String cheese saves the day!

So, yesterday we came home, from what I would call a great day.  We were all so happy and relaxed that we were actually having fun together.  It was what we all needed after our unscheduled weekend of continuing sadnesses.

At 5:30, I took Avery to dance and then hurried with Aspen to Nordstroms (a place I never shop) for a few items I could wear for work.  Found fabulous stuff there....why don't I shop there?  Oh, right....Money!!  HAHAHA.....

Anyway, picked up Avery from dance, ran to Target (pronounced Tar-jay) and picked up the school items we needed and got home.  I looked at the clock and realized it's 30 minutes to bedtime and I haven't even made dinner yet.  Where did the day go???

I look in the fridge and, you guessed it....NUTHIN! (intentionally spelled wrong).  This is actually good news, as I told my husband we need to start clearing out the food in the fridge and quit buying stuff for a while as we keep throwing away good stuff that went bad!  (am I the only one???)

Anyway, I am so thankful for Trader Joes (no this is not an advertisement).  In my freezer, I had cooked grilled chicken, pasta noodles (yes, the freezer) and marinara sauce.  Perfect.   I'll sprinkle it with cheese and bake it and I'm sure it will be fine.

Now, as a mom, you have to hide your cooking from your kids sometimes so they won't put their two cents in and complain about what they are being served.  I try to do this when I am making something I'm not sure they will love, and when my kids come in and ask "What are we having for dinner", I smile and tell them that we are having my specialty called "Shut up and Eat it", and then I hurry them out of the kitchen so they don't see my concoction.  (I hate when they complain while I'm doing the best I can.)
So, when Avery came downstairs and saw what I was making, before I had a chance to scoot her out, I was shocked at what she said.   "Wow, that looks delicious!"   Aside from the fact that I didn't know she knew that word, I had to laugh, because as she walked in, I was taking the only cheese I could find (string cheese) and cutting it onto the top of my pasta. 

They constantly surprise me, these kids!  You can never anticipate their reaction. 

I was delighted to hear that and I told her it was music to my ears and kissed her with a wet sloppy kiss. 

After cutting up three and a half string cheeses (would have been 4 minus little hands), I baked my pasta and served it to a delighted crowd.    I couldn't help but feel a little shocked, because no one complained and they even asked for seconds.

It is so hard to not anticipate things.  When you are in it every day, you almost depend on it.  But I'm reminded constantly that we should throw caution to the wind sometimes and try new things.  Get out of the box and have fun.  We are such creatures of habit and we strive to be automatic that it literally gets in our way of being creative. 

So, now that I have added a new dish to our family menu, I will be thinking of other ways to have fun and get out of the mommy rut with my kids. 

It's possible that our day out had everything to do with their pleased palettes.  I don't know.  But I felt a sense of relief when at the end of the day, I feel like I effortlessly hit the mark....at least once!!! 

Happy Tuesday!