Despite the day’s trials, it was a good day and I have something to be proud of.
I love watching Food Network. I could watch cooking demonstrations all day. Give me all the tips and tricks you have, because the kitchen is quite honestly my favorite place to be. I love the image that Giada gives of cooking in the kitchen with her sweet little girl; and then her daughter sits so perfectly at the table and eats everything. And I do mean everything. And they laugh and feed each other, and there is no mess, and there are so many sweet mommy daughter moments. Well Giada you have filled my head with unrealistic expectations and false hopes! Mealtime is not like that, not one bit.
Let me just walk you through the meal prep and dinner time from tonight.
Today our ward was moved to the dreaded 1 pm time slot (oh how I hate this time). Which of course is throwing off our entire routine. No naps, meals are all messed up and we come home at dinner time. I immediately started dinner after walking in the door (because I didn't plan ahead and get dinner in the crockpot or instant pot, which, by the way, we tried an AH-MAZING new recipe, I’ll post below).
Now let me set the scene for you. #LivyLu is very clingy, wants to be involved in everything. #OBoy is sleeping (blessings from heaven!). #ClaraBelle is going through some weird bug/reaction to medicine. I won’t go into the juicy (and I do mean juicy) stinky details; and to just add to her misery, she didn’t get a nap, which makes for the perfect combination for one C R A N K Y babe.
#LivyLu, as sweet as her intentions were, was getting into everything while I was making dinner. She wanted to help stir the filling mixture, ended up flinging half of it all over the island (scoop that back in the pan and no one will notice). She wanted to help whisk the eggs, with her unwashed hands (I don't even want to know all the things she touched in nursery today). She wanted to help chop the spinach, and reached her fingers under my knife several times, and then took a handful of un-chopped spinach and dumped it in the raw eggs. As Adam grated the cheese she kept taking handfuls and then tried to lick the grater. And lets just be ignorant of the time she sneezed without covering, right over my casserole (It all gets cooked out in the oven…… right?).
Now let me quickly go over how dinner rolls (see what I did there) in our home. Everyone sits around our tiny island and we all sit there till everyone is done eating (because dinner time is family time). Whether you eat or not, you have to sit there. I do make sure there is at least one thing on the plate that each of my kids will eat, like a slice of cheese, strawberries, peaches, toast, etc. If kids don't want the dinner I have made then they can have as many carrots as they want, but no ranch.
So we sit down, and as per usual, #LivyLu went straight for the toast and refused to even touch anything else on her plate. Adam and I have recently made the rule that she needs to eat at least one bite from the main course, or sit at the island till bedtime. Well tonight #LivyLu decided to test that rule. When everyone was finished with dinner she had yet to even touch her casserole. I cleared the table, except for her plate and a carrot stick (we did also give her the option of peaches tonight). I fed #OBoy, and #ClaraBelle ran around playing (more or less, poor babe). Adam sat by #LivyLu trying to convince her to eat (seriously why do we have to convince, beg and barter with our daughter to eat and Giada can just dish up a plate and her daughter will clean it every time?). I then gave #ClaraBelle a bath because bath time is her absolute favorite. Still not a bite. I then proceeded to clean the entire apartment. The shoes that were dumped out, the toys that were stacked up in the closet and not in the baskets where they are suppose to be, did the dishes, I swept, vacuumed and got beds ready for bed. By the end of this it was bedtime and #LivyLu had sat at the island (along with Adam, thanks babe, I owe you one) for nearly 2 HOURS! (seriously how did that sound better than just one small bite of dinner?) So off to bed she went, crying and very unhappy. I was sad she didn’t eat what I made her, but nonetheless we stuck to our rules.
Being a mom is full of gathering inspiration and ideas from other moms, to sort through and find what works best for your family. Often times though as a mother, at least for me, we see what other moms are doing (Giada) and get down on ourselves. I am the worst at this! I see instagram pictures of cute kids doing cute things and the sweetest little captions. I read blogs about fun things moms do and perfect afternoons with their kiddos. I watch episodes of Giada at Home and envy her perfect little eater.
In reality, most moms probably took a million pictures just to get one perfect shot than only captioned the good (guilty!) Moms don't want to reflect on all the hard stuff so they write blog and facebook posts to remember the good moments. And Giada, well I don't know what you did to your child. Maybe she has to bribe her to pretend to be a good eater. My life doesn't match up with any of the unrealistic expectations that are out there (and that I put on myself), and it is hard. So dang hard, every single day. But today I ended my day knowing that I set a rule and I kept to it. I didn't bend (not even to her cute “pweeeese”). At first glance I feel as though I failed, but in reality I didn’t. I succeeded! Today I was a good mom because I didn't let my almost 3-year-old walk all over me with her tantrums. Today things didn't go how I would have hoped, but I still have things to be proud of.
Turkey & Egg Casserole
(taken from http://www.aimeemars.com/turkey-egg-breakfast-casserole/ with a few of my own additions)
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon Coconut Oil + more for coating the pan
1 lb Ground Turkey
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
12 Large Eggs
1 small Sweet Potato (peeled and sliced thin)
1 cup Baby Spinach
Salt & Pepper for Seasoning
Additional Toppings: Tomatoes (Diced Onions, and Asparagus)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9 baking dish with Coconut Oil as well as heat the 1 tablespoon in a medium sized skillet set to medium-high heat. Once the oil has melted add in the Ground Turkeyand season with the Chili Powder, and Salt and Pepper. Continue to cook the meat until it begins to brown.
While the turkey is cooking peel and slice your Sweet Potato. Make sure your slices are fairly thin because if they’re too thick they won’t be as tender. Line the bottom of the greased baking dish with the sliced potatoes. In a medium bowl beat the Eggs with a whisk and season with salt and pepper.
Top the potatoes with the turkey and then pour the eggs on top. Layer the Spinach on top of the eggs as well as any additional toppings you’d like to add.
Place the dish in the oven and cook for 35 to 40 minutes or until the edges of the egg begin to brown and the casserole is firm throughout. Check the dish with about 5 minutes to go to see if you need to add any time.
I did add mushrooms (because they are the BOMB!), and mozzarella cheese. I also seasoned with paprika (because I didn't have chili powder), a little garlic powder, and some fresh thyme leaves ( I have a bunch leftover from another recipe). Seriously such a easy and YUM meal!
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