Tips for Cooking Dinner with Little Ones

Late Afternoon- often the most difficult time of the day with little kids. Everyone starts getting tired and hungry and grouchy. For very little ones, they may just cry for an hour or two in the evening- with no explanation.

And right in the middle of all that fun- you as a mom are suppose to put an amazing, delicious, healthy meal on the table. Easy right?!?!?!

Wrong!! The last thing you want to do after watching kids all day, doing laundry, cleaning the house, running errands, etc is cook dinner. And then of course the best part- cleaning up the kitchen afterwards!

There have been many nights where I am running around the kitchen trying to get dinner on the table. Both kids will be crying, I'll be wanting to pull my hair out, something will be burning on the stove or not cooking quickly enough. Those are the days when you want to give up, or call you husband to bring something home after work. 

So, how do you do it? Here are a few steps that might help make dinner:

1)  Plan meals that are doable. Look a recipes before you begin and plan. If there are things you can do ahead of time, like chop up vegetables or cook part of it, do it during nap time. Many casseroles you can put together then put in the fridge until you are ready to bake. I've tried it with chicken spaghetti, and it worked fine. You can also do mashed potatoes early and then just warm them before dinner. A 6 step complicated recipe may result in calling your husband to pick up dinner on his way home :)

2) Put little ones in a high chair while cooking. The last thing you want to do is to have a little one get close to the oven or trip you while you are moving around the kitchen. Giving them snacks, a toy, or sippy cup to keep them busy makes cooking so much easier for mommy. 

3) For kids not sitting in a high hair anymore, let them watch a favorite show or play outside. If cooking something that is going to require some attention- don't be afraid to just let them watch something for 20 minutes.

4) If you can't make a baby happy (because that time of day can be impossible), put them in their crib. They can cry a little- it won't hurt them. Sometimes you need to serve your husband by cooking dinner. Both of my kids have gone through stages where it didn't matter what I did, they just cried during the evenings. Sometimes I just let them cry while I'm cooking, which isn't fun for either of us. But sometimes I just put them in their crib. They might take a little nap or just play, but other times they will continue to cry. But I am able to get dinner on the table and not feel crazy when my husband gets home.

5) Every meal can't be perfect. Sometimes recipes don't work. Or you don't get started on dinner early enough to finish. Or something burns. It happens. Don't let it get you down!

For the first few months after my second child was born, I didn't cook much at all. I was holding a newborn most of the time and trying to play with my almost two year old. I just didn't have enough hands to get it done. Now I am about to have 3 under 3. I'm hoping to get my freezer stocked with meals and things that will be easy to cook, because we know it can only be harder with three than two!

I hope this helps you as you try to take care of your family. Remember, if you are making an effort to cook at all- you are doing a great job! :) If you have other tips, please leave a comment! I'm still trying to find my way through cooking with little ones too!

Remember to enter the GIVEAWAY! Only a few days left :)

Adventures in the Kitchen- Homemade Pasta

Josh and I have talked many times about making homemade pasta. I was looking through one of my cookbooks this weekend and read the recipe. It didn't sound too difficult, so I decided to give it a try. 

I'm not going to put all the detail of the recipe here, just mostly pictures and what I did. 

First, flour and eggs. You make a hole for the eggs:

As I tried to mix, the eggs began getting away from the flour! I was quickly building a new wall!

I mixed and mixed. 

You form a ball and let it sit, then some smaller balls of dough and let them sit. 

Then its time to roll (I did mine with a rolling pin, I don't have a pasta roller- wish I did!)

I cut them with a pizza cutter, then hung them over a contraption I found in the pantry.

After they got dry, I put some in the freezer and some in the fridge for dinner. 

I made asparagus with tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil for Josh.

And I made some alfredo sauce for me (with some of the tomatoes too)

It tasted good. The pasta was like linguini, a little thicker since I didn't have a pasta roller. 

Another adventure in the kitchen accomplished! I may start a series sharing the things I try!

Cooking

One of my favorite things to do is to cook for Josh. I am always trying to come up with new things to make for variety and new flavors. It seemed right after we got married that everything we ate had green chilies in it, so over the last few months we have tried to expand our tastes. Working only a couple of days a week has given me time to cook more and try new things. Josh does not like to eat sandwiches everyday for lunch, so I try to cook things he will enjoy as leftovers or make soups. One soup that we have really enjoyed is French Onion. Here is a link to the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/french-onion-soup-recipe2/index.html

There are a few changes I made to it. I never have fresh thyme so I always just use dried. I have never put a bay leaf in it either. I don't buy Gruyere either because it is so expensive and unavailable in Muleshoe. :) It is very rich and so good. It is probably in my top 5 favorite soups. It is also good the next day as well.

I always enjoy reading my friends' blogs, so I am going to start keeping up with this better. I try new foods all the time too and will enjoy sharing them.