September 22, 2011

Monkeying Around in the Kitchen

I never know what to make for dinner.  The whole "use the crockpot three times a week" plan has flown out the window along with the mushy glop that was greeting me at 5 o'clock. 

The afterwork frenzy is really getting to me.  I mean seriously, is it even possible to make dinner while entertaining a 2 and 4 year old that haven't seen Mommy all day?  Make dinner, entertain, listen, referee and unpack the all our bags?  Make dinner, entertain, listen, referee, unpack bags, feed the dogs and answer the ringing phone?

Last night amid the chaos,  I made spaghetti faces.  Henry took several no thank you bites and exclaimed, "The eyes taste really good!"  Now if I could only get Liam to dine on something, anything, that doesn't start with 'goldfish' and end with 'cracker'.

no thank you face



6 comments:

  1. Very creative. I am of the belief that one of the greatest advantages of being a single mom is the fact that the traditional sit down dinner can go right out the door. Most nights I stand at the counter making dinner while Sam sits on the other side drawing and munching on cheese or whatever fresh fruit we picked up on the way home. And the microwave means I can have any veggie steamed in under five minutes. We do a lot of noodles in our house. And a lot of Amy's frozen organic pizza or lasagna or pesto torteloni or enchiladas. Tonight we made pancakes from scratch and mixed sprinkles and food coloring in to the mix. Served them with fresh raspberries and ice cold glasses of milk and called it good. Let go of the idea that dinner needs to be a big meal. Let them eat their big meal at lunch time and don't stress getting a big dinner made. If they don't like it and don't eat, they'll eventually get hungry and eat the next day... probably at lunch time. :)

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  2. If anyone could help with the post 5PM dinner, homework, two kids, bags, referee, pay attention to me time, I'd gladly give them anything they wanted! I love this dish! It's so cute and looks like it's no more difficult than anything else I've tried. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  3. I have crock pot issues too. I want to like the thing, I really do. But... I dunno. My mom is a crock pot wizard. I think if mushy is the issue it's too much liquid. I did a roasted chicken this week. So far that's been pretty awesome. I made chicken quesadillas last night with some of the chicken. Tonight I think I'll do fettuccine alfredo with more of the chicken.

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  4. I thought I was the only one with the slow cooker issues, not to mention, I can barely get dinnter done with just one. Half the time she's snacked till the food gets on the table. I found that cooking on Sundays and freezing it helped, but even then I don't always have the engergy on the weekend to do a mass cook. I occassionaly do breakfast at dinner, and she seems to like that.

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  5. Love the meal idea but Cory would probably make the face too.

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  6. I'm SO impressed by the spaghetti faces! Great idea! My kids are SO picky when it comes to mealtime. I'll have to try that one!

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