Cooking for 4

Teriyaki chicken with green beans and roasted potatoes.

I am now cooking for our family of four. We cut out Maisie's purees about 2 weeks ago. We kind of went cold turkey and just stopped giving them to her. She has done fine with all types of food and is seriously the best eater.

I still struggle to get Calan to eat different types of foods, but for Maisie, the second we put it on her tray, it is in her mouth. She doesn't even question it. If it is food, she is good to go. 

I am hoping Maisie's eating influences Calan's stubbornness. His toddler picky-ness is killing me. I am so tired of every mealtime turning into a battle. I promise him every night that my food won't kill him. The continuous playing with his food rather than eating it lands him in a time out, but does not seem to fix the eating issue at all. I dread dinners with him. So frustating. But, I keep trying. 

Maisie only has a month till we start phasing out her bottles. I can't wait to buy my last container of formula. I still need to work on sippy cups, but I know that she will get there. 

As we gear up for our summer vacations, it is nice to know that food is not something I need to worry about. I will be able to find something for Maisie wherever we go. And I know that she will eat basically everything too. So nice.

Cooking for my family is just another sign of how big my babies are getting. (Sniff, Sniff, Tear)

Easy make ahead dinners

Because dinner time is a little crazy around here with usually two kids awake at the same time and trying to cook, I have been looking for good recipes that can be either done quickly with little preparation or meals that I can prep early and just cook later. I thought I would share a few that we have loved from my allrecipes.com phone app.

• Chicken Zucchini Casserole

allrecipes.com

This recipe I doubled and made for our Sunday family dinner with Bob's family, which usually means about 10 to 12 adults. Everyone loved it. I read through the reviews and left the carrots out and only used half of the butter and mixed with water for the other half. We served it with a green bean and carrots side dish and my sister-in-laws corn bread. I hear my father-in-law went for thirds. I prepared it beforehand and just threw it in the oven an hour before we were going to eat.

• Fragrant Lemon Chicken

allrecipes.com

This recipe was so unbelievably easy, but once again, I read through the reviews and followed some of the suggestions like using chicken broth instead of water in the crock pot and I also cooked it for 45 minutes in the oven to brown up the skin. If you don't use the oven, the skin looks raw. It is probably fine to eat, but looks pretty gross. I started cooking this during Calan's first nap and then put it in the oven during his second nap. I reheated it for dinner. The leftovers were great for chicken sandwiches.

• The Best Meatloaf

allrecipes.com

This one, literally, Bob looks at me and said this is the "best meatloaf" he had ever had and he, to be honest, doesn't really like meatloaf. Using steak sauce really made a big difference. I put this together during Calan's second nap and just popped it in the oven before dinner. When I make it again, I probably will saute the green peppers and onions. They were a little too crisp when it was done cooking. 

I'm making pan-fried pork chops, carrots, and broccoli tonight for dinner. What are you making?