Lucky

I was sitting on my bed the other day thinking how lucky I was.

NOT because I was feeling well. Nope. Not feeling well at all. I had spent the morning vigorously cleaning the house for 3.5 hours. Then homeschooled for several hours. I was tired ......and hungry.

So I was sitting on my bed. There is not a lot of(okay, virtually none) easy grab food at my house. So if you want something to eat you have to make it. That includes making the bread ...if you want a sandwich... making the tortillas if you want a taco. Make the cookies ...if you want a cookie. I swear to you this is the secret to not getting FAT .....but that secret is for another blog post.

So I was sitting on my bed tired and hungry, and the kids came in asking to watch a movie.

! ! !

I said I would make them a deal. Make dinner, and you can watch a movie. :D

Ellie was suspicious. James was eager to agree.

A fortunate thing, or unfortunate thing of my pregnancies is my food tolerance. If I crave a certain food, that food and only that food is what I can eat. Nothing else will do.

Unfortunately for the kids, I was craving Shepard's Pie.

When I mentioned this to the kid's, Ellie groaned.

I chuckled and said "If they made me Shepard's Pie, I would up the anti a bit and let them watch A BARBIE MOVIE.

This sealed the deal, but Ellie said, I wasn't allowed in the kitchen, and could only give advice from afar.

I am amazed at my children.

Those sweet children all worked together and browned the hamburger. Cut onions(James cried :) ) and peeled and cut up carrots.
Made mashed potatoes! Grated cheese. Made the Shepard's Sauce from scratch. Located the very difficult to find paprika in the pantry :) Combined, and baked everything. Ellie even made her special Parmesan bread sticks to go along with the dinner.

I just laid on my bed, resting, and thought how lucky I was :) ......while intermittently calling out reminders to turn off the stove and oven, and to not chop off their fingers.

 By the time Barry came home dinner was hot and ready, the table was set(by Emma), and the kids were all snuggling on my bed watching a movie.

The Shepard's Pie was delicious and just what I wanted. The breadsticks were amazing.  The movie was dumb. ;)

My kids are amazing! I am blessed.



You can google your own Shepard's Pie recipe. They are all so very different, so make what you like....or crave. ;)

Ellie's Parmesan Bread Sticks

5 tsp of yeast
2 cups of warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
4 T Oil (vegetable, olive, canola, corn) 
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups of AP flour ( you can half it with whole wheat)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the yeast and sugar in warm water. Mix in the oil, mix in salt. Stir in flour. Beat 30 strokes or in the mixer for a minute. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
Spread on greased stone or cookie sheet. Top with softened butter, Parmesan and whatever seasoning you like. Cut breadsticks with a pizza slicer. Bake bread sticks until edges are browned,17 to 20 mins. Bread sticks will be large and very fluffy. :) 
*IF you l like thinner more crispy bread sticks, simply half the recipe.