Mealtime

Since I've been back to work, I've been doing an incredible job of getting dinner on the table every night, if I do say so myself. Of course, it might not be something that Ed and William will both eat. But it's dinner, nonetheless. I've been able to get the prep work done the night before, and have somehow managed to keep both boys entertained and content while also cooking whatever needs cooking. I haven't always managed to get dinner on the table by 6:30. Some nights it's been closer to 7:00. And we haven't necessarily been sitting down together each night. Ed worked late all last week and wasn't getting home until closer to 7:00. So some nights, William and I have eaten together, and Ed has come in on the tail end, or William has eaten his dinner and then played while Ed and I ate our dinner, once Ed got home. There may have been a few nights that Ed and I didn't actually eat until after both boys went to sleep. As for Seth, I usually end up holding him while trying to eat with one hand. Sometimes I nurse him at the table (so everyone eats except me), and sometimes--every so often--he's content to sit in his bouncy seat while we eat.

My meals have been pretty simple. I've done all kinds of marinated meats, where I make the marinade the night before, and then either grill or bake the meat as soon as we get home. I've made steak, pork tenderloin, chicken thighs, pork chops. We did pizza one night with the Pillsbury ready-made crust. One night we had a chicken casserole and we've done hamburgers a few times. Last night we had meatball subs. Tonight I made Grands Taco Melts. My sides are usually salad or some kind of frozen veggie (peas, broccoli, corn, etc.) and a dinner roll (also from the freezer). So again--nothing super creative or fancy or crazy delicious. Just basic food that tastes pretty good and enough variety to keep things interesting. I'm mostly just so impressed with myself for doing the prep work the night before (it takes discipline!) and being able to get dinner on the table without having to ignore my children. I have so little time with them during the week, and I refuse to spend the time that we have in the kitchen with some over-involved meal that requires a lot of attention. It's really just not possible with both boys, anyway.

It's very rare that I can serve one meal for all us. William will eat parts of what I make for Ed and me, but I usually always have to fix something else for him, to include with whatever I make for Ed and me. I always put what we're eating on his plate, but I also make a standby--something I know he'll eat. He's really good about trying new things. But he rarely likes new things--at least not right away. I've been trying and trying to get him to eat sweet potato fries, and every time I've put them on his plate, he takes a bite, but then spits it out. I never make a big deal out of it. And I usually have both kinds of fries. But last night, I tried the sweet potato fries again, and he actually ate a couple! He also ate a whole meatball, which doesn't sound like much, but it is for him.

Tonight, I made the Grands Taco Melts. I had made the seasoned ground beef the night before, so I just had to roll out the biscuits and fill them with the beef and cheese. I decided I would enlist William to "help" me roll out the biscuit dough and sprinkle the cheese over the meat. So I talked it up quite a bit in the car, and when we got home, he stood on a chair and I gave him a biscuit and some flour and a rolling pin, a knife from his kids cutlery set, and a fork, and let him have at it. He played and played with his dough while I rolled out the other biscuits next to him and filled them up and got them in the oven. (I did all of this while holding Seth!) William got some of his matchbox cars and diggers and then I gave him some of the shredded cheese in a cup. He had a blast. The best part, though, was when the melts were done and I took them out of the oven, he said, "Mmmmm, good!" And he ate almost a whole melt on his own. This is almost unheard of! Anyway, it was a really nice and different way to spend our after-work time. Of course, tomorrow, he'll probably want to play with biscuits when we get home. It's very hard to explain a special, "one-time" event to a two-year-old!

Tomorrow I'm making chicken and dumplings in the crock pot. And I might make a ground beef/noodle/cheese casserole for Thursday night. Or I might go with French Bread pizzas. I've been making a loose plan in my head for each week, and so far, that has worked pretty well.

Switching gears here, William and Seth are both recovering from their colds. Seth is still pretty congested and has a bit of a cough, but it's not too bad. He hasn't had a temperature and hasn't been too cranky, thank goodness! William's nose is still goopy, and he's coughing a little, but the wheezing has gone away. And his spirits have been pretty good, too. He wasn't eating anything over the weekend, but he seemed to have gotten his appetite back on Monday. Seth is grabbing onto things much more deliberately these days, and is starting to bring things to his mouth. He loves looking at people, mostly, and making eye contact. He loves his brother and will stare at him and smile and giggle. He's such a delight! I just love having two boys!