Day 5: Adventures in Dinner

Day 4 got hijacked by the fact that I was the only one home for dinner. So I got in my pajamas and made pancakes, which was not on the plan, but were nonetheless quite yummy.

Day 5 (Monday) thus got Sunday's brunch planned meal: Pepper Jack Brunch Braid. Except that I didn't think I could get away with pepper jack cheese so my version was Cheddar Brunch Braid. Served with cantaloupe and smoked sausage.

I feel like a repeating record on this, but it was delicious, extremely easy and was ready to eat in less than half an hour. Really.

I cannot begin to say how much this new way of doing food is helping me. My house is not the usual barely on the edge of not a complete disaster -- I can usually see the kitchen counter now at any given hour. There are vacuum marks in the carpet. (I can SEE the carpet.) Laundry is getting done. The bathrooms got cleaned. The sheets got changed.

I feel like I might be making a success of this housewife at-home-mom business.

(Okay, I admit...I did not clean the bathrooms. Ross gets credit for that.)

Sometimes a single thing helps way beyond the expected and obvious.

Day 3: Adventures in Dinner

Day 2 was really delicious -- slow cooked chicken with rice and green beans. But chicken that has been in a slow cooker for 8 hours is not very photogenic. All that yummy spiced meat was falling off the bone.

So we have a slightly prettier Day 3 offering, which is Taco Bean Salad. I cheated a bit, and got pico de gallo (not called for in the recipe) from the Mexican restaurant down the street.

This is the first time I've ever put kidney beans in with my taco meat, and honestly was a little hesitant about it. I don't love beans. But it was delicious! And that wasn't just my opinion -- Rayne ate all the meat and beans on her plate, but nothing else.

This picture is of Christian's second full plate. He complained that I was taking too long to get the camera...he wanted to dig right in.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's planned meal. It's gonna be pretty. And very photogenic.