Yesterday was one of those days that completely got away from me. It started out usual enough, we woke up at a decent time, had a spot of breakfast and got rolling on schoolwork. I was trying to remember why I said that last year we’d take it easy on the schoolwork during Nutcracker week, but it didn’t come to me at all. So we schooled as normal. And then it got to be noon, and lunch time, when it hit me. I’m about to prepare lunch for my kids, but then I’m going to have to feed them again in just two hours. Ack! That’s why we were supposed to adjust our school schedule for Nutcracker week! Gosh, I fed them pretty poorly yesterday. Pretty much scavenged through leftovers to come up with lunch and then another lunch just before three in the afternoon. Then, of course, I hadn’t planned on having a meal later, after dress rehearsal… What was I thinking!? When Abigail came out from backstage and simply said “Food.” I knew I had a problem. Leftover pancakes and cranberry sauce sufficed for an evening meal, and I determined that I would do better today.
So far, I think we’re on track. We started with a light breakfast of a simple slice of toast and a cup of milk. Abigail had hers with butter and cinnamon sugar, Zander had his with homemade strawberry jam. We had a very short school day where we simply did the 4 R’s: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic and Religion, and then lunch was ready by 11:00 am. Lunch was a basic grilled cheese for each, along with a cup of yogurt and some rainbow bell pepper strips. They had some lemonade to wash it down, and though it was a good hour early, managed to almost completely clean their plates.
For our late evening meal today I used the last of the Thanksgiving turkey to make a simple Turkey, Vegetable and Noodle Soup. It’s going to hold in the crockpot while we’re gone for several hours at the final dress rehearsal, and we’ll have sliced homemade bread with peanut butter to go with it.
It was that fourth meal that gave me pause today. I really needed a substantial snack. The kids will be dancing, pretty much non-stop for three to four hours today. They need some healthy carbs to slowly burn and give them some energy. There are some light snacks available backstage should they need something, but I really wanted to drop them off at rehearsal ready and raring to go with a full belly. I saw the sack of russet potatoes when I went to get some turkey stock out of the freezer and wished that I could get away with feeding them baked potatoes for a snack. Zander is not a big potato fan, so I could never give that to him as a meal. But there is One Way that he will happily eat potatoes…
Potato Wedges. Seriously, I don’t know why I don’t think of these more often. Everyone in the family loves them, and while they make a great side dish to some fish or burgers, what a great, healthy snack idea! Potatoes are an excellent carbohydrate, loaded with vitamins and minerals, and they’ve been sadly villainized as of late by those who prefer a low-carb lifestyle. You should have seen Zander’s face when I told him his pre-rehearsal snack today was going to be a plate full of potato wedges- it was pure bliss.
To go with the wedges, I also tossed a bowl of full of well-past-their-prime apples in a pot with a spot of water, cinnamon, and sugar, and a side of homemade applesauce is fitting the bill nicely. You can see Zander’s plate of wedges here, complete with both ketchup and ranch dressing for dunking.
My recipe for Potato Wedges can be found right here in The Recipe Trove, though I actually used half the butter, oil, and salt, and added a good sprinkle of Garlic Pepper. Mmm, delicious. And hopefully, substantial enough to carry those little bellies through an afternoon of intense ballet dancing. Happy December everyone!