In the Kitchen

I love multitasking in the kitchen. Even though I did not come up with my plan until late in the game, cooking today was very productive. Maybe it was the snow day that gave me my motivation? Or perhaps the new cook book I mentioned earlier. I searched for new recipes today and realized I had no plan for our evening meal. It wasn't until I had been searching awhile that I realized I didn't even know what I had to work with. My first thought came to the cabbage that has been in the fridge for a week. I meant to make Cole slaw, but failed to execute this task.

After realizing I had cabbage to work with, I found a cabbage roll recipe. Easy and I had everything to make it. My only problem was my late start. I was not sure the kids would like them anyway, so I fed them leftovers from lunch and rice. I love our rice cooker. It takes so much less effort to make rice. Just put it in and go. I don't have to worry about it not turning out. Six loves rice. Five does too, but not as much as Six. Three does not like rice at all. We all have our opinions.

In preparing the cabbage rolls, I had too much meat and too much rice. I decided to bake some meatballs while getting the rolls ready. Easy enough, just divided my meat into a bowl and pan. All I added for meatballs was a package of stove top stuffing mix, an egg and the meat. My meat mixture was already ground beef and pork sausage. I like to make the meat balls small. They are easier for kids. I cooked the cabbage leaves and shredded the rest for my Cole slaw. Chopped onions, half went for the rolls, half into the Cole slaw. In the end, I have meatballs and Cole slaw for tomorrow and cabbage rolls for tonight.

We had baths last night, making tonight a breeze. We managed to keep things quiet for N to take an almost three hour nap. I started with them in the basement playing. When that wasn't working out, we did a movie. I was able to do my workout at this time and logged 6 miles. It was near the end of his nap, I needed a good distraction. Making use of some supplies donated to me from a friend, we painted with stamps. They were so thrilled. We made some cards which, you as a reader, may receive one day. That lasted until the end of N's nap and everyone was pleased. With all the work earlier in the day, I guess I would have had a hard time getting the meal prepared as they painted. It was a good time for all of us. The creative juices were flowing. Five blows me away with art. He made a card with a campfire on it. Not just any campfire, but a rainbow campfire. I think his was my favorite. Three used a lot of pink and purple. Six made castles and basketballs. The stamps were a great start and then led them to create on their own.

Another snow day in MI. All day I could not help but think of our neighbors enjoying the gulf shores today. N and I spent quite a decent amount of time there before children. I really miss it. Wish we could just go someday. Sooner than later would be great, but for now we will continue on as we are. Prepare for the day to follow, I have a conference with Lupcke tomorrow. Looking forward to that.