Monday and Tuesday

Meatless Monday was a tasty veggie chili, I chopped an onion into a rather large dice, plus 3 carrots plus sauteed them in a little olive oil. I added 2 Tb of chili powder and some minced garlic and let that get fragrant and lovely. I opened a can of chopped tomatoes with green pepper added. Then I added 2 cups of freshly cooked red beans and 1 Cup of broth from the beans and and stirred it all together and let it simmer and reduce a bit. When it cooled off I had about a quart of chili to put in the fridge for Monday. When reheating it the next day you can add a cup or two of frozen corn niblets if you like.

Tasty Tuesday we made what I called Bacon and Egg Spaghetti for the kids, AKA Spaghetti Carbonara. You'll need fresh grated parmesan, raw eggs (one per person at least), some chopped and fried bacon, salt and pepper. I made some whole wheat angel hair and when it was done I drained it through a strainer I had positioned over a stainless steel mixing bowl. I let the boiling water heat up the bowl and then dumped it out. I tossed the pasta with fried bacon pieces, 2 TB of bacon fat, grated fresh parmesan cheese and 4 raw eggs. I stirred and tossed it all together till all the ingredients made a sort of sauce. Who knew carbonara was that easy? Anyhow take a taste of it and check and see if you need salt and pepper.

I have no idea what I am making for dinner tomorrow. Weird Wednesday... I am just not feeling very weird. Which is in itself sort of weird for me.

Wednesday: All the single parents, put ya hands up!

So I got a migraine. A nauseating, head splitting, bright light blinding migraine last night. When my husband came home from work he took one look at me and started making dinner. It was some sort of pot roast. I'd tell you more but I spent that time whimpering under the covers and chewing Tums. I didn't even eat later, just drank some more water and went to bed.

So this brings me to my real point. Do you know any single parents? Are you single parent? By nature of your partner's work schedule do you ever find yourself a part-time single parent?

If you know a single parent offer to make them dinner sometime. If you are making a meatloaf for yourself, it isn't that much trouble to double the recipe and make one for them too. Same with pasta sauce or casseroles, double it up and bring it over. Single parents never get a "night off" and lack the built in support that comes with another live-in parent.

If you are a single parent or part time single parent, I would LOVE to hear from you about your strategies for making dinner run smoothly! I rely on pawning my kids off on my husband while I finish dinner, what is your technique?

When I was a WAHM (work away from home) Mom I did have a few tricks. We ate a lot of stir-fry and fajitas, thinly sliced meats and vegetables cook very quickly. Plus I could find already washed and sliced veggies in the freezer section a lot of the time. A boil in bag side of 5 minute rice and we were good to go for dinner. When frozen pizzas went on sale, we loaded up our garage freezer; we called them Emergency Backup Pizza. We could cook one of those faster than you could call for delivery and with a bag of pre-washed salad on the side it was a fast and not nutritionally unsound dinner. Yesterday I spoke of the wonders of a grocery store rotisserie chicken, a great dinner starter for any busy parent, in fact you can even drive through KFC now and get a bucket of grilled chicken for an even faster dinner. Spaghetti and sauce, can of soup and sandwiches, eggs toast and bacon, can all be very fast meals on a busy night.

So if you have a loving partner and co-parent, give them a hug tonight, because as hard as it is being a parent it is at least twice as hard to do it on your own.