Kiss My Grits!...

I couldn't resist that title. Sorry. In all honesty, it's what I wanted to say to my crippled body when I woke up a thousand times in the night in pain. Boo hoo, let's move on...

My body came around by lunch time-ish. And I was determined to make something with this day besides robotically going through the motions of diapering and dressing (the boys - not me), preschool runs and such. I've been on a mission to come up with some new food choices for Gavin and today, I did declare, was the day.

Only one small problem. I had NO idea what I was doing. None.

I had bought a couple bags of black eyed peas last time I was grocery shopping. I once made a dish for Gavin (and by made I mean opened the box and microwaved and then pureed) that had black eyed peas, brown rice and vegetables. It was filled with flavors like Cilantro and onions. So, in my attempt to re-create that experience for him I came up with this...

Black eyed peas...lots of butter...garlic...onion...mexicorn...and diced tomatoes. Sara helped me puree it and put it into containers. We kept some un-pureed for his 3pm snack - the one where he is required to only eat solids. For a girl from the Northeast - I was pretty proud of this. But wait! It gets even MORE southern...

I made buttered (and I mean BUTTERED!) grits!

I thought about mixing it all together in the food processor - but figured we could mix the grits with his other foods and not just the bean mixture. Tonight at dinner he had Tilapia with the grits and his vegetable stew and he LOVED it.

On a roll, I decided to come up with a crock pot dinner when I couldn't find the recipe for what I wanted to make! I put chicken thighs in the crock pot with soy sauce, carrots, green beans, and when I couldn't find honey - I used Agave nectar. I gave some to Brian for dinner and he gave it two thumbs up! I tried not to be insulted when, after he said he loved it, asked if it was "Daddy's chicken?". Can't blame the poor kid - he's telling the truth.

But all things considered - I do declare - I may have had a bit of a kitchen confidence boost today!

Miss Maggie was here for Gavin's feeding therapy this afternoon. She wants to work hard on his mouth strengthening exercises. She used cut up carrots and played "tug of war" with him once he bit down on it.

Across the room, Brian and Miss Sara were making pretend ice cream cones with play doh...

Brian had to be reminded to "just pretend!" several times...

And I think, in an effort to sneak a taste, decided to barricade himself under the table.

Hopefully he'll get his cooking skills from his Daddy. But it's clear he gets his cleverness from me.