Family First reader Ita Hausman shares how she gets creative with chicken cutlets

Job: Office work

Lives: Lakewood, NJ

Family: Myself and husband, four kids aged four to twelve

Time of supper:

The kids eat as soon as they come in, and the husband at around seven-ish. I eat twice (at least!)

I cook one supper, and only one supper. It might not be every kid’s favorite supper every night, but it’s something I know they’ll eat.

Since no one likes chicken on the bone, and my family tolerates chopped meat only once every few weeks, that leaves schnitzel every night, in some shape or form.

I get home from work at three p.m., and the kids start to arrive, starving, from four o’clock. I don’t make soup. My family doesn’t like it — we only like chicken soup, which we have every Shabbos (and on Shabbos I serve chicken on the bone, too. That’s the only time it goes down.)

My favorite supper hack:

Shake and crumb the schnitzel in a bag instead of using eggs and a few different steps.

If someone treated me to a meal out, I’d order:

Chinese

My go-to kimpeturin supper:

I don’t like to patchkeh, because then it will never happen. So I make Lo Mein, an easy all-in-one. And always, Ita’s famous chocolate chip cookies.

Favorite recipe book:

Dinner Done. I lost all my others when we moved back from Eretz Yisrael, but I don’t miss them. I google recipes. My chocolate chip cookies are famous and I just randomly googled the recipe.

Sauces and spices:

I use bought sauces. Mikee’s honey garlic is my current favorite. I grill salmon with it for Shabbos, I use it with mayonnaise on grilled chicken, or with duck sauce on bone-in chicken.

Through the week

Sunday:

Grilled chicken cutlets in pita with lettuce and dressing

We very often have leftovers. This week I didn’t have enough, so I grilled chicken cutlets and served them in pita with lettuce and dressing, and everyone was happy. Sometimes I grill eggplant when I serve this, but it’s fine without, too.

Monday:

Schnitzel with roast vegetables, sweet potatoes, and mini red potatoes

My quickest schnitzel: Shake it up in a bag with cornstarch, salt, and pepper, and “sauté” with a drop of oil in a pan in the oven. It comes out very moist and flavorful. I served this with a lot of cubed vegetables, sweet potatoes, and mini red potatoes, which I roasted in the oven with a sauce of onion soup mix and oil. That really goes down well.

Quick Tip: I buy my schnitzel as chicken tenders; there’s no thinning, no trimming, and it gets done so quickly.

Tuesday:

Chicken nuggets, round potato fries, and salad

We played a family game one Chanukah night, and one prize my kids won was the privilege of choosing a supper. Two of the kids have the same favorite, but they plotted against me and chose two different things. This Tuesday was the night. I bought the sesame sauce they love from Glatt Bite, I fried chicken nuggets, and made the round potato fries from Dinner Done, plus salad.

Wednesday:

Meatballs and spaghetti

Took out meatballs from the freezer, served it with spaghetti. (The kids are okay with this if it’s not served too often, but it takes too long to make after work, so I sometimes freeze a batch.)

Permanent Fixture: Did I mention coleslaw yet? My husband eats it with every supper. If we don’t have, he stops at the grocery on the way home to pick some up.

Thursday:

Macaroni and cheese

I don’t cook on Thursday. I give the kids macaroni and cheese or pizza. Or pastrami in a baguette. Or hot dogs. My husband usually buys takeout for himself, and buys more than he needs, so the kids eat a second supper. Me? No one should worry about me. Like I said, I always eat.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 929)