Wednesday, April 22, 2009

EASY MEALS

My daughters eye rolls give me headaches.

Ya see, we started a new thing at our house this year. Every week or so we try a new recipe and decide whether or not it is worthy enough to be added to our meal list.

We have different tastes, so sometimes this isn't easy.

Some of the criteria are mine, some are hers.

Mine:
1). No peppers. I detest red, green, yellow and hot peppers and don't know why people have to add them to EVERYTHING!
2). It must be easy. I have this rule in my house. If it can't be started and in my mouth within 30 minutes then it doesn't get cooked during the week. I leave these meals for Sunday. It isn't because I'm lazy (well, maybe a little because). But come on, I'm a single mom who works two jobs to pay the bills. I'm exhausted by the time I get home and really don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

Hers:
1). No chunky tomatos, no peppers, no onions, no weird "fishy" things, no BBQ

She has lots and lots of NO's

I love to cook though. I mean I LUUUUUUUVVVV to cook. When I was like 8 or 9 I would bake cakes for my family and try and make my own frosting with water and lots and lots of powdered sugar (I don't recommend trying this). My parents, bless their hearts, put up with it when they didn't have two nickles to rub together. Somehow I never remember there not being cake mixes and cookie ingredients hanging around.

I think they put up with it because I made good cookies.

I still do!

But lets not talk about that, because cookies are my downfall....diet-wise.

Back to the cooking!

*sigh*

We have tried lots and lots of recipes. Some from my "critter friends". My favorite was a pulled pork that was made in my Christmas present... I bright shiny crockpot. Some we found off of the recipe zarr website. The bourbon chicken one was to die for. Others have been from family, friends and peeps at church. http://www.recipezaar.com/

Lately almost all have been from the Pioneer Woman. Her name is Ree, she is weird like me, and she loves to cook.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Sometimes my daughter even helps with this.

I say sometimes because she thinks she needs time to play outside with friends.

Playing outside is soooooo overrated.

So a miracle happened last week. My daughter saw the recipe of the week sitting on the kitchen island. It was BBQ (which my daughter hates) Meatballs (which my daughter would elope with if I let her). She groaned, rolled her eyes and then noticed where the recipe was printed from.

The Pioneer Woman.

My daughter paused, if I listened close enough I probably could have heard the thinking going on in there. Here is what it said:
"blech, my mom is going to do BBQ, but geez, look at that picture of those beautiful meatballs. Ick, BBQ, but geez, the last recipe from this Pioneer woman was yummy yummy."

And then she said. Those look good mom, but is it real BBQ sauce?

I almost rolled my eyes... but remember... headaches!

The miracle is that she helped cook them with me. My daughter who won't touch anything that remotely resembles BBQ sauce actually MADE the sauce for these meatballs.

And she loved it. As did I.

But more than loving the BBQ meatballs, I loved making them with my daughter. Over the past few months she has slowly joined me in the kitchen to make these new meals.

We have had a blast doing it too.


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