In case you've been under a rock this week: Valentine's Day was on Monday. See Exhibit A above depicting my lil' cherubs opening their Valentine's goodies from Corin and me. (Bed-head and all.)
We decided not to do anything terribly special this year because A) that would involve hiring a babysitter, and B) I've been on this restrictive diet for the last several weeks, which makes eating out a little challenging. Not that we don't still do it. A lot. But it is challenging.
So, I decided to try to make dinner at home a little more special than usual. I typically do not make separate meals for adults vs. kids around here, except every once in a while when I, quite honestly, don't want to waste money trying to feed the kids something really good (like lobster tail) that I know they won't eat. But, I make the occasional exception, and Monday night was one of those times because I wanted to try a new recipe for Corin and I that was all made of stuff I could have (no starch, no sugar) - but still sounded like it might be tasty...to adults.
The kids both have gymnastics on Monday evening, so we don't get home until 6:30ish. This week it was 6:35. But luckily, in a recent development, some neighbors have started taking gymnastics the same night, so my neighbor picks them up and I bring them all home. Which gives me 45 whole minutes in an empty house before I go to pick them up.
I spent that 45 minutes wisely. I chopped peppers, I riced a cauliflower (don't hate if you haven't tried it), I unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher. I minced some garlic. Etc. So that all I would have to do when I got home was just throw everything together to have dinner on the table at 7. At some point in there, I decided it would be extra special to try to make some ice cream from a recipe I'd seen on my diet web forum using almond milk, stevia (natural sweetener), and little else.
Here's where it gets interesting. We arrived home and I sprang into action. I put popcorn shrimp in the oven for the kids, started boiling water in two pots for their mac n cheese and veggies, and then set about following the recipe to make the seared scallops and cauliflower (mock) couscous that I was fixing for Corin and I. Oh, and the ice cream. Since the ice cream would take the longest, I whisked that together real quick and set about finding the ice cream churn. AFTER I set some oil in a skillet on the stovetop to heat.
When Corin arrived, he found me outside fiddling with the ice cream churn (which I think I broke, because I didn't know you have to ALTERNATE the ice with the ice cream salt. Anywho, I refused his offer of help because this was my special treat for the family. Then I returned to the stove to begin sauteeing my peppers. So, I dumped my pre-diced peppers into the (now very hot) oil and, I kid you not, the flame that shot out of that skillet went clear up to the vent hood. And set the smoke detectors off.
Now, setting off the smoke detectors in our house is not uncommon. Corin has threatened numerous times to disconnect the @*%! things because they go off so often when we cook. But normally.... Normally, if we fan at them for a few seconds, they stop. Oh, but not on Valentine's night. They went off, with Corin fanning them and every door in the house open, for a full 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, we've discovered my ice cream churn faux pas and Corin has set about trying to fix it. The kids' shrimp is done (really done) and the elbow pasta is ready (past ready) to be buttered, cheese sauced and milked. So, I accepted Corin's offer to help. He finished making the mac n cheese while I finished making the (mock) couscous and searing some scallops.
The result? Drumroll, please... Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. I mean, there was the narrowly-missed-burning-down-the-house incident and the broken-ice-cream-churn incident, but the seared scallops and mock couscous? EXCELLENT! I'll totally make it again - though I won't heat up the oil quite so hot next time. And the kids enjoyed their popcorn shrimp and mac n cheese and broccoli so much that I only had to tell them 20 times each to eat their supper, instead of the customary 45.
And we had a nice family dinner. And we ate by candlelight. And we had ice cream for dessert.**
**No we didn't. Apparently almond milk and stevia and little else is not intended to become ice cream, despite what my diet gurus said. Instead, it became a hard frozen icy layer stuck hard and fast to the inside of the ice cream churn (now broken) and refused to be dislodged. Luckily, everyone had some Valentine's candy to eat for dessert after the disappointment of the failed ice cream had worn off. Even me. I had made some coconut oil candies earlier in the day (again, don't hate unless you've tried it) in a candy mold that I used for Pressley's Ariel birthday cake two years ago, so I had some tasty treats in the shape of some starfish and some crabs.
Oh - AND - my sweetie (my Valentine) stopped on the way home from work and got me - not chocolates, because he knew I couldn't have them - but guacamole from Chipotle. Because that's what happens after 10-1/2 years of mariage. And because guacamole is one of the few yummy treats I can enjoy whilst not eating carbs or sugar. He loves me! He also got me some lovely Gerbera daisies.
I have enjoyed both the guac and the flowers immensely.
The end.
