how we make dinner

With LOTS of help, of course. Seems to me the only way to get dinner made these days is to have someone across the kitchen island from me - either helping with my dinner plan, or more likely, choosing to work on their own dinner plan. Today, a favorite recipe of Adelaide's.

Needed:
every measuring cup, spoon and wooden spoon in the house
sifter - optional, but strongly desired
an apron - like Mama (or Papa) - (additional clothing optional)

Ingredients:
3 cups dinner-in-progress scraps - carrots, onions, leeks - anything will do
8 cups water - carried - cup by cup - across the kitchen
2 cups mystery pantry food - unidentifiable, forgotten dried beans? Yup.
2 tiny precious drops - something chosen from the fridge door
6 parts - clean up
2 parts - patience
10 parts - laughter

Mix & stir until everything has been added. If the other dinner isn't done yet, um....add more water. At this point, the excitement can usually be transferred to setting the table (seriously), 'showing' the soup to everyone, and then...carrying it very carefully to its ultimate destination outside with much fanfare.

We call it Compost Soup.

Comments

[jean]

YUM!! Soon she can make it outside, too, with a few cups of MUD.

[melmo]

fan...tas...tic! totally love it!

[Geertrude]

What is it with little girls and making soup? It was the favourite outdoor-game of my daughters for years. Bowls filled with water, old spoons, lots of dirt, leaves, flowers and even (dead) bugs were stirred for hours...

[lera]

What fun!

[natasha s]

Great recipe!!
I do find that when the babes are involved in the dinner process it actually gets done quicker as I don't have to keep stopping to sort out some sibling clash of one sort or another!
Take care

[Kate]

Oh, that regularly happens here too.
I love to watch them working with such intention and determination. So precious!!

[sabrina]

dear amanda
from adelaide's today dress it seems like it is very hot down there.... we are freezing here in rome, italy, waiting for the spring still coming...
ciao
sabrina

[diana]

haha..."flower, herbs and grass soup" is our favorite one in summer. Can also be used as a magic potion which turns you into a mermaid and/or a relaxing footbath afterwards.

[d-day]

i have the same at home... eight hands which want to help me... ;-) (and soon TEN! oh my god!)

[MamaShift]

My 27 mo is into couscous at the moment. Oh, and crumbling bread on the table and adding it, handful by handful, into a cup of water.

We use the vaccuum cleaner a lot around here.

[bigbucketgirl]

Does Adelaide offer a takeaway service? Sounds fantastic!

[jen(storiesfromthemouth)]

This is why I love you...such a great idea (whether the original was yours or Adelaide's!). I think your recipe may be a bit off though...you sure about 6 parts clean-up...with 8 cups of water carried across the kitchen....hmmm, not sure about that.

[Lindsey]

What a fun way to make cooking and composting part of every day life! Composting here is a bit more mundane. We keep a can on the counter and we all throw our scraps, cores, crusts and dog hair in there. :)

[QALBALLAH]

I couldn't do that. I'd be a nervous wreck waiting for the compost to end up on the kitchen floor.

[molly]

oh my. this is my life! (even down to having a naked little belly (w/ apron) helping at my side)...

[marcella]

This is a great idea-especially as many of us are really thinking about compost heaps right now anyway. "Additional clothing optional" so funny!

[inga]

cute and funny))))

[inge]

love it!!!

[Pamela]

What a great way to get your kiddos involved AND get the scraps out to the compost! I'll have to keep this in mind!

[Karen]

I SOOOOOO admire your patience. My mother always told me it was a virtue.

[liza]

That belly is sooo kissable!

[Missy Keenan]

I love how you turn life's ordinary moments into something so fun and sweet.

[Danielle]

Wonderful!! I usually set up my youngest (almost 2) standing at a kitchen chair with several big bowls, tons of little bowls, lots of cups, measuring cups & all the stirring utensils & water he needs. A couple large towels underneath him too. My middle child (almost 5)usually ends up helping him after she's done helping me with dinner. Setting the table is another favorite around here!! My little guy will take the forks or spoons and spread them out perfectly around the table for everyone. it takes him about 5 minutes to get everyone's in the "perfect spot", so cute!!

[Ram in the Thicket]

This is a funny coincidence... I was just relaying a story to my hubby last night when we were talking about what to plant in the garden this year, about a memory I have of 'helping' my grandmother to cut the ends off of her bush beans, and she let me play-cook with the ends in a pot for a while. Then she actually humored me by letting me cook them ;o)

[Simple Family]

For a second, I thought that was a pretty good looking salad.

