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We finished off the chicken parm tonight.  That is one meal that is still awesome when you reheat it.  I did not make any veggies with it just because I really didn’t feel like it.  I probably should have made a small salad or broccoli because Liam doesn’t really like the rest of dinner all that much.  Unfortunately, those are the only two green veggies that Liam will eat.  That’s only if you consider the few little leaves of romaine lettuce in a bowl covered in dressing a salad…LOL That goes for Chris too.  He only has lettuce, croûtons, and dressing.  I guess you could say he only eats Caesar salad.  I should be the last one to criticize what to put in a salad because I don’t like raw tomato at all.  Yeah, hard to believe that an Italian can survive not eating tomatos, but it’s true ladies and gentlemen.  I have and will continue to live just fine not liking them – raw, that is…

For Thanksgiving this year, Chris, Liam, and I have decided to give more than we receive.  We are heading to a church in Walkill to help prepare and serve Thanksgiving Dinner for people in need.  Chelsea, my one and only daughter  :-) is with her Dad in Manhattan for Thanksgiving this year.  We always miss not having her with us, but we understand the importance of taking turns each year with the rest of her family and making Chelsea feel as normal as the next kid.  She’s coming home on Friday.  Can’t wait to see you Chels!

I am happy to blog that I did make dinner once again! Boy, I am on a roll now.  Nothing can stop me! Ok, let’s not get too carried away with ourselves, Sandra.

I started preparing my sauce today at 2:45pm, and the sauce was cooking by 3:00pm.  Now, of course we now that I would have never pulled off tonight’s dinner with having to cook a pot of sauce because I don’t get home until 4:45.  So if I didn’t have off today, I would have probably made the leftover chicken cutlets with a bag of Carolina Yellow Rice and opened a can of corn.  There is no way this family is opening a jar of sauce that is not mine, so the whole dinner would’ve had to change.  Hey, it’s better than nothing, right? Ok, you can stop laughing about the can of corn babe.  That’s not all we have for dinner! LOL

When Chris got home this afternoon, he said he would cook the chicken parm for me so I could relax.  Hey, I am on vacation yanno.  I’m allowed to be lazy.  There was one problem though.  NO CHEESE!!!!! I knew I would forget! But God was looking out for me today because since I drank all the soda being home thirsty all day…hehe, Chris has to run out for another bottle (because he refuses to eat dinner without soda).  So, since he’s going out anyway, he might as well pick that up too, right? Thank God he’s always so good to me and doesn’t bitch at me for these last minute annoyances that I always throw at him.  Thanks Babe!!

So dinner ended up being a big hit for two of us at least.  We had chicken parm with spaghetti and Pillsbury Cresent Rolls.  I bet you can guess what Liam ate the most of.  Yep, the rolls…Liam does not express his Italian side in the way he eats, that’s for sure.  He hates red sauce, so that eliminates just about everything, including pizza! When was the last time you saw a kid that doesn’t eat pizza? At least with most kids you can get them to eat something off of a slice – some rip off the cheese and eat only that, others lift the cheese and wipe off all the sauce, and I’ve even seen a kid rip off the cheese, wipe off the sauce and eat just the crust!!! But what does Liam hate about pizza? EVERYTHING! Chris and I have even tried getting him a white slice.  Nope, didn’t like it.  All you Moms out there know how annoying this is, because what do they serve our children at just about every single birthday party? Yes, without a doubt, friggin pizza.  All the other kids are chowing down, but not my poor son, as he sits there thinking, “oh great, another pizza party and my mom is gonna make faces at me from across the room to eat a few bites.” I’m not trying to be mean, but I’m hoping that he will learn to like it over time.  It’s not like he gags on it or anything.  I think he would just prefer not to eat it.  After all, he likes bread and cheese, just not all together and cooked into pizza.  So always eats about half of the slice, so I can’t help but wonder, is he messing with me or is he eating it just to shut me up?? I’ll never know because I’m afraid of the answer.  Ignorance is bliss!

I’m sure you can already guess what I cooked for dinner tonight.  Yup, the chicken that I was supposed to make last night but instead opted for Olive Garden.  I wanted to cook tonight especially after feeling guilty about not cooking last night.  So tonight I thought it would be fun to time how long it took to cook dinner and found out that it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to cook and clean up.  There is one thing that I definitely learned from my Mom and that’s to clean up while you cook.  I always hate when I don’t.  Yes Mom, I agree with you.

Even though it took us pretty much the same amount of time to eat out compared to eating at home, but there are some things about cooking at home that outweigh eating out.  First of all, I cooked enough chicken cutlet for two nights.  Now I don’t have to worry much about tomorrow’s dinner.  I want to make chicken parm but in order to make that I will have to make a pot of sauce first because there’s no more in the freezer.  Bummer… Good thing I took this week off from work, so I should have no excuse for not making sauce tomorrow before dinnertime.  I’m already laughing under my breath because I know how easily I can screw that up.  I also can’t forget that I will need mozzarella cheese which I have none of so now I have to go to the store for that.  Yeah, we’ll see how this one plays out tomorrow… I know that most of you are probably laughing too because you have been here done that, right?

So, to finish up my dinner story, I decided to make potatoes cut up and pan fried instead of the yellow rice.  The broccoli was a must because it needed to be cooked before it got limp.  No limpiness (i guess this isn’t a word) in the kitchen allowed!! LOL

The second reason I am happy I cooked dinner tonight is because Liam said mmm…thanks Mom!…as he ate a piece of potato.  That statement makes everything and anything worth it.  :-) Now I know it’s pan fried with oil, but it is canola and besides, how much oil do you think you are eating when you eat out? Liam scarfed down a ton of breadsticks and fried chicken fingers at Olive Garden and hated the broccoli because it wasn’t mine, of course… Not to mention I’m sure eating out at Olive Garden last night added something to my hips, and I can guarantee it wasn’t a tan.

I am ashamed to say that once again I did not cook dinner yesterday.  I had all good intentions of making chicken cutlets with rice and broccoli but once dinner time came rolling around, I was tired from all the chores I had done around the house.  I know that sounds really pathetic and I agree! It does! So you may be wondering what we ended up doing? We went to Olive Garden that is about 25 minutes away.   The whole outing took 2 hours and change door to door.  Now by the time I got home and was exploding at the waist, I felt kind of guilty that I hadn’t cooked, but boy was I happy to see a clean kitchen! LOL

If anything, I think this trip has once and for all proved to my husband that he is lactose intolerant after all the darn cheese he ate! You’re welcome hunny….hehe

I bet you can guess what we are having for dinner tonight!

Welcome to No Time For Dinner! This site is your new place to vent about all the reasons why you have No Time For Dinner! Whether it be the kids, work, exhaustion, lack of ideas, you want to cook but think you have no time, you can stand cooking anymore, or you are just too darn lazy, this is the place for you.  I’ve even blamed not cooking dinner on my picky husband! He hates everything! Then I have my son who is also picky and most of the time I swear he survives on peanut butter and jelly.  So, what is your excuse? Ahem, I mean reason…LOL