Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Savages

My kids eat like savages, wandering around, playing, doing gymnastics between bites. While they are pretty good at making it to their mouths and are excellent at sponging messes up, there is inevitable fallout. H-Mama is about to explode at all the sticky fingerprints, gooey spots, and food stuck in odd places. Its our fault, and I'm about to fix it. We spent the morning cleaning, painting, doing puzzles and throwing things away. Right before lunch we boiled some noodles and they helped me make pesto. Tearing the leaves off basil is something they are eminently qualified to do, and dropping ingredients into the food processor is their favorite thing ever. We then (drum roll) sat at the dining room table in high chairs while they ate. Easy. Monito got down after 8 minutes, Pequita had a potty break after 9 minutes but came back for more. Stay tuned - next we learn "May I please be excused?"

5 comments:

Becca said...

We've always been sticklers for that. Once you leave the table you are done eating. We still have a sticky kitchen and a trail of yuck on the first three-ish feet of carpet leading away from the kitchen, but largely, the stay at the table rule works well for keeping the food mess contained. Good luck.

I love pesto... is it hard to make?

Alison Williams said...

The pic looks a picture of civility! Foxy must eat chained into his highchair. He is a total savage, food everywhere. It is at least contained in a nook of the kitchen, but it's disgusting. I can't be bothered (yet) to improve the behaviour, but a re-paint is in our future.
p.s. -- becca - pesto is easy and oh so much better than store-bought! must post my quickie recipe...

Homestead Mom said...

Becca, Ali is right - Pesto is really easy with either a blender or food processor. Store bought pales in comparison.
Ingredients are:
-large bunch of basil leaves
-olive oil
-Pine nuts or walnuts
-parmesean cheese cut into smallish lumps
-lemon juice
-salt

I just process basil and oil til mush, add ~1/2 c nuts, juice of 1/2 lemon, and a 1/4 c of cheese. Taste it and adjust to taste. Add salt last, since cheese will be salty.

Alison Williams said...

interesting -- i always add a clove or two of garlic and no lemon juice. i will try your way next time! and, imho, it's gotta be pine nuts! yum, yum. we have already had it twice in the past two weeks.

Homestead Mom said...

Whoops. Garlic, yes, lots of hot spicy raw garlic. But always lemon juice, too, Ali. Give it a try. Nice acid balancing.