Salad as a meal

I can't wait for the day when Kieran will eat raw vegetables consistently, especially in salad form. In summer we hardly ever cook. It's just way too hot in our kitchen. I know, I hear so many of you say, "so get air-conditioning already!" No thanks, not for me. Even when it's stinking hot I much prefer having the windows open and relying on a cross-breeze and the ceiling fans. I really don't like being closed off from the outdoors, we have enough of that when the cold comes. I like being able to hear what's going on outside, who's playing on the street and hearing Tim come home before he can sneak up on me! But I digress.

So in summer we do a lot of barbecuing and lots of salad eating. I grew up always having a salad with our evening meal and love throwing together a plate full of veggies and then some as a meal. Whatever is on hand can sometimes make it in our salads, fruits, nuts, seeds. Protein will be cheese, cut up cold cuts, hard boiled eggs. And there's gotta be a crunch factor. Hence the nuts or seeds or croutons. I feel sorry for people who don't like veggies. Veggies are so yummy! And I love that Tim shares in my appreciation of them and my meal salads.
So I still have to come up with an alternative for Kieran's supper when we eat salads but luckily we usually have some kind of leftovers I can throw together for him to eat.





I know my food presentations leave a lot to be desired but here's an example of one of our salads - romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, apple, extra-old cheddar cheese and kohlrabi, walnuts, grapes, tomatoes, radishes, Lebanese cucumbers and roast beef.
It also helps with the yummy factor when you slather it all in salad dressing. Forget the calories!

Yet another cliché

Yes, time does fly!
Though, you know, sometimes it stands still.
When you're having a tough day and the rugrat hasn't napped long enough and now you have to entertain him for another hour (oh god, please let it only be an hour!) before Daddy gets home. And you're trying to throw something together for supper.

There are also those days where you're at the park with friends and he's having a blast and then it's time to go, gotta get home for a nap. And you stretch it a little longer, a little longer. He'll fall asleep in the stroller, sure he will. He'll sleep until we get home and then I'll pick him up and carry him up to his room and he will sleep longer because he's so worn out. Sure he will.
Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.

But that's one of the great things about this gig. So unpredictable. You give it all you've got and that smile and giggle make it sooooooooo worthwhile. And the hugs, he gives the best of hugs. Even some lucky strangers sometimes get hugs.

Ya, I'm digging this motherhood thing.


(This post really wasn't going in this direction at all when I started typing but here it is...sounds like an overdue Mother's Day post, the one I started and never got back to and deleted.)


One, two, three, four
Mary at the cottage door