A Bittersweet Existence » food/feeding

Shortcut Cooking

Dawana — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:31:05 +0000

So at some point last year, I told y’all about the things that I have to have in my pantry. I’d like to add an addendum to that post and go further and talk about the things that I have added to my kitchen’s repertoire due to ease-of-use and how much time I am saved when cooking.

First of all, for Pea. She is a picky eater and her eating habits consist of:

Hot Dogs
Chicken Nuggets
Fish Sticks
Pizza
Macaroni & Cheese
Corn
Broccoli
and French Fries

if she feels like it and not necessarily in that order. She will, on any given day, refuse to eat whatever it is that I’ve cooked. For that, I have perfected making Pea something to eat in about 15 minutes or less thanks to:

Fish sticks and chicken nuggets, frozen and ready to be thrown into the toaster oven for less than ten minutes are always on hand- always. I never run low. If they even look like they are running low, I restock. Also on hand for Pea- Easy Mac and turkey hot dogs.

Moving on.

I am all about shortcuts in the kitchen. I love to cook and I really love to eat, but I love sitting in my sweatpants in the evening watching tv with my family even more. Therefore, the less time that I have to spend cooking on the weekdays, the better. So, I shop with convenience in mind- what is going to take the least amount of time possible to cook?

When I need something to accompany my meats I may reach for one of the three items pictured above.

Suddenly Salad- I mean the name says it all. Suddenly… there’s salad! And Hallelujah for that.
Boil in a Bag rice- I love it more than my rice cooker. The rice cooker takes about 25 minutes. Boil in a Bag rice? Ten minutes. Easy choice.
Instant Mashed Potatoes- Do I even need to give a reason?

Individually wrapped chicken breast is the new next best thing. Am I going to pay maybe 1 or 2 dollars more to have that extra plastic? The answer is yes. That extra plastic, already wrapped around the chicken saves me slave labor after battling it out at Walmart for an hour. I no longer need to separate fresh meat, bag and freeze it. Cause some genius already did it for me. The grilled filets, I don’t eat, but my husband does. And on days that I don’t want to cook at all? I pop those bad boys in the microwave and bam! Dinner.

Judge all you want, but any and all froze and canned vegetables are welcome in my home. They are especially welcome on the days that I ~~make love to~~ use my slow cooker to produce dinner- I toss in my canned or frozen veggies along with other assorted items, cover and go to work.

More things that make my life easy. I love the McCormick seasoning packs. I just do. Especially the ones that you throw in a bag and then throw the bag into the oven. I also use these in the slow cooker to create magnificent concoctions. For example, the White Chicken Chili should be cooked on the stove top, but tomorrow I will put the white beans, diced tomatoes, corn (all from a can), chicken breasts and the McCormick seasoning in my slow cooker and watch the magic happen.

Did I mention my love for canned goods? I live in the canned goods aisle.

I love meatballs. I really do. More importantly, I love Fosters Farms turkey meatballs. No one else makes this deliciousness in a frozen bag. On weekends, I may make meatballs from scratch. During the week? These awesome meatballs can be thrown in a slow cookers, popped in the microwave, or put on the stove top in your favorite pasta sauce- they are pre-cooked, so they don’t take all that long to heat up. LOVE. THESE. When Costco started selling these in bulk, I think I wet my pants a little.

While I’d love to come home from work (usually after 5 or 6 pm), throw on my apron and throw down in the kitchen like Betty Crocker, it’s just not reasonable for me. If I want to hang out with Pea, the husband and watch tv and decompress and grade papers? I need to cut corners while still producing a delicious meal.

I’ll save my inner Paula Deen for summertime when school is out and I have more time on my hands.

What shortcuts do you use? I’m always looking for more.

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Pea, Pee, Panties, The Big Pepper et al.

Dawana — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:55:52 +0000

I went to The Big Pepper last night with Pea and two of my friends from work.

Oh, are you not familiar with The Big Pepper?

