Carbo-Cheese-avores and Crock Pot Strike Outs

This clip is pretty long, but the beginning about how non-things become HUGE things when you have small children at home had the MM and me doubled over with laughter. The fact that something simple like leaving the house is a major undertaking with a toddler also explains why I had the brain power to write three (three!) posts while the MM and Munchkin were away and accomplished one a month this past fall. There is definitely an inverse relationship between parenting and the mental energy to write.  At least for me. Because it's all going to getting Ford to, you know, walk up the stairs. 

I wanted to take a moment to be real about this whole 2014 resolution to eat more vegetables and less bread, meat and cheese.  I knew that Ford would protest and wheedle me. "Mama, I need tooooooast.  Want cheeeeese." You know.  But they've been home for less than a week and the MM is already grumpy about the fact that I've made Hoppin' John, a lentil dal and a chicken quinoa kale soup. When it comes right down to it, the man likes his cheese, meat (not poultry) and bread. Ideally together in the form of lasagna, which is widely known to be his favorite food of ever (here, and here and here).

I already feel guilty and will make them penne with a short-cut bolognese sauce tomorrow night. Apparently "more vegetables" just means green salad every night to some people. Everything else is, "you know, basically beans and rice."  I think he was having a bad flashback to his climbing bum years when good old B & R was on heavy rotation. 

So back to the drawing board. In the MM's defense, the lentil dal and the soup were not showstoppers. If you added these to your own Pinterest food board, let me save you the heartache and suggest that they're not repeaters. 

Warming 5 Lentil Dal. Warming like CRAZY spicy and inedible for children. Would have been better with fewer spices and some coconut milk to lighten the consistency. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Quinoa Kale and Bean Soup. Looks super healthy, comforting and easy, right? Easy yes. Also totally bland even after browning the aromatics first and adding curry powder. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we threw about 1/3 of it out it was so bad. We have had so many crock pot strike outs, I'm thinking of striking the appliance from my kitchen entirely. 

The Hoppin' John was obviously delicious.  Probably because it started with sauteing a Vidalia onion in rendered bacon grease.  I used this Southern Living recipe and added Aidell's andouille sausage to make it more filling.

If you have veggie-based recipes that 2 year olds will eat or no-fail crock pot dishes that actually taste like food, I would love to hear from you.  Bon Appetit (hopefully).