Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Dinner Miracle

Sometimes the fact that there is dinner on the table when Eric gets home is nothing short of a miracle. And well, lately these miracles are few and far between. But last night one of those miracles occurred.

I was making my August recipe for the Cooking Club. I was determined that I actually make it as I already lost points from last month for the two recipes that Eric ended up making. I knew it would be a little bit until Eric was home, but I also knew it was almost time for Ryder to eat.

I opened up the Betty Crocker Ap on my iPad, honestly the reason I chose this month's recipe. I began to get out the ingredients. 2 1/4 cup Bisquick... hmmm shoot, I don't even have quite two cups. How could I not be prepared, this is the recipe I chose after all! I have to make this tonight, the month is running out and I still have two more recipes to make. Let's see a little Krusteaz pancake mix can finish it off.

2 T. Thousand Island dressing.. what the!?! How did I not buy this. I quickly hit the home button on my iPad and goggle substitute for Thousand Island dressing. Jackpot! An easy substitute, some mayo, some chili sauce and pickle relish, eyeball it as I only need two tablespoons, a quick taste, a little more chili sauce and bingo.

I pour the boiling water into the Bisquick/Krusteaz mix and reach into to stir the dough. I quickly recoil my hand. Mental note to self, water that was just boiling is really hot. I grab a spoon to stir the dough. Once it cools I get in with my hands and finish mixing it up and dividing it. Dough ready, next ingredient sauerkraut.

Grab the jar feeling proud of myself, I am going to pull this off, I am doing good. But... rrrr... ugggh... the lid to the sauerkraut... rrrhhhg.. it's stuck. Okay, I have to make this I cannot wait for Eric to get home. Ryder begins fussing. I try sticking his paci in, he spits it right back out, he is ready to eat. I try again and again, the lid is not budging. Quick back to my iPad, google "how to open a stuck jar lid" . eHow to the rescue! I try and stick Ryder's paci back in, still no luck.

I hurry and roll out the dough. How in the world are the ingredients going to fit in there? Ryder is quickly getting more impatient. I hurry and put together the fold-overs, the dough seems a little dry, darn lack of Bisquick. I finally manage to get them all made, they aren't pretty but they are done and in the oven.

I scoop up Ryder and come to his rescue. He quickly begins eating as I try and catch my breath. Eric calls saying he is coming home. As we are talk I realize the kids are never going to eat tonight's dinner, luckily I have a few Totino's pizzas, 'I'll just throw those in for the kids', I tell him. We end our call as Ryder continues to eat.

And then I hear it, the timer is ringing. Eric is still at least ten minutes out. Ryder is still nursing. Well, this is my third child. I head over and very skillfully and carefully get the dinner out over the oven while Ryder continues to enjoy his dinner. (do not try this at home)

I turn the oven to a higher temperature and go to the freezer in the garage to get the pizzas. Ryder is oblivious to all going on around him as his belly is getting full and putting him to sleep. I get out the pizzas and am trying to tear open the boxes when I hear Eric come in.

"Come here and help me please. Now."

Eric comes over and takes over getting the pizzas in the oven. I head over to the couch to sit and once again try and catch my breath while Ryder finishes his dinner.

I did it. I am tired. I am hungry. But hey dinner is ready. Life is good.

What do you do to survive getting dinner ready?

19 comments:

  1. You rock! I hate when I am forced to multi-task with nursing. Though I have to say, I have never tried it with taking dinner out of the oven. Impressive!

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  2. Sounds like a super mom moment again.

    It reminds me of when Madeline would scream ALL DAY and I'd change EThan's diaper and iron with her in the frontpack! Oh the things we do!

    How did you like the reubens?

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  3. Great job! I don't believe I ever tried to get dinner out of the oven while nursing, but I did impress my mom one time when I changed a toddler's diaper while nursing. By the time you've had 2, you learn to be very creative when it comes to munti-tasking.

    Kudos to you, though! Most nights, Roon is the one who cooks dinner, because I just didn't get to it...

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  4. Oh the things a nursing mother can do. Good for you for getting dinner ready. I need to do that more often, not just corn dogs at 730pm. Hopefully life will settle down a little soon.

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  5. You are a Super Mommy! Way to go! Do you know how tough it is for me to try to bottle feed and walk around... yeah, impossible! So you rock!

    I tell you what. Dinner for us was tough when Jayce was first born. It seemed like with his schedule I wasn't even able to start cooking until like 6:30 or 7:00! Most of the time Charlie would jump in though. Now that Jayce is almost 4 months I have figured it out! I play with the kiddos from the time nap time is over until about 5:30 (giving them a nice filled up love tank, which keeps them happy for a good hour!) Jayce swings and snoozes usually which is fabulous. While I cook I allow Lula Mae to watch her movie for the day. Once I figured all these things out it made a world of difference in my cooking. But Dinner is never ready when my hubby gets home... he gets home by 5:30 and we don't have dinner until 6:30. He doesn't seem to mind :-)

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  6. I remember doing exactly that with Ryan. Nurse and cook. It's amazing what a mom can do. Now go and put your feet up.

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  7. Super Mommy - Super Multitasker! Hope you enjoyed your hard earned dinner!

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  8. Loved it, your writing is great and the story was fabulouse. Way to go mom for getting it all done, even with a "nursing in progress" baby! I'm lucky in that John actually doesn't like coming home and having dinner on the table. I have no idea why, but when we were first married I used to do that and he requested a little time after he got home before eating dinner. So, now I usually try to get things going before he gets home, but I know that once he does he'll be able to help with the kids or help with dinner and then we eat about a 1/2 hour to an hour after he gets home.

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  9. Dinner is always a crazy time, I cant imagine trying to do it while nursing!

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  10. You are my hero!!! I couldn't do it. I don't have enought Bisquick? I'm not even gonna try.
    LOL

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  11. You are amazing. I have gone to the bathroom while nursing, but never, ever cooked a dinner!!

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  12. I need as nap and Chinese food after that one! phew! ;)

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  13. Oh man! Familiar scene at our house.

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  14. I decided to just go out to Chuck-A-Rama tonight as I was exhausted from the school day and didn't want to make anything.

    I highly recommend it.

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  15. We have hambuger/chicken/tuna Helper a lot :). Kudos to you for making a meal even with all of the distractions, you did it!

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  16. Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one that has this struggle. Tonight it was having an overtired over fussy 5.5 nonth old wanting held only by me, closely followed by a 2.5 year old pulling on my leg to get me to play trains with him. Sad part?? All I was making were BLTs.

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  17. I love this part: I opened up the Betty Crocker Ap on my iPad....I'm still laughing...gone are the days of the dirty, glued pages of the Betty Crocker cook book I guess. Too bad I'm a technological retard and I woudl not be able to open up the Betty Crocker ap, and my husband would go hungry!

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  18. Emily...WOWOW! Thanks for the sneak peak into your grand accomplishment! I remember nights like that...and now the way I survive dinner is to go out to eat.

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  19. I am completely worthless while I'm nursing! My poor husband always had to pick up all the slack!

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