Mommy Confessions: Dinner Time & Landscaping

#38 I miss cooking dinner in peace. Most nights I try to start cooking dinner as early as possible. But somehow I still end up with Sprout standing at the baby gate by the kitchen whining and whining and whining. If I toss him a few snacks he'll usually quiet down...temporarily. But if he eats snacks, he won't eat dinner. I long for that chapter in my life where I'll be able to, once again, become completely absorbed in cooking without interruption. When might that be, do you think? When they're in school? High school? When they move out?

#39 We have some major renovation going on at our house right now. Most mornings we can find two to three contractors making noise in our front yard. At first I was dreading the hammering and sawing that would accompany my morning coffee. But do you have any idea how long two little boys will sit still when they can look out the window and watch contractors working with power tools?! It's like their own personal Bob the Builder right in their own front yard! Go watch the construction, boys...Mommy is going to enjoy her cup of coffee!

Library Picks: Cooking with Kids

The Toddler Cookbook by Annabel Karmel
Last week our library was featuring several new books and Peanut quickly grabbed all the cookbooks he could find. For years I have looked for a great "cooking with kids" cookbook and this is my favorite so far. The recipes aren't the most creative or interesting, but it got Peanut wanting to make some pretty healthy recipes. The pictures in the book are really well done and even made salad look appealing to my picky eater. Peanut specifically requested the lettuce boats, salmon fishcakes and tropical ice pops (see tomorrow's Dish of the Week post). They were simple to put together and tasty! Peanut loves to help in the kitchen and these recipes seemed to have the perfect amount of tasks for him. I think I may end up purchasing this one for our cookbook library.

Keep on Rollin' Meatballs: and Other Delicious Dinners by Nick Fauchald
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I love that they break the recipes up into skill categories, Easy, Intermediate and Advanced. Plus the recipes are very simple and the illustrations are helpful for really young cooks. On the other hand, I don't like that many of the recipes involve sticking stuff in the microwave rather than cooking on the stove. Part of what I like about cooking with my son is showing him how things melt, mix, steam, etc. But overall it's a decent cookbook for kids and has some fun ideas. Peanut and I made the Crazy Shapes Pizza and both boys enjoyed eating their heart-shaped pizzas.

Enjoy more Library Picks!