Image borrowed from Chilis Coupons

Pea likes to call this place “The Big Pepper”… never mind that I’ve told her countless times that it’s called Chili’s.

I love Chili’s and I always order the same thing when I go there- the Fajitas. I may stray every so often, but it’s rare that I do. I especially love their Chips and Salsa- but mostly the chips because they are so salty. My birthday is on Sunday and my sister was supposed to come visit, but she’s been deathly ill, so that trip was cancelled. What could make it better but stuffing my face with fajitas?

Anyway, it was a long week at work. My friends from work and I have found ourselves decompressing with a beverage and food on Friday’s. The husband had a long week, too, so he took a half day at work. I told him to go home and veg out and I’d take the Pea with me to Chili’s. No big deal.

When I picked Pea up from school yesterday they let me know that she had stayed in the same pair of panties all day long- no pee accidents. This, people, is an act of God. If your child wets their pants, their clothes are put in a plastic bag in their cubby. One day this week, I picked her up from school and there were five bags in her cubby- five. God bless her teachers, because I think after two or three I would’ve put a diaper on her. They, though, are very determined to get this kid potty trained and again, thank God for their diligence because I’ve thrown in the friggin towel with potty training. I figured she won’t be 25 in diapers, so I’m over it.

Whatever. Go on. Judge me.

I’ve already been judged by countless other moms:

“How old is she?” (2) “Oh, and she’s still in diapers?” (yup, we’re trying to potty train her, it’s just not going that well.) “Have you tried a timer?” (yes) “Have you tried sticker rewards?” (yes) “Have you tried snack rewards?” (yes) “Oh… well have you tried going cold turkey for three days straight with just panties- I hear that works like a charm.” (Yes and no it did not work) “Oh, well…” (yup. thanks)

Anyway, back to The Big Pepper. I was hesitant to take Pea to The Big Pepper in panties because I haven’t done that yet. I have barricaded my family to the house when she is in panties and if we leave the home, I don her in pull-ups or diapers and consistently ask her if she needs to pee- just in case we have an accident. But at The Big Pepper last night I chose not to put diapers on her because if she had gone 8 hours without peeing her pants, I didn’t want to go back on the progress made. So I put a diaper in my purse just in case, but went to The Big Pepper anyway, wearing panties.

I was a nervous wreck. Every five seconds I asked “Do you need to use the toilet?” “Do you need to pee?” and every ten seconds I said “Please don’t pee in your panties” to which she responded “No, we pee in the toilet!” My grown up conversation with my two non-married, childless friends consisted of intermissions of me saying “I really just don’t want her to pee her pants” and “I’m bribing her with ice cream before bed” and bless their early 20-something year old hearts, they played along telling Pea things like “Hey, do you want ice cream tonight? Then you’re gonna pee in the toilet right? Wow! Peeing in the toilet is sooo cool!”

She peed twice at The Big Pepper (thank you pee in the pants gods for forsaking me) and she behaved herself as well as she knew how. We escaped merely with her no longer wanting to sit in the high chair and entertaining my two friends with crazy laughing and throwing sugar packets. I can handle that.

One more pee at home, a frostee from Wendy’s as her treat and then bed time (to which we are still wearing diapers- baby steps, folks).

Today is another big girl panty day. We’ve started off semi-okay. She peed this morning, but now it’s 9:52 am and she hasn’t peed since. Talk about an uphill battle. I know she needs to pee, this kid pees like a race horse. Her teacher said she is one of the most stubborn children she’s ever tried to potty train. I believe it.

I’m lookin’ forward to a dry panties, pee in the toilet and eating my left overs from The Big Pepper for lunch kinda Saturday- cross your fingers.

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On How My Husband’s Inability to Make a Decision Makes Me Want to Take an Eye Out

Dawana — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:03:15 +0000

Am I being melodramatic? Maybe.

But this man cannot make a decision.

At all.

And it drives me FUCKING insane.

On nights when I don’t make dinner, this is how the conversation goes:

Him: “What do you want for dinner?”
(Clearly hungry)

Me: “It doesn’t really matter. What do you feel like?”

