Reality Check

That was an awesome menu plan…but then reality intervened J Here’s how things are going with dinners at Casa Rodriguez this week:

Tempeh: I absolutely loved it! I really like the texture of tempeh and always have, but apparently my husband and kiddos really don’t. After trying the tempeh, Alice requested a hardboiled egg. Shrug.  I actually made this recipe with 2 packs of tempeh rather than one. I ended up eating pretty much the entire pan J I should also mention that the marinade was super easy to make. In fact, I basically just directed Alice in making it, since I had a flailing Ethan in the Ergo (it was just that kind of afternoon) and couldn’t really measure/pour/whisk. But Alice could! Thank goodness for almost four year olds.

Not actually her making the tempeh, obviously. But she does love to cook!

 

 

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken: AMAZING. Seriously, you should make it right now. I doubled the amount of red curry paste, and it was still not very spicy (which I will fix next time). The kids had dinner at play school that night, so Sergio and I had it after they went to sleep. We both had seconds. Also, the Jasmine rice makes a big difference. We had our first servings with it, but then ran out and had the second servings with brown rice. The Jasmine was certainly better. I am very glad we have leftovers of the curry; it’s one of my new favorites.

 

Black bean burgers: never got to make them. I tried on Wednesday, I really did. But on that day I also had a friend who needed someone to talk to, so we made cookies and just hung out for a bit. Just after that, another friend asked me to watch her daughter while she got some home repairs done. When that was done, Alice, Ethan and I were totally exhausted. I made the quinoa, no problem. As it was cooking and I played with both my kids and our little friend, I felt like the kind of mom who has it all together. But then, I called the husband and he was working late. I fed the dogs and started the beans as Alice and Ethan got restless in the living room. It was at that point I knew it wasn’t going to happen. As predicted, the beans took forever to cook (I was using dry beans that had been soaked overnight). By the time they were done, I put some quinoa and beans in a bowl and put some cheddar cheese and carrots on the side and fed the kids. Done. Bath time, bed time, and then as I came back downstairs to clean up, husband was just coming in the door. Poor guy looked just as exhausted as I felt, so he made tuna while I went back up to nurse Ethan (who woke up twice within an hour of going to bed…what is that about!?).

I’m just skipping the damn burgers because at this point they feel a little cursed and there is NO WAY I can bring them to fruition while caring for two little ones at this time of day. The pasta with broccoli and sausage is about a million times more do-able because I don’t have to be physically in the kitchen for most of it.

So that’s a glimpse into my week…how’s yours?