Kitchen Mama

In my fantasy world, I am Nigella Lawson. A volumptuous kitchen goddess who whips up delicious meals for my family in a spotless, all-white kitchen with adoring children and dogs looking on. In real life, however, I cook up a mean frozen meal-in-a-bag from Trader Joe's. Or order pizza.

Having an infant and toddler makes me want to be better. I want to serve my baby girl fresh, mama-made solids, not the baby food from a jar. I want my toddler to occasionally eat food that is not heated in a microwave.

For those culinary-challenged mamas out there, I offer my first step in this direction:

Needing a quick dinner for Arlo (2) and Elsa (5.5 months), I cooked up a sweet potato and then halved it. I scooped out half the potato for Arlo and mixed it with a bit of cinamon. Served with corn, a Morning Star "chicken" patty and a glass of milk, and I had a pretty decent Sunday night meal for him. For Elsa, I mixed some of the sweet potato with my pumped milk to make it a very smooth consistency and served that for her supper. Remaining sweet potato went into an empty glass jar (recycled from an earlier-used jar baby food) and we're ready for a meal tomorrow or the next day.

One day I will attend a culinary school and become my own version of Nigella. Until then, it's all about baby steps.