Cooking with Jordan

My aunt, an early childhood specialist told me sometime back that it didn't matter all that much if I couldn't spend all day with my children. This was after I'd gone back to work and was narrating what my day was like. I think she got breathless listening to how I would wake up in the morning, get the twins ready for school, have breakfast, pack lunch, get dressed and be out of the door all in an average of an hour and a half and then proceed to pick the twins up from school during my lunch break, drop them home, go back to work, and get home in time to bathe them, read to them, sing to them, pray with them and get them to sleep only having dinner after 9 and passing out shortly after. Ok, admittedly, I got breathless writing that sentence too.

Anyway, she told me that it was unnecessary to break my neck trying to do everything and be everywhere and do everything with the twins, including taking them to the bathroom (I think I was bemoaning the fact that Evan preferred my helper to help him with his bathroom needs). I know that is true although it doesn't stop me from trying to be Super Mom.

A common theme in the last few posts has been my need to rest, my not feeling well and still trying to do things with the twins. Yesterday, I decided that since I was trying to teach our helper to make baked rice and Evan was off having some father-son bonding time at the video store, I would include Baby J in our preparation for dinner.

Okay, I know the images and video are of a two-year old with a knife but this was under adult supervision (3 adults actually) and I can attest to how "un sharp" the Ikea plastic knife is. Anyway, our little Nigella (or is it Jamie) was off trying to slice mushrooms and also stir the mushrooms into the mixture. She did have a bit of issue with getting bits of mushroom stuck under her nails or sauce on her hands but she was a game little chef.








Obviously she was full from dinner because she didn't even bother to try what she was 'cooking'. But she seemed to have had fun and was proud of the fact that the bits of mushroom she sliced went into the main mixture as well.

When Evan came back, I tried to get him involved too. But boy as he is, slinked off the stool in a jiffy and went off looking for Papa and demanding for him to sing the "Thomas his friends" (Thomas and His Friends) song.

For those who are interested, here's the recipe for Baby J's Baked Rice.

Slices of chicken fillet marinated in oyster sauce and honey. We used 4 chicken thighs. (Grilled beforehand)
1 punnet of mushrooms to slice.
1/2 bottle of any pasta sauce.
1 can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken/ Mushroom sauce
1 big yellow onion to slice thin.
Fresh chopped up herbs/ dried herbs (oregano, parsley, corriander, basil) (Whatever you like actually...if you use dried herbs, use more!)
50 g cheddar cheese
50 g mozzarella cheese (both shredded)
Rice cooked in chicken stock

Mix pasta sauce and cream sauce together.
Mix mushrooms and onions into the sauce.
Lay the rice into a bake dish.
Pour mixture over the rice.
Cover top of sauce with cheese mixture. Sprinkle generously.

Bake at 180 degree celsius for about half an hour or until cheese is browned.

It's a great comfort dinner to have. Sausages can be added in as can other types of vegetables. We've tried with zucchini and peppers. I was tempted to chop in spinach but we didn't have time.

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