Dinner time

I am not a good cook, not only do I not enjoy cooking but I also do not really enjoy eating. I mean I love to snack on stuff but I do not plan my day around what I am going to cook for dinner that night. I am more than happy with a bowl of cereal or even better skipping dinner all together and having a bowl of chocolate chip mint ice cream!! However, my husband really enjoys a nice sit down meal and I know I will soon have to start preparing healthy meals more regularly as Colt gets older. I have really tried this past week to cook more, I like trying out new recipes but I also like them when they are fast so I do not have to spend my entire evening cooking and cleaning up dinner. I made homemade chicken noodle soup (very healthy and yummy) and last night I made chicken enchiladas (not as healthy but I modify a lot of my ingredients so they are not super bad for you). Dave gave me two thumbs up for both meals and they were also something that I feel like I could continue to cook for Colt as he gets older. My sister Amy gave me the cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield for Christmas this year. The book has all of kids’ favorite recipes in it with a twist, she puts some type of fruit or veggie in every one of her recipes. For example I made baked macaroni and cheese and put sweet potatoes in it! It turned out quite good and you could not even taste the veggies. I want to try them out on us before I have to start making them for Colt. This past weekend my friend Courtney made a delicious chicken and cilantro tortilla dish that was wonderful and very simple to make I have already added it to my recipe book. If any of you have any easy, yummy and healthy recipe that you enjoy making I would love to hear about it. Please email me at carepemberton@hotmail.com. I am hoping that by trying different things I will start to enjoy cooking a little bit more and enjoy making healthy dishes for my family. I have been so determined that Colt eats all his veggies that I will not even give him any fruit unless he has finished the entire container. I do not think he cares either way but I do not want him to be a picky eater. I got some really good advice from the youth pastors wife at our old church in Tri-Cities when I was pregnant with Colt. She said make your kids eat everything you eat and if they do not like it they can go to bed hungry. She said with her first she catered to his needs and she got so fed up with making different meals every night for him and then her husband. She has three boys now and they will eat ANYTHING! Obviously everyone feels differently but for me this was one of the pieces of advice that I am going to try and listen to. I will let you know how it goes as Colt gets older and can actually protest to the rule. All right I am off to make dinner right now, I think tonight it’s going to be chicken with stir fry. I wonder how Colt will feel about that someday, I can remember HATING stir fry growing up and my dad would make it and my little sister and I would always try to sneak food to our rooms that night because we were so hungry from not getting dinner. AHH the good ole’ days (remember that Marni?)