There are only so many ways for a blogger to say that the Great Time Argument — the “I don’t have time to cook” or “We don’t have time to sit down as a family” debate — is a fallacy.  So as I embark on yet another tremendously busy week, I thought about two things: 1) How to continue blogging for the next few days even though I know things will be hectic; and 2) How to keep doing the old Red, Round, or Green thing of Just Getting Everybody Fed.  Despite the temptation to pull another “vacation week” on you all, I didn’t really WANT to shut the blog down totally for another several days; and then it occurred to me that rather than keep TELLING people that I’m feeding my family homecooked meals during this chaotic time, I could just SHOW you all.

So this week, as I rush from work to rehearsals to performances and, in between, shuttle the kids to school and doctor’s appointments and all of those weekly family activities, I’ll be sharing a photo of our family dinner, along with a “kid success” rating, a “cost” rating, and a “time to table” number.  Hopefully it will help inspire a few people to take a cautious brave step or two into the family dinner arena, even if they feel daunted.

Corn muffins and DIY Salad Platter

 Kid success rating: 5 of a possible 5 tomatoes (Why tomatoes?  I don’t know.  They’re the wallpaper motif for this blog.  It’s as good a reason as any.)  Both boys ate happily; both ate a protein, carb, fruit (in the form of applesauce, not pictured) and one or more full servings of vegetables; P. also ate some cheese (L. drank milk).
Cost rating: 4 of a possible 5 tomatoes.  It was a relatively cheap dinner if you consider the fact that the muffins were homemade and the chicken was leftover from another meal; however, that’s a whole lot of produce there, and most of it was organic.  Because we offered so many options (greens, tomatoes, beets, asparagus, broccoli, 2 kinds of quality cheeses), it was a more expensive platter than it necessarily has to be.
Time to table number: 30.  In half an hour of leisurely effort, I could roast the beets and asparagus, bake the corn muffins from scratch, and assemble all the other ingredients, as well as make the honey mustard dressing. 

 
Not a bad start to the work week, I’d say.  Looking forward to sharing the rest of the week!