Dinner Challenge

Last week I gave myself a challenge...

To make a delicious, fresh, homecooked meal 5 nights in a row.

Ok, here's the thing... I can't do everything 100% of the time. It's easy to read a blog and think "who does she think she is?" and giving your best Martha-Stewart-isn't-the-cat's-pajamas smirk. When I cook, I'm usually a little stressed because there are literally 10 things going on in the house at the same time as dinner preparation. I don't have a cute apron on and my kitchen looks like this:



So before you read about all this amazing food and you get mad at me, let me just be super clear... I can't do it all.

Some weeks I am the perfect mother, whipping up organic pureed baby food. Other weeks, Dean is eating Gerber.

Some weeks, the creativity is flowing and I'm making an invitation to a party, or dreaming up ideas to decorate the house, or I'm taking lots of pictures of the boys. Other weeks, I'm just barely functioning and trying to get from one chore to the next and the list seems to double every time I cross another thing off.

Some weeks, I'm making the world's best paper aquarium with Devon. We are reading 10 books a day and I'm teaching him dinosaur species from morning til' night. And then other weeks, I'm asking him to "please read quietly" and telling him "mama's busy and I can't tell you about that dinosaur right now." And those weeks I see the little bit of dissappointment in his eyes.

Sometimes it all just seems overwhelming and I have to pick one thing to be really good at. Can anyone really do it all? Hmmm... I think you always have to sacrifice one thing to do another well. Motherhood is trying to balance your efforts and to try and juggle those balls and keep everyone happy.

So, back to my dinner challenge. After eating way too much takeout, I tried to make it a game and to see if I could do all the grocery shopping on one day and to spend less than $100 to feed us for 5 nights. Well, my total came to $74 (and that was including two gallons of milk, breakfast food, 5 days of work lunches, baby food and kids snacks too!) and here is what I made...

Day 1

Breaded Tilapia Tenders with homeade lemon dill tartar sauce (easy sauce: mayo, lemon zest, lemon juice, minced dill pickles, garlic, salt & pepper). On the side, rice pilaf and summer salad (greens, feta cheese, tomato, peppers, onion, and black olives).

Day 2

Chicken Legs, Cuban Style (marinated in Mojo, broiled until Crispy). On the side, saffron rice. Somebody ate my grilled flatbread that was supposed to be in the picture... Oops, maybe it was me!

Day 3

Barefoot Contessa's Raw Tomato Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta. The tomatoes are to-die-for! You marinate them for hours in olive oil, red wine vinegar, sliced garlic, basil, and lots of salt and pepper. Then you toss them with hot buttered pasta and a full cup of freshly grated Parmesan. I added the grilled shrimp!

Please, let's take another look at those tomatoes!


Day 4

I cheated. I fell off the wagon. I called home about an hour before leaving work and Firoze said "do you want me to get dinner?" I didn't even pause. I said "pizza sounds so good." My fav, fav, fav pizza is the very thin woodfired pizza from Shorty's. This one was topped with chicken and served with at least 3 cups of arugula salad. Have I told anyone lately that I am addicted to arugula?

Day 5

Tuscan style navy beans, simmered for hours with fresh rosemary, sage and thyme. Also in the pot... sausage, spinach, onions, garlic, celery, peppers, tomatoes! Seriously yummy! Even better with good wine! For a brief moment, we were fireside in Tuscany, sipping our wine and sopping up the warm garlicky juices with this...


Good bread! Thank God for garlic bread. Mmmmmmmmmmm...

So, my lesson was just to do the best I can. It's possible to cook delicious food for my family, even if I have to attempt to chop vegetables with Dean on my hip, while simultaneously listing dinosaur characteristics. And if I can't do it, it's ok... there's always takeout!