Him: “I don’t know. Tell me what you want.”

Me: (Getting pissed off) “Do you want Mexican?”

Him: “I don’t know”

Me: “What?!”…………

And this could go on and on.

Then he’ll say something like: Well, if you don’t tell me what you want me to pick up I’m just gonna come home.

And then I’ll just say “whatever” and we’ll have a night like tonight where we’re low on food and there’s truly nothing for dinner cause we need to hit the grocery store.

Thank God I keep my freezer stocked with Pea-friendly food and she requested fish sticks, mashed potatoes and applesauce.

I…. am contemplating ways to kill my husband.

Who can’t make a fucking decision like what they want for dinner? Who?

We’ve been having this argument for 6 years people.

Six. Years.

I? Could eat anything. Shit drive me through McDonald’s and I’ll find something to eat.

Him? He’s all “I’m so healthy, I’m so fit, I would rather not eat stuff like McDonald’s/Burger King, etc.”

That’s why I always ask him what he wants, because what I want will more than likely not be what he wants.

I have no idea how to cure this.

When I was a SAHM I kept a menu and I just made what I wanted because I feel like if you can’t tell me what you want to eat, then you have no say on what is eaten.

So that’s how I roll on nights that I cook. What I cook is what I cook- I don’t take fuckin requests. But on nights like tonight, when I don’t want to cook, I also don’t want to make any decisions. So why can’t he just say: I want ____ or just bring something home that he knows that I like without asking me what I want?

**Sigh**

Men.

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Bad Produce

Dawana — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:30:47 +0000

I really, really like shopping at WalMart.

First, it’s the cheapest grocery store in our town.

Second, it’s my one-stop shop. No longer do I need to go to the grocery store, then go to the pharmacy, then go ____ (fill in other store here).

I can buy milk and a new shower curtain liner. Cereal and ink for my printer. Bread and new pants for Pea to wear to school (because I will NOT pay more than $2 for pants she will wear to daycare and ruin!)

What I have a hard time buying at WalMart is fruit.

The oranges are in these ginormous boxes on the floor and a large majority of them are covered in mold.

The strawberries are in the cooler, but when you look in the boxes, most of the strawberries are moldy.

And this week, I wanted to buy Pea some blueberries?

Not even like some mold here or there… I think I see Chewbacca growing on the blueberries in both of those cases.

The same goes for the grapes and other produce.

I’ve told the produce manager- even brought bad fruit to them and I get an “oh, thanks, I’ll go look over there”… How can you MISS IT?!? There is hair growing on the fruit!!! It’s insane. And I know… it’s Walmart and they are packing the fruit like this is Costco or Sam’s Club so what is to be expected but rotten fruit, but still. It pisses me off because you should give a shit about your customers and your fruit aisle… at least care enough to get rid of the bad fruit. Who is this helping? Because do you really think anyone will buy it?!

I’m going to start taking a picture every time I see bad fruit at WalMart.

Just for fun…

Let’s see how many photos I get.

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Secret Mommy-hood Confessions: I Don’t Wanna

Dawana — Sun, 01 May 2011 00:38:22 +0000

My “I’ve never met her in real life, but if I did people better watch out cause we’re way too compatible” friend Katie always does Secret Mommy-hood Confessions on Saturdays and I’m feelin’ like confessing today too. Secret Mommy-hood Confessions is from Kim’s great blog and so here is my confession of the week.

Don’t.

Want.

To Cook.

Never ever any more.

And? If I hit the lotto, one of the first things that I would do is either hire a chef or subscribe to some kind of food service.

Now, I love cooking. I really do. Remember when I was blogging as a stay-at-home mom and I would always post recipes and photos of all of my cuisine masterpieces.

But now? I’m teaching full-time, 22 6 & 7 year-olds and I am out of the house from around 6:45 a.m. to about 5:30ish p.m. I pick up my two-year old, make dinner, grade homework or tests or go over lesson plans and work my second job (writing articles for people for money) and omg I’m exhausted.

