Optimism...

I awoke this morning with a plan. A plan for the day, a plan for the market and a plan to enjoy the first spring-link Sunday we've had in quite a while. I met a friend and her kids at our local bakery, we had a leisurely morning and the kids enjoyed watching the bakers roll out dough.

I had my recipes in hand for the week and was fortunate to drop the girls at a friends house so I could market alone. I have become so grateful for small things! I bought shrimp and rainbow Swiss chard for tonight and lamb and leeks for tomorrows meals as well as some other fresh veggies.

After putting the groceries away and picking up the kids, I popped 2 potatoes in the oven to bake and proceeded to make a schmear (for lack of a better word) of olive oil, 2 cubes of frozen garlic, panko, a little Parmesan cheese, a pinch of pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. I put a little chopped parsley on my shrimp, but I knew this would put the girls over the edge. I thawed a handful of shrimp, took the tails off and placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet. I turned the oven to 450 and put a nice dollop of the schmear on top of each shrimp and let them cook for 6-7 minutes.

Along with the shrimp, I chopped up the Swiss Chard. I sauteed 1/2 an onion in a little olive oil with another cube of garlic. After about 1 minute, I added the stems of the Chard, and sauteed for another minute or so, then added the leaves and about 1/2 C. of chicken stock. I let it simmer on medium until most of the liquid had drained.

With the usual complaints, the girls set the table and I pre-plated their food (to ensure they got a little of everything), one bite of Chard, 3 shrimp and1/2 a baked potato.

As I guessed, the Chard did NOT go over with flying colors, Emma said she didn't like the consistency and Abby just didn't like any of it, they did, however try 1 bite. The shrimp had mixed reviews. Emma ate one and then another, then decided she only like the crispy part, Abby surprisingly complained the whole way through. They ate their baked potato and we had a relatively uneventful dinner, even though I had introduced 2 (gasp!!) new recipes.

I think the girls were trying to get through dinner as quickly as possible tonight, although they were good not to make a big fuss.