For a family meal straight from your grandmother's recipe box, make your family a meal featuring chicken continental, saucy carrots and a lettuce salad tossed with your own homemade tomato soup French dressing.  Chicken continental is a chicken and rice dish so you have your meat and grain in one dish.  Add saucy carrots as your vegetable and toss a mixture of salad greens with your homemade dressing and you have a good, old-fashion meal to feed your family.  This menu is perfect for a sit-down family dinner.  If you follow this blog, you know I am a proponent of sit-down family meals.  I believe it is a lost art in today's generation and one we as a society will eventually pay for.  Whether you are a large family with five or six children or a single parent with one child, it is so important to take the time to sit down together at dinner and discuss the days events.  It is amazing how much you can learn about your child's life. This is also the perfect opportunity for you to impart your ideas and morals to your child.  So take the time.  It is important!

CHICKEN CONTINENTAL

3 to 4 lb frying chicken cut-up
1/3 cup seasoned flour (season with poultry seasonings to suit your taste)
1/4 cup butter
1 can (10 1/2 oz)condensed cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 tbsp grated onion
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 tsp celery flakes
1/8 tsp thyme
1 1/3 cups water
1 1/2 cups Minute Rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll chicken pieces in flour and brown in butter. Remove chicken from pan. Into the pan and drippings, stir in soup, onion, salt, pepper, parsley, celery, and thyme. Stir while bringing to a boil. Spread Minute Rice into a 1 1/2-quart shallow casserole dish. Reserve 1/3 cup of the soup mixture and pour rest over the rice. Stir to moisten all the rice. Top rice with chicken pieces and pour reserved soup over chicken. Bake, covered, for 30-40 minutes until chicken is done.

SAUCY CARROTS

5 large carrots
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Scrape and slice carrots. Cook carrots in small amount of water until tender crisp. Drain. Melt butter and add sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Add carrots and let simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

TOMATO SOUP FRENCH DRESSING

1 cup tomato soup
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix ingredients in a bowl and slowly add 1 1/1 cup oil. Place in a container with 6 cloves garlic. Will keep for weeks in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!