So, yes, I love to cook, but right now? The reality is, I’m too tired to cook.

And that’s where the Mommy Guilt kicks in.

I feel bad that I don’t want to cook.

Isn’t that what Mommies and Wives do? They cook for their families?

Sure, my husband can cook. But his hours are wonky (yes, I said wonky) and we never know if he’s coming home at 7 pm or 11 pm.

I feel bad that I want to go through the Jimmy John’s drive-thru or hit up Panera Bread for their “you pick two” or GOD FORBID go to McDonald’s for a carb-infused meal.

Mmmmmmmmm

So that’s my secret Mommy confession. I don’t want to cook anymore.

I’m done cooking… but not really cause I know I have to.

But it really sucks and I wish I felt good or okay ordering out more often than not.

Have a secret mommy-hood confession? Blog it and then link it up here.

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#MacJinx

Dawana — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:31:03 +0000

There I was, minding my own business on Twitter, bragging to my friend Erin about the fact that I was making baked macaroni & cheese that day when:

…and Voila!

Hell Yeah free Mac & Cheese.

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Wordless Wednesday: Mmmm Nom Nom

Dawana — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:02:48 +0000

Not only was my child reading People magazine at her Great-Grandma’s house, but notice how she stops to marinate at the Wendy’s ad and look at each food item and comment.

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Beer-Basted Chicken with Asian Flavors

Dawana — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:07:58 +0000

I had an entire chicken that needed to be cooked and I didn’t want to just throw it in the oven- as usual. So I took to the internet for a recipe that looked yummy. I found this one and thought I’d share. It actually came out pretty good and tasted great.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken
1 12-ounce can beer
6 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in heavy large resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate 1 hour and up to 1 day, turning bag occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chicken and marinade in 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Roast chicken until juices run clear when thigh is pierced, basting occasionally, about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter. Pour pan juices into medium saucepan; spoon off fat and discard. Boil until sauce is reduced to 1 cup, about 6 minutes. Serve chicken with sauce.

Click here to see this recipe and others!

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Feed The Children

Dawana — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:38:35 +0000

…Err feed the child.

My kid looks like she belongs in a damn feed the children commercial- skinny as hell and her damn ribs are always showing when she stretches.

She’s growing up, but not gaining much weight, though her doctor doesn’t seem to be concerned.

And now that she is exercising her right to say “No” as she pleases, she is letting me know what she wants to eat. Our mornings usually go like this:

Me: “Do you want oatmeal?”
C: (Waving her hands at me) No. No.

Me: “Okay… do you want waffles?”
C: (Waving her hands at me) No.

Me: “Okay. Momma’s gonna make you turkey sausage and eggs”

I make said breakfast and it usually ends up decorating the floor in our kitchen.

What is the deal? Is this some kind of phase? Cause it’s annoying.

This kid does not eat.

At least not from me… Don’t let Daddy come in and try to feed her. She’ll eat it. Maybe not all, but at least her Daddy can get her to eat some.

I’m okay with her starting to become a Daddy’s girl, but DADDY is not here during the day, so little Missy needs to eat something when Mommy is here!

Here’s what she will eat/drink:

Goldfish
Unsalted Crackers
Stonyfield Organic Yogurt
Bread (Pronounced”bed”)
Milk (Pronounced “maak”)
Juice- which I try to only give her once a day, but damn if she isn’t ever-so bossy! (“Dooce, dooce”)
Water (Pronounced “ba-oo”)
Strawberries
Cheese
Oh and Jenny-O Turkey Dogs- you can NOT loose with these. When all else fails, give this child 1/2 a hot dog.

And just because she eats these things doesn’t mean that she wants them on any given day or that she will eat one favorite food in conjunction with another.

I’m at a loss here, cause she has staged a coup against any other food. No chicken, no rice, no potatoes, nothin’.

Do you just let your toddler eat whatever they want, just for the sake of getting them to eat something?

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Wordless Wednesday: I’m Makin’ The Cake

Dawana — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:08 +0000

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