Dinner Is Served. Sometimes.

Last year at Blissdom Canada I had the pleasure of meeting the very lovely Louise Gleeson of Late Night Plays.  We had chatted a bit and commented on each other’s blogs, but it was so nice to meet her in person.  Since then we have kept in touch regularly on Facebook and I even got to have coffee with her once somewhere in our busy schedules.

Louise is one of those rare finds who you can feel joy radiating from (in a completely wonderful way…not in the way that makes you want to haul off and punch her…sorry…rage issues…I’m working on them).  The love she has for her family can be felt in everything she writes and photographs.  And the way she feels about her friends shows in her everyday way, but also in the gestures that make a big difference to someone having a bad day.  Like a greeting card showing up in your mail when she knows you are having a hard time.  Not an ecard either…but REAL authentic mail that you can hold in your hand.  And maybe laminate and put under your pillow when you’re sleeping…not that I would do that because I am completely normal…I’m just saying that you could do that…if you were off-balance…quite the opposite of me.

One of Louise’s many talents is the food that she makes for her family.  She is famous for her fabulous Bento lunches that her lucky children get to take to school with them.  And this week she posted a recipe for Chicken Souvlaki on her personal Facebook page.  It looked delicious.  And was perfect timing since I was just about to head off to the grocery store.  Without a plan.  Again.

I bought all of the ingredients and made it to the checkout with 5 minutes to spare before they closed.  I was excited to make the meal for dinner the next day, and to actually be thinking about it before 5pm.  I got the chicken out to marinate it and realized I forgot to buy 2 ingredients.  And I managed to buy the one package of pitas in the store without pockets.  I’m hopeless.  But I forged ahead.  And even without the things I forgot it was still the best meal my family ate that week.  It was a hit with all of them.  Maggie just ate the pita, but that’s more than she will usually eat.

Grace kept asking me where the box for the chicken was.

There’s no box sweetie.

But where is the box???  *slow blinking*

It didn’t come in a box.  It’s fresh chicken breasts.

But how did you get it home??  *no more blinking. just wide eyes*

I use fresh chicken all the time, but she was convinced that it had come frozen in a box.  The only other option in her mind was that I had walked around the grocery store carrying loose chicken bits willy-nilly through the aisles.  I guess it’s too many of these meals that leave the biggest impression on her.  Must work on this too.

One of the reasons that we so often end up eating something frozen out of a box is that I never have a plan.  Louise is doing a great giveaway over on her blog for a Family Menu Planner that should help with that problem.  You should stop over there and see what her delicious meal looks like, because my picture does not do it justice.  I was too busy stuffing my face to get a decent picture.  While you are over at Late Night Plays you can read Louise’s lovely writing and say hello.  Hurry over though because she is doing the draw on May 1st!

This is not a sponsored post, and I was not asked to write it.  I just wanted an excuse to say nice things about Louise!  I AM going over there to try and win one of those planners though!!