Random Dinner Related Stuff

My older children are, how do I say this tactfully, lazy bums unaccustomed to work. This is through no fault of their own as in the past we have required very little of them. Perform well in school. Use your manners. Maybe take out the trash or unload the dishwasher when I ask. In theory, I am a huge proponent of children helping out around the house. In practice, however, I have done poorly at making this happen. Being a stay at home mom, I have just naturally fallen into the roll of doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. Because honestly, it's easier than dealing with the kids attitudes, or spending the time to teach them how to do it correctly. This is lazy parenting on my part and it has, predictably, produced lazy kids. I want to reiterate though, that this is our fault, not theirs. It is a rare child that will rise above the level of what is expected of them. Something I would do well to remember when I slip into martyr mode and start complaining about having to do everything myself.

Yesterday, I started implementing my plans to be more of a "yes" mom this summer. We played in the sprinkler. We played Zingo half a dozen times. Today we went to a dollar movie. We are having Ice Cream cones after dinner. Tomorrow we are going Strawberry Picking. It has quickly become apparent to me that I cannot be "the fun mom" and "the mom who does it all." Something has got to give. And that something is going to be some of Brandon and Allison's leisure time. To start off with, I have decided I am not cleaning up dinner dishes any more this summer. I cook dinner 5 days a week and Brandon and Allison are going to alternate cleaning the kitchen afterwards. As one would predict, this has gone over like a ton of bricks.

But I am standing strong and as I am typing this Brandon is cleaning the kitchen. I suspect I will have to go in and show him what he missed. And I know that tomorrow, when it is Allison's turn, it will be worse. Probably involving tears. But it's a battle I would not be fighting right now if I had not waited until they were nearly 12 and 16 to start making them carry their weight. Learn from me my friends and start early. It won't get easier when they are older.

On a lighter note, I cooked two new recipes this week and they were both super yummy. They were also both from allrecipes.com. The discovery of this site has improved my cooking exponentially and mark my words there was lots of room for improvement. I am still far from gourmet though, and still generally have to cook with a toddler attached to my legs so all my recipes are simple.

Yesterday I made Chicken with Asparagus and Roasted Red Peppers. The picture on the website is really quite awful but in actuality the dish came out very colorful and pretty. It's also lite and uses fresh veggies. The only changes I made the online recipe was to throw in some fresh basil and to add a bit more chicken broth than it called for. I served it with Roasted Potatoes.

Today, I made Baked Tilapia with Dill Sauce. We have tilapia every week because I can buy it inexpensively in bulk from the big box store and freeze it in smaller portions. The only changes I made in this recipe was to use light sour cream and light mayo instead of the full fat stuff. I served the sauce on the side, but don't skip the sauce! It's the best part. My kids devoured it. I served this with Sesame Green Beans and Rice. Yum.

Oh, and now my kitchen is clean so we are off to have ice cream cones. Somebody pinch me.