Birthday Meal Fit for a Two Year Old

Okay, I think I am back in the blogging saddle. During my time away, I have been doing my best to continue the Reilly Revolution. My quest to take back my dinner table hit a high point today for Maeve's second birthday. In my opinion, two is the anticlimactic birthday. There is no need for the fan fare of the baby's 1st birthday and the established circle of toddler friends is usually a bit limited. However, it is still a birthday and a celebration must be had. And that is what we did.

The challenge was the meal. We needed something quick that would satisfy the children without leaving the adults longing for their next meal. Although winter has been very mild in Colorado this year, I decided to stick with a good ol' winter standby - Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese. We are not talking Campbell's or Kraft Singles, but homemade soup and tasty grilled cheese.

I have heard so many parents say, "my kids only eat Kraft," or "we survive on chicken nuggets."

While I am often a fan of convenience, I always surprise myself as to how convenient cooking well really is. I teamed up with my best cooking partner, my husband Jim, to prepare a homemade feast fit for a two year old. I followed an

amazingly easy recipe for creamless tomato soup from CooksIllustrated.com (secret ingredient - bread) and bought a few loaves of thinly sliced fresh baked Italian bread and cheddar cheese. Within an hour, dinner was served.

The adults at the table were all very complementary. But the best complement came from my son who put his bowl to his lips to make sure that he could get the last drop. Can't wait to warm up a bowl tomorrow.

The Start of the Reilly Revolution

If you didn’t watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I am pretty sure you have heard about it. Obesity is at an all time high and for the first time in history the current generation of children has a shorter life expectancy than their parents. The statistics are alarming. My husband’s father passed away in his late 50s and my father had a heart attack at 60. Since we have two young children, we are constantly reminded about the importance of taking care of ourselves. However, this has been easier said than done. We have tried all sorts of tricks – cutting carbs, counting calories, eating like a cave man. Has it worked? Yes, in the short term. However, a long day a work, a missed trip to the grocery store or an out-of-town visitor was all that it usually takes to get us off track.

I often ask myself, how did my mom do it? She worked full time, while finishing her college degree at night, yet we always ate at home with Fridays being our family night out. That was it, it finally dawned on me. My mother was not making gourmet meals each night, but always made sure that we had a homemade meal. What was stopping me from doing the same? Part of me wishes I could blame it on work, but in reality my excuse is pretty lame – I hate my kitchen. There, I said it. To say that it is small is an understatement, but at the end of the day it really isn’t a good excuse to not do what is best for my family. My other challenge is forgetting to take something out of the freezer. The kitchen, I can’t currently change, so I decided to tackle the latter.

About two months ago, I decided to try a little experiment. I ditched my numerous trips to multiple stores to shop solely at Whole Foods. My first trip was a complete failure, I spent almost triple my weekly spend and didn’t even by the things that usually drive up my grocery bill. I didn’t give up; I went back the next week and the next. Each week it got easier and easier to only buy what I needed for the week. I planned my meals for the week and found that I got my grocery bill under control and had less and less food waste.

That experiment has given way to my latest challenge, what I like to call the “The Reilly Revolution - One Meal at a Time.” I picked May Day to start my family’s challenge. We made a commitment to make as many meals from scratch as possible. I am hoping that by eating at home more often and by making sure that we are only using fresh ingredients that the rest will fall into place. So far our little revolution has been really fun. Again, nothing gourmet, just homemade – breakfast smoothies, a roasted chicken, peanut butter and banana muffins, and good old sloppy joes.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that our little revolution will be something that changes how my family thinks about food and that it is something my children will take with them as they grow. Stay tuned to see how it goes – one meal at a time.