On Sunday George, Ruth and I went to a play date in the afternoon and so Ben offered to grocery shop and make dinner. I was a little thrown off guard at first because I have been working so hard to get into my own rhythm with buying the groceries and meal planning. Thankfully, I came to terms with it rather quickly. When the kids and I got home 2 1/2 hours later Ben's first words were "You are going to be so excited when you see all I have done." I have to admit I thought he meant he had cleaned so I walked through all the rooms looking to see if the dishes were done, laundry put away etc. Then he came in and showed me how he had made stir fry and chili for dinner. He made two meals so that we would have extra food for the week. :) I was so happy and thankful but let's be honest I kinda wish there had been one meal and a clean house.
Tonight I made Salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans. Around 4pm I was really worried about whether or not it was going to happen. Georgie usually naps for 2 hours and today he didn't nap at all and Ruthie is teething so every time I tried to lay her down she would start to cry.
Poor sweet girl couldn't stop chewing on her hands.
At one point this afternoon I was trying to get Ruthie to sleep and I came back to the Kitchen to this. "Look Mama, Fall." He was running around making himself slip and fall.
At another point I was holding Ruthie in our bed. I thought G would maybe snuggle up next to us and rest but instead he kept putting his finger to his mouth and saying "Shh Roof Seeping" while in the same minute he would stand up on the bed and shout "JUMP" while attempting to jump.
When Ben came home he played with G but I still couldn't get Ruthie to calm down. At about 5:30 I was finally able to start dinner. Ben and George were both getting really hungry (and whiny). I started the potatoes and Ben entered the kitchen. He thought I had too much cheese laid out for the potatoes so I compromised by saving the extra cheese for my own personal plate. Ben decided to help me because he thought it would make dinner happen faster. I enjoyed cooking with him in the kitchen tonight because he didn't take over and he did give me good advice. Also, if he hadn't been there the green beans would not have been fully cooked. I had no idea they would take so long to get soft!
Dinner was a huge success. Everything tasted great and this was my second time preparing salmon and I felt much more confident this time and next time I think I may even experiment with my own seasoning. The potatoes turned out perfectly but I made way too many and apparently they lacked garlic. Ben asked mid meal if I had put any garlic in them and when I said no he proceeded to tell me how he adds some fresh garlic in the bottom of the pan with olive oil right before he mashes them...Next time......I will also be sure to make about half of the amount I made tonight in the future. I think there were about ten red potatoes for the three of us. I didn't follow a recipe, I just thought that looked about right. Ben made a good point, if we were to eat the potatoes whole I would have probably only ate about 2 or 3 so I should have only used 6 total. Why can't I think of those things on my own?
I feel so scattered in the kitchen. I am definitely still lost but I don't feel defeated. Although, check back with me Friday. I am planning on making Moroccan chicken in the crock pot. Ben is going to give me a recipe for his blend of spices and I am really excited to learn how to make hummus as a side. However, Ben said that I am going to need to put the spices into the skin of the chicken. I have seen him do this..and it looks disgusting. I was hoping that because I am using the crock pot I would be able to skip that step. But apparently that's the key to making it extra yummy. So, Friday will be my biggest challenge as of yet.
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