Weekly Gourmet

Today is Thursday. Ah another busy day and another winter weather advisory. Sounds like beef stew to me! I even used the annoying crock pot for you guys. Someone can explain to Steve why he had to clean a pot AND a crock pot because I do not get what the advantage is. I'll give instructions for both ways and you go ahead and choose how you want to do your stew. This homey meal warmed up my frozen little body (and soul) tonight. The meat seriously melted in my mouth and happiness rushed down my body to my toes. And my children devoured it. Heard around the table tonight: "Luca try a meat! It's so good!"  "I ate all my carrots and my peas and my meats and my green things!" (followed obviously with a request for treats, and a grammar lesson) "Mom, your hair looks wet. Oh it's just greasy."  "Sit down!" "Stop kicking me!" "Sit down!" "Sienna get back in your seat!" "Eat over your bowl!" "Moooom...

Today is Tuesday. Probably Taco Tuesday for you, but for us, it's Lentil Soup With An Egg In It Tuesday a/k/a Vegetarian Torture Day! Don't stop reading! I swear, lentils are friends, not tiny beads of torture. They are a delicious, inexpensive source of protein with endless shelf lives. Paired with an egg? This is a DOUBLE protein meal if you think about it. Like putting a chicken wing on top of a hamburger patty. Or "surf and turf with a spoon," if you will. AND, since it's such a healthy dinner, I let everyone dip warm, crusty garlic bread in it. My kids are much more amenable to trying fearsome foods while their hands are filled with hunks of bread, like little edible carbohydrate safety blankets. Actually, the middle kid brought lentil soup to school in a pink princess thermos today. She may have a bit of a bathroom situation later tonight, but I still giggle thinking about her like a small Sicilian peasant child in a kerchief, spooning in her lentils, hoping...