Fiona Cleary
So.....interesting discussion today amongst a group of homeschool mums: apparently I'm not the only one who gets sick of cooking every night! It's not that I dislike cooking, in actual fact I love trying new recipes but as the meme says .... every night? There are of course some really simple solutions: cereal, noodles, omelette (not a favourite in our house), takeout (who can afford that every night) but like most home school mums (over-acheiving perfectionists) I have this overwhelming desire for my kids to eat healthier than healthy (read organic, free-range, gluten-free etc).
Favorite suggestion of the afternoon was the 'Foast', otherwise known as the fake roast. So you chop up your root veggies, throw them in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and shove the whole lot in the oven to cook while you resume chauffeur duties to your children's afternoon activities. On your way home, swing by local supermarket, pick up ready-roasted chicken which you then serve atop roasted veg. Voila! BTW, this would so have appealed to daughter number one who was once spotted manoeuvring a raw chicken from its plastic bag to the oven tray with a pair of tongs to prevent the icky juices searing her skin.
But hey, why not introduce your children to home-ec as early as possible and build yourself a little army of chefs? It's a little hard work at the beginning but with a few easy recipes under their belts you will soon be able to leave some cooking duties to them and get on with the many other tasks that are undoubtably waiting for you.
In our house tonight, Mr 12 made us Egg Roll in a Bowl which is quite literally what you might get if you emptied an egg roll (spring roll) of its filling. It's delicious, nutritious and economical! Don't switch out the ground ginger for fresh - this is the secret sauce to give that authentic egg roll flavour.
