Ball

So I tried again tonight for a better dinner.  Tonight I had the help of Shay, thank you dear.  She helped me buy all my ingredients for tonight's Mexican inspired meal and then walked me through the cooking process over the phone.  Since I didn't get to have any guacamole last night and I remained bitter about it, I tried again.  The main course was a chicken stir fry with sauteed peppers and onions served on top of saffron rice.  Mmmm, sounds delicious...and it could have been.  Now, I'm not going to go as far as to say I screwed this dish up like last nights but overall I give myself a C+

 Let's start with the positives. 

1. Jeremy came home early tonight so he got to eat a hot meal and for the most part, he liked it.  He at the very least ate until he was full and didn't feel the need to make a "secret" McDonald's run. 
2. The kids liked it.  Reese really enjoyed it and gave me more credit than I deserved.  She told me I made a really good dinner and that she loved me because I had all the right ingredients.
3. Most everything was eaten.
4. As of yet, nobody has explosive diarrhea.

Here are some of the things about tonight's dinner that should have and could have gone better:

1. Oh for heaven's sake, I undercooked the rice.  It wasn't horribly underdone, put Jeremy and I didn't eat what was on our plates and although the children ate some, we didn't really expect them to.  When I told Shay over the phone that I would buy two packets just in case I messed it up, I didn't really think I would pull such a rookie move!
2. Although the guacamole was better than last nights re-fried beans, it was bland.  I had to add more spices to it after we tasted it at the table and even then, it wasn't quite what my taste buds were looking forward to.  But we did eat it all.
3. Overall, the chicken stir fry could have had more flavor.  I put in both cayenne pepper and cumin but it still was missing the kick.

 So that was tonight attempt to making a good dinner.  Oh!  And I made smoothies for dessert.  But wouldn't you know, they could have been better.  I mean, how hard can it be?!  But, they were on the thick side and it was embarrassing because Jeremy was home this time and these were the first smoothies he had of mine.  Errr!

Tomorrow night.  Chicken Fried Steak with a Sweet Potato Casserole.  We shall see!!!