Monday, January 16, 2006

A step toward domestic goddess-ness

Finally there are cooked dinners at the Short and Sweet household; the Plunket people thought it would be good for me to do household chores while Baby is awake (thereby leaving me free to nap or whatever when she sleeps), and cooking should be one of them.

But I have baggage when it come to cooking; I lost interest in anything to do with hot kitchens in my teens, after years of helping my mum every evening and weekend with her Chinese food business. On the other hand, the boy and I are both heartily sick of those ready meals, and the lack fresh vegetables in my diet was taking its toll on my digestion (further details would simply be Too Much Information).

So, despite the fact that the only cooking I am comfortable with is stir-frying or toasting, I've taken on the role of dinner-maker. It's not so bad really - the need for fresh ingredients gives me more reason to go for a walk; the spectacle of food preparation gives Baby something to look at when she's not practising her rolling or doing her tummy time; I have something to keep my mind off Baby's I-don't-want-to-sleep-and-you-can't-make-me protests; and most importantly, the boy and I are now eating more healthily.

The boy is not used to eating Chinese food so often though, so I might even scout out some new recipes (gods forbid!).

I also find myself doing a heck of a lot more cleaning too, all in the name of entertainment for Baby. For the first time in my life I am seriously considering buying an apron.

7 comments:

Jon said...

Stir frying is the best- when i come home from work, even though I like to cook, stir frying is quick- I can do something like chicken with veggies, and maye a second dish of sitr fried Chinese kale (isn't it called gai lan?) with oyster sauce and ginger and it takes less than 10 minutes. Gotta love the feature on rice cookers that allows you to put the rice in the cooker in the morning and set the time you want it done.

Amanda said...

I don't know if your baby girl is old enough yet but a Jolly Jumper was a great investment for us. I used to set my daughter up doing some jumping http://www.jollyjumper.com/ in the kitchen doorway so she could jump and watch me make dinner at the same time. She loved it, it kept her busy and she got some exercise.

Kazzer said...

An alien has invaded Violet!

Geekery said...

Jollyjumpers are GREAT!!!

I though Violet WAS an alien...?

boudica of suburbia said...

hahaha. I had one too! Those jumping thing are amazing, you will never look back, I swear. I must have spent half of my first few years in one of those!

xxB

Happy and Blue 2 said...

Yes do get a jolly jumper. They don't call them jolly for nothing, tee,hee.
Glad baby is getting to be a little less difficult now..

Rainypete said...

Our daughter loved her Jolly Jumper and I can't wait until our littel guy is ready for one. They love them. They looks so fun I'm actualyl trying to figure out how to make a big one for me too.