Red Lentil Soup

I filled my car up with gas today. 

Shut the front door!  I can't believe the price of gas. 

Well, actually, I can't believe the price of most things these days. 

At the risk of sounding like my parents, I remember when I could ride the ferry for a dime.  Yes, a dime.  And I remember walking down to the 7-Eleven with my mom's 5 dollar bill in hand to buy milk, coffee cream, a bag of potato chips and some licorice.  I also remember walking to school in snow up to my waist.  In the middle of a snowstorm.  Five miles.  Both ways.  All uphill.  Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration.

Gas, food, clothes.  Everything costs more these days.  

Especially food. 

And it's a challenge.  Eating healthy on a tight budget. 

A definite challenge. 

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Pizza

It never fails. 

My kids could be absorbed for hours in one of their little games that only they can understand. 

They could be quietly reading or drawing in their rooms.

They could be recreating the battle of Hogwarts in the upstairs hallway.  

One minute you could hear a pin drop in the house. 

And then I start making supper.  Suddenly you wouldn't be able to hear an elephant stomping through the living room.

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Three Bean Chili

Note to self.  Chili does not photograph well.  

It doesn't matter how delicious said bowl of chili is.  

It doesn't even matter if you stick it in a cute bowl and put a flax cracker in it.  

No, chili does not photograph well.  

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Chocolate Pudding

It's 2:30 and the kids have already decorated the cat with stickers, decapitated all the My Little Pony's and clogged the upstairs toilet by trying to flush Beach Time Barbie.  Apparently she wanted to go for a swim in the ocean.

And you know what the worst part is?  I only picked them up from the bus stop at 2:13. 

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Miso Mushroom Soup

“Whose house was that?  Papa Smurf's?” 

My daughter's reaction as she watches me slice mushrooms. 

Brilliant. 

Perhaps that's the reason why my kids hate mushrooms.  They think I've gone and left some poor little Smurf homeless or something.

I believe Smurfs live in Belgium, though, so I really don't think I have anything to worry about.

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