Eclectic Parent

Having been on the road so long we were completely out of everything upon returning. Grandma had gotten us some groceries but we still had to go out a few days later. We were totally out of sync though. Had bread, ran out of cheese. Had veggies but no meat. We finally did a big grocery shopping trip today.

We had the kids look through Pretend Soup and What’s Cooking?, which is based on the movie Ratatouille, to look for recipes they’d like to make. While C liked all the look for all sorts of things, D is much, much more particular. He’d point out salads or omlets and as soon as I asked if he’d eat it, the answer was no. They finally chose Easy Faux Escargots (rolled up tortilla, cheese, meat, cut about an inch wide with a small pickle in front like a snail with a shell), Pizza Rats (english muffin pizzas with olive eyes and scallion whiskers) and Django’s Dirt Cake (cake covered in crumbled cookie crumbs and gummy worms).

We all went to Costco together. When you can eat four pints of raspberries at a sitting, Costco is good. We have a list and they help find stuff but we also grab what looks good. In the afternoon, they all chose to stay home while I went to the grocery store. We get bulk stuff at Costco but still have to hit the regular store. It took me forever to find boxed cake mix, wafer cookies, etc. I usually go to Sprouts and when I do go to the regular store I usually just get fruits, veggies, and meats and skip all the middle aisles.

When I got home it was again to late to go get gas for the grill. So we switched from grilled chicken to quesadillas, black beans, and corn on the cob. B and D grated cheese, everybody husked the corn and D stirred the beans on the stove. D, who really wants to learn to use knives, also helped chopped cilantro. A quickly thrown together meal, but everybody helped. And there are many more interesting things on the menu to come.