WHERE’S MOM NOW THAT I NEED HER?

Although it is still a year away for us, I’ve been reading with great interest Facebook posts from my friends who are sending their kids off to college. While some are living in the dorms at their schools, many are residing in apartments or cute little off-campus houses. It brings back fond memories for me, and one not-so-fond memory.

While in college, I actually lived at home. My first real foray into adulting didn’t happen until I was heading to law school. I had a great apartment and generally thought I was Queen of the World. My aunt had given me a book (which, some 33 years later, I still have) called “Where’s Mom Now that I Need Her?” The cover prominently featured a frying pan with smoke coming off of it, and the book was full of hints about nutrition, grocery shopping, laundry and clothing care, first aid, quick and easy recipes (like how to make spaghetti), and lots more. It became my “go-to” for a number of things that I had never cared to learn.

Prior to the second semester of law school, my cooking had been limited to microwaving Lean Cuisines. When my mom asked me what I was going to do for food, I was quick to tell her that I could live on Kudos bars, Lean Cuisines and Diet Coke for “the rest of my life.” During that first semester, I did just that, but also I included a healthy dose of eating out multiple times a week. At the end of the semester, my mom analyzed how much I had spent on food and issued a directive—“You’ve got to learn to cook.”

Thankfully, I had a good role model with my mom. Growing up, my mom’s favorite cookbook was “Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Jars.” For Christmas that year, she gave me my own copy. I still have it. She told me that I, too, could prepare tasty meals that didn’t take a lot of time and would not leave me in debt. She was right.

My mother was the OG working mom. She worked in a hospital laboratory, kept our house running, drove us to cheerleading and whatever else we were doing, sewed cheerleading uniforms (and Barbie clothes and whatever else we could dream up) and always managed to have a hot meal on the table when my dad got home from UPS. We ate “salmon patties” made from canned tuna, and leftover mashed potatoes were fried into potato cakes. She was a master at improvisation, and she loved recipes from the backs of cans and boxes. She always said that companies were not going to put crappy recipes on the boxes and cans and risk losing customers.

My mom’s recipes were not generally gourmet dishes. She liked things that were easy to make and tasted good. She was a master with the use of cream cheese and cream of anything soup, and she could turn a roll of Ritz crackers into about 100 different meals. She did “quick and easy” really well, because that is all that she had time to do. And she was convinced that would work for me. It did.

If you have kids heading off to college (or if you are just looking for something easy but good), I’ll share my favorites from my law school days.

My favorite dish to make either came from a package of Crescent dinner rolls or a can of chicken—I’m not sure which, but both should claim it. I think the technical name for the dish is “Savory Crescent Chicken Squares,” but we just called them “Chicken Pockets.” They are easy and require very little work. To make, heat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, blend 1 package cream cheese (softened) and 2 TBS melted butter. Add two 5 oz. cans of chicken (boneless, skinless chicken breast), ¼ tsp salt, 1 TBS pepper, 2 TBS milk and 1 TBS chopped onion (dried ones are fine). Separate 1 tube of Crescent rolls into 4 squares and seal the perforations. Spoon ½ cup of the chicken/cheese mixture onto the center and pull the 4 corners together to the top center of the chicken/cheese mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with 1 TBS butter. Sprinkle with ¾ cup Ritz crackers, crumbled. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

I am also a fan of my mom’s “Easy Lasagna,” which really isn’t lasagna at all…but it is easy and really good. To prepare, brown one package of ground beef with a chopped onion. Add oregano and salt to taste. Boil 1 package of egg noodles, drain and pour into a baking dish. Soften 1 package of cream cheese and mix with 1 small can of Carnation milk until blended well. Pour over the noodles. Top with ground beef mixture. Add 1 medium jar of spaghetti sauce. Top with 1 package shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 until bubbly, and cheese is melted.

As a law student, I often needed the comfort of chocolate. My favorite of my mom’s desserts from my childhood was called “Chocolate Heath Bar Trifle.” I just call it “Chocolate Sin.”

Begin by preparing a family-sized box (18-20 oz) of brownies according to package directions and allow them to cool. Note: I like Ghiradelli chocolate chunk brownies. Prepare 1 (5.9 oz) package of instant chocolate pudding according to directions on box. Crumble half the brownies into the bottom of a trifle bowl. Top with crushed Heath bar (I use the packages of already-crushed in the baking aisle). Top with one-half of the pudding mixture, being sure to spread to the edges of the bowl. Top with half a container of Cool Whip (spreading to the edges of the bowl). Repeat the layer process with the remaining ingredients. Top with additional chopped Heath bar. Refrigerate overnight. More than once, my law school roommate found me sitting in the kitchen floor eating this straight from the container. It is that good.

After the second semester, my mom was pleased with my spending, but she was even happier that I had actually learned to cook!

By: Kristin Seabrook Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Counsel and Secretary Pilot Company