spice it up

You already know how much I despise cooking, and because of that, we eat out almost every night. But... the "higher-up" (a.k.a Jason) says lunch is not an option. We have to scrounge around for something every day. As the summer draws to a close, our options are becoming slim.

As I bravely entered the almost bare pantry today, I found a few edible items that we could throw together to get us through until supper.... a box of Rice-a-Roni and a can of green beans. I was also fortunate to find a small frozen pizza in the freezer. Now these things don't SOUND appealing, and they might not actually BE appealing, but that doesn't mean they can't LOOK appealing!

So I did the only thing I could do.... I PLAYED WITH OUR FOOD! I took those lovely ingredients, along with a few fresh cherry tomatoes from the backyard, and before I knew it, the masterpiece was created!

The fabulous thing about kids is that they don't always catch on to our underlying schemes, and because of this, we are often successful at creating smiling faces with very little effort!

Of course, everyone has a different reaction to my ploys.

The first plate you see belongs to a little boy who is a "pleaser." He enjoys cleaning his plate in an effort to make me happy. He will rarely leave anything, and if he does, you know he absolutely did not like it.

The second plate belongs to a little boy that will inevitably ask for a "snack" as he gets up to leave the table. He doesn't actually eat meals like normal people. He merely takes a bite of something new every 10 minutes from the time he gets up until the time he goes to bed!

I almost think my boys might tell you they miss the hot, consistent meal that is provided to them from school and daycare each day during the school year. And fortunately for them, they will soon return to those meals. But in the meantime, we have use what we have and do our very best to "spice it up!"