Cooking for Vegetarians and Carnivores.... and Toddlers....

Probably the greatest challenge to my cooking and baking, asides from the fact that it seems like I have to make almost everything from scratch, is the fact that I am working with more than one dietary preference. While I am a vegetarian (lacto/ovo) my husband and daughter are both complete carnivores. I had hopes that I could maybe raise my daughter to be vegetarian at first, but when she tried to eat the family cat I figured she was trying to tell me something. At any rate, we have yet to find an animal, vegetable or mineral that she won't eat.... I lucked out really, because I refuse to make separate meals for kids and adults.  

But, our varied preferences do make dinner time difficult, even without adding the whole "organic/real food" factor in the mix. Add a toddler in and you have my nightly "oh god I have to start dinner now" routine. One recipe that has never failed me is this one from Ree Drummond. I love it because I can easily adapt it for my family's needs. That and my daughter devours it every time. Obviously I use organic ingredients, hormone-free chicken, blah blah blah... you get the idea. In the episode that aired where she made this, she was able to cook it from start to finish in about 16 minutes. If you have no children... go ahead and follow the recipe as is. If you have kids and varied dietary needs, continue reading for a more "accurate" recipe. 

Step 1. 

Look at the clock, realize it is 4:15 pm, and curse yourself for forgetting to take chicken out of the freezer for dinner. Look up on google to see if you can cook chicken from frozen. Fight with toddler for control of the ipad so you can just look up this one friggin thing.... 

Step 2.

Put frozen chicken breasts on a foil lined baking tray and pre-heat oven to 375. Deal with crying child by attempting to distract her with Disney Junior. 

Step 3. 

Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in oven at 4:30pm. Set timer on oven for 45 minutes. Turn around in time to see that child is squatting in the corner, filling her diaper.....

Step 4. 

Change diaper, wash hands, and then curse yourself when you realize that you forgot to get the cute, little cherry tomatoes at the store. Check outside to see if any of your tomato plants have been fruitful, realize that you really need to water all your plants before they die. Begin cutting up regular, non-cute tomatoes.

Step 5. 

Cut up tomatoes and decide to add some kalamata olives as well just because you like them and think that they will taste good in the dish. Feel like ultimate domestic goddess. 

Step 6. 

Look at clock to see that it is now almost 5 and decide that you can start the sauce recipe. Turn around to see that your child has not only taken all the magnets off the fridge and pulled all the pots and pans out of the drawer, but she has also gotten into the drawer with the Ziploc bags and has pulled each and every one of them out of their boxes. Contemplate drinking the wine that is supposed to go in the recipe.... 

 Step 7.
Decide that, because of current pregnancy, drinking a bottle of wine is probably not advisable. Crack open a non-alcoholic beer and will yourself into believing that it is the real thing.

Step 8.
Begin making sauce at 5:15, just in time for oven timer to go off. Hold crying child while taking hot pan out of oven with one hand. Set chicken aside to cool and attempt to finish making sauce as well as fill pasta pot with water while still holding child.

Step 9.
Convince child that you only need to put her down for a moment so you can carry a heavy pot full of water to the stove with both hands. Set child down and carry heavy pasta pot to stove with crying child clinging to legs.

Step 10.
Put water on to boil, turn sauce down to low, and sit down on floor. Let now happy child crawl all over you and use your growing belly as a jungle gym. Enjoy sitting on the floor with a laughing child because you know she won't be little forever...

Step 11.
Poor pasta in pot while holding child. Set table with one hand while pasta cooks.

Step 12.
Successfully distract child with Disney Junior.

Step 13.
Drain pasta, and add to sauce along with Parmesan cheese and spinach. Then, separate most of the mixture to a separate bowl to which you will add the cut up chicken. Dish up a plateful for your toddler and place it in the fridge to cool off.

 Step 14.
Convince toddler to leave TV and come to the table for dinner. Briefly forget that you cannot reason with a toddler.

Step 15.
Turn off TV. Dish up plateful for yourself and wrap up extras for Hubby to eat when he gets home from work. Sit down to eat with child, at about 6pm.... almost 2 hours after you started trying to make dinner. Watch happily as child shovels food into her mouth.

 

Step 16.

Congratulate self on awesome domestic goddess skills.

*Note: never forget the last step. No matter the recipe, it is vitally important!