We have the same bowl! Big fluffy heart for Pyrex.

[lunemalo]

Oh my God, I DO wish I were a kid in your home...

[jen(storiesfromthemouth)]

Have you seen this? Great that it has the picture of the bird and information to look at as you listen to the song.
http://kidonyc.com/detail:age/stage%20IV,read,06k:2123CHRbirdSongs/

Thought you might be interested.

[camerashymomma]

how funny, river also loves to set the dinner table. seriously. where did these kids come from? i love it!! love that baby belly hanging just above the apron too! :)

[Christy/ MommaOnTheMountain]

it's funny how much we delight in what delights them. I have swept/vacuumed more pounds of flour than I care to account for. I have thrown out in to our compost more food than I probably would have prefered to, but....my kids are comfortable at my side, they are welcome there and that is the very best thing in the world to me. Our kitchen truly is the heart of our house, friends come in through the mudroom, right off of the kitchen and seldom travel much farther. It's cluttered with toys, playdough accessories, and early readers, crayons, paper, colored pencils. More often than not one or two kids are perched on a counter...I love it.

[melissa s.]

the kitchen is our favorite playroom of the house (theirs and mine!)

[Jessica Keith]

I love this idea. Grant and Grayson always have their hands into what I'm cooking. I love the idea of letting them create their own thing!

[Rachel Whetzel]

See!?!? I always just have them help with the REAL dinner... I think I need to RE think my cooking.

[water works]

What? You mean all houses don't make compost soup type creations? Ours does and I thought every house made scrappy creations during the dinner hour.

[Kim]

I am glad to know I am not the only one who likes to see kid bellies while doing messy I mean creative work :)

[Bluebirdbaby]

Oh yes...compost soup! We do this almost every night here. It's the only way I can get dinner ready :)

[elliebelle]

That is so funny! I remember having the job of taking out the compost - but I hated it! haha - I think because it was usually pretty rotten and full of coffee grounds and always seemed to drip down my arms as I was dumping it. ewww...
Your compost looks much prettier! :)

[cindy]

This is so funny. My wonderful Grandmother would let me do this. I would bring in things from the garden and chop, smoosh, stir, cook and serve it up. She would then pretend to eat it. You have made a perfect memory for your wee ones.

[meredith]

For YEARS my children made spice soup. Ingredients are water of cours and whatever left over dried up stuff in the little containers I had that wouldn't be too toxic near the face. MY KIDS LOVED THIS PROJECT. It calmed them down, soothed jangled nerves(mine and theirs) and brought peace to our kitchen :)

[Sharon]

Delightful! My son and I used to make "Witch Stew"...a smelly concoction made up of stuff that basically needed to be thrown out...it would stay on the counter overnight and mysteriously disappear except for dregs the next morning...obviously the witch had stopped by!

Sharon

[Barbara]

LOL great idea though, seriously!!

[Amy]

Mmm looks delicious! :)

[MamaBird/SurelyYouNest]

awwww - love this! and we are *this close* to figuring out how to assemble our compost tumbler ;)

[Bridget]

This is great! Wish I would have thought of it when my son was a bit younger. :) Oh well...I'll have to try it with my nephew.

[kosenrufu mama]

FOR US IS THE AME THING... A LOT OF FUN, A BIG MESS, AND A LOT OF SATISFACTION...

[lori@lissilulu.com]

how funny....Adelaide looks just like one of my kids, in the past. My youngest is 6 now so she has started cooking soup on the stove with supervision. bowl sadness for me though...I had the same bowl, used to be my moms but there was a freak accident involving a sweet child bringing me said bowl filled with pizza dough and slippery hands..the rest is history. LOL!
Anyway...way to go Adelaide!
Lori

[{heather}]

Oh my, she is just too precious! I love her cooking skills, she sounds just like me in the kitchen! ;)

[Darby]

Um... why didn't I think of that??? What a great way to entertain a toddler while you make dinner! I will try this tonight.

[Berlinswhimsy]

Oh, I love the picture of the careful two-handed pouring! So cute.

I have four helping hands here, too, with opinions of their own about what we should make for dinner!

[Ericka B Traven]

Sounds like my bread baking yesterday. Bread is new to me and the kids enjoy the kneading as much as I do. We took turns kneading. Me doing the work and them getting flour all over as they pounded the dough. It was great fun as three kids fought over two stools and the baby (almost two already) only wanted up to eat the raw dough. The bread turned out well and the kids had a blast.

[vickie]

what a great idea!!!!!!!!!!!!1 i am so going to do this with my little girl tonight!

thanks Amanda!