Day One of Gourmet Round Up

What a day!!  I am exhausted but my taste buds are happy.  Normally I advocate only ONE complicated dish per meal, like meatloaf and then open a tub of Country Crock mashed potatoes.  After this evening meal, I can confirm that that is the best way to go!  Breakfast was pretty quick with Orange Chocolate Chip Pancakes. The only real effort was zesting the oranges but it was sooo worth it.  I substituted the semi-sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate.  It tasted worthy of any B&B!

Dinner was Scalloped Potatoes,  Meatloaf, Green Beans and Chocolate Coconut Bites.  A word about organization in the kitchen.  I broke every rule for myself and this meal took forever.  I was so scattered, it should not have taken me that long.  It was pretty darn yummy though.  Any one thing on it's own would have been a stand out.  This is not your mom's meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. In the Meatloaf I substituted oats that I ground in the food processor for the bread crumbs, ground chicken and chicken sausage for the beef and pork, and apricots for the prunes (yes, dried fruit!)  All the ingredients complimented nicely so don't let the unusual combination scare you.  For the Scalloped Potatoes I substituted 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg for fresh.  Like I said, it had to be ingredients I had around.  It was a nice addition.  The Chocolate Coconut Bites tasted like an upscale Almond Joy minus the almond.  The bittersweet chocolate made it not too sicky sweet.

I was feeling pretty good about myself and then peeked over at Pink and Green Mama's blog and scrolled through her daughter's 4th birthday party and almost fell asleep.  It was exhausting how much trouble she went too, and yet inspiring.  So many little fun details.  I think my daughter would be happy if I just paid attention to her, for real.  I did manage to sit down with the kids and a Busytown puzzle.  Samuel's personality is SOOOOOO...something.  I don't know.  He talks constantly and she barely says a word.  I have to work VERY HARD to gauge what it is she needs from me.  One minute she wants me to hold her, the next minute she wants nothing to do with me "Go away mommy", nice.  Typical female I guess!


Everyone down for the count, me included!