Momma's Cookin'

It's no secret that I absolutely love to cook!  Now, I'm not saying I am Martha Stewart in the kitchen, but I think I do a pretty decent job. Jared honestly believes I am the best cook that ever lived,  & while I wouldn't go that far, I can't say that I mind the compliment!

I try to make a home cooked meal just about every night of the week.  I think it is important for my family to eat food that is good for them, & that we get to have precious family time gathered around our dinner table.  Dinner time has come to be one of my favorite parts of our day around here.  We pray before we eat, we share all about our day, & my heart grows full & I watch my boys' bellies grow full!  Cooking is a hobby of mine, but it is also a way I can pour out my love to my family!

I remember growing up, that my mom always had a hot meal on the table at dinner time.  We didn't have frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, or any other kind of packaged, processed food in our home.  My mom just didn't buy it, so we never grew up with it.  You probably won't believe this, but up until a couple of years ago, I had no idea what instant potatoes even were!  The only potatoes I knew about were the ones you peeled with a knife, boiled on the stove, & mashed with a masher!  My parents also had a rule in our home that we had to sit together at the table for dinner.  I remember it getting on my nerves as I started getting older, but now that I have a family of my own, I see the importance of our family dinner times, & I look so forward to them!

Before I quit my job to stay at home, I would spend hours on end dreaming of the days that I would be able to cook & bake every single day!  I anticipated all of the new recipes I would try, & all of the scrumptious dishes I would serve up to my hungry family!  It was one of the things I was most looking forward to about being a stay at home mom!

Well, those days are finally here, & they are just as fulfilling as I knew they would be!  But there's just one little thing.  The picture I had envisioned in my head all those years was a tad skewed:  I dreamt I would be whipping up all kinds of yummy, divine dishes in the kitchen while my sweet angelic little toddler would be playing ever so contently with his toys on the living room floor.  I would set the table, call my boys in for dinner, & our meal would fall into place seamlessly.

I never anticipated it looking like this:

The pics below are of little Meatball attached to my leg & ankle.

Now, don't get me wrong, some days my little toddler is a perfect angel who will play sweetly while I prepare dinner in the kitchen.  The whole process is peaceful, & smooth, & almost therapeutic. And then there are days that the only place in the world this same little toddler wants to be is attached snugly to my hip.  On those days, dinner doesn't fall into place so seamlessly.  There is scrambling, & shuffling, & sheer madness!  It's days like those that a frozen pizza or a plate of chicken nuggets seem like a dream.  But then, once the smoke clears {literally}, the three of us sit down together at the table as a family,  Jared compliments how delicious dinner tastes, & my little Meatball gobbles up Momma's cookin' until his belly looks like it will burst!  It is then that I remember the reason why I slave away in the kitchen with a baby fiercely attached to my hip, leg, or ankle-- because it truly is one of the best parts of my day!

Here's what I served up tonight! 

Spaghetti with Tomatoes & Artichokes

You just can't go wrong with Pioneer Woman!  

I baked some chicken breasts to go along with it & mmmmm!  So yummy!