Haters Gonna Hate

Welcome to our St. Patrick's Day dinner day! Aaron had a work dinner last night which is the only way he gets fancy-schmancy meals, so we delayed our green meal 'til today! I spent quite a bit of this Rest Day in the kitchen getting different foods ready ahead of time, so the entire day felt focused on dinner. That really wasn't a bad thing given my latest and surprising happy gravitation to the kitchen!

Last year, Aaron was out of town during St. Pat's, so I was relieved of the smell of corned beef stewing all day. Yeah, well, the Pit Crewers have awesome memories and clearly remember not getting their annual allotment of the stuff, and they didn't let me forget it this year when they found out Dad wouldn't be home for dinner on the 17th. In other words, they weren't letting two years go without.

I made the awesome discovery this year that corned beef cooks just as well (and for just as long) in a crock pot as it does on the stove top. Why didn't I figure that out long, long ago?? The report was that it was delicious, but you won't be seeing any because I didn't eat any. I did my time as a kid, I'm not having any as an adult.

Anyway, our dinner shamrocked ...

I had leftover chicken only because Aaron reminded me there was no protein plan on my plate. Whoops. Frankly, I was too distracted by the artichoke. (Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh !) The other delectable spoonfuls were spinach casserole (holy yum; even Pit Crew #3 liked it), and this fiesta cauliflower casserole I'm totally in love with and made green for the occasion. You also spy with your little eye green hollandaise for the 'choke and, of course, green water. I was going to keep my water regular until I gave in to peer pressure.

Of course we had dessert! Green white chocolate pudding, anyone?

It was all sooooo good ... and, so fun! I love doing this meal every year even though I don't get the holiday.

By the way, I saw a few postings on Facebook yesterday from moms ranting about "Oh, so now I'm supposed to make my kids' food green for this day?! Hell no, I won't go!" At least, that was the sentiment. For real, though, there were some pretty outraged moms out there feeling some made-up pressure to somehow recognize this holiday. Like they were bad moms if they didn't turn their kids' food green for lunch and they didn't appreciate the judgment. (Um, from whom ...?) I didn't Facebook my kids' lunches so, no, it wasn't directed at me. (Although, that would have made me laugh because who cares.) I can only say the pressure is made up and self-imposed, so relax. Seriously, shhhhhh ... Have some green pudding. I'll make it for you. But, only if you turn your frown upside down.

So, there was that. Green food mission accomplished. That's not a bad thing to accomplish! AND we have a lot of leftovers. I foresee a leftover dinner within the next two days. MOM WINS.

Tomorrow's another break from running, but I'll be checking in. Make your own kind of fun no matter what anyone else thinks, and I'll see you tomorrow!