (hot sauce).  Yum! My kids and my husband ate REALLY well tonight.  The best thing is that  it is a pretty healthy meal and it was pretty cheap too.

 We had zucchini bread for dessert.  I don't usually make "dessert", but since we had another giant zucchini from the garden, I decided to make a little more bread with it.  I followed the recipe that I posted previously, but this time I added a can of strained, crushed pineapple.  That really made the bread even more moist than last time.  I also mixed some sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled that onto the pan after I buttered it (I usually flour it)  Then I sprinkled some on top of the batter.  Next time I'll take a table knife and cut the sugar mixture into so that it won't make a "lid" like it did.  My family loved it.

Unless we are out, we have dinner together at the table.  Everyone helps in setting the table.  With six of us present, there is always plenty of chatter and lots of "no, you need to eat your veggies" (especially to Naomi), and sometimes there's even a little drama.  Usually though, it's a time for us to go over our day, ask the girls about school, laugh and joke and even teach.  It's a relaxed atmosphere and we have food in front of us - it's the perfect time to talk with our family.  Yes, defenses go up sometimes, but we try to keep it light.  I will never regret this time with my children and my husband.  I'll never forget what one of my daughter's friend said when she had dinner with us last year.  We were all eating and laughing and joking around.  I looked up at our guest and apologized for our "crazy" family.  She smiled and said that she did not mind at all and that she actually envied us.  She said that her family only eats at the table together at Thanksgiving.  My kids got wide-eyed.  They couldn't believe it.  The next time she was over at dinner, I think we were having pizza or something very casual.  I told her and Hannah that they didn't have to sit with us that night at the table (they were watching a movie).  I couldn't believe it when she asked my daughter if they could pause the movie so that we could all eat together at the table!  That meant a lot to me.  It also made my kids realize that it was a special time that we had.  They were so used to it that they never even thought about it.

Now I know that it's not always possible for everyone to have dinner together at the same time.  I know that people have different work schedules and there's all sorts of school and sport activities that run late into dinner time, but I do think it's important to try to work in some family time together at the table.  Perhaps breakfast would work better for your family?

As the time was approaching for the girls to come home, I told my son that we needed to have the t.v. off and I wanted to turn on some nice music.  Courtney, at Women Living Well, has given us the challenge to use music as a way to bring peace and calm into your home, so that's what I've been attempting. =)  We don't have a stereo, so I turned the Pandora on and typed in Jim Brickman (instrumental/piano music) and plugged it into the speakers.  At dinnertime, the music continued to play and the girls started to recognize some of the songs.  It was really nice.  I noticed that the music did make a positive difference in how the kids behaved at the table.

We are far from perfect, but I want my children to learn kindness, forgiveness and love and I want them to know that they can give it and receive it daily.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32