When I’m not on zombie drug dealer duty, I stay home to herd the kiddos while Henry’s off being a caveman lawyer in the city. But ironically, my days “off” are much more hectic and harried than when I’m on a week of nightshifts. Perhaps it’s ’cause I’m less vigilant about planning when I’m not scheduled to be at work, but during the weeks I’m not rushing to get to the hospital, I inevitably find myself scrambling to get meals on the table.
For example, after waking up late yesterday morning, I had just 30 minutes to get the kids fed, cleaned, and packed for school. (Confession: the “cleaned” part sometimes gets skipped.) So breakfast had to be a simple affair: I prepared plain egg omelets seasoned with Red Boat Fish Sauce…
…in my favorite well-seasoned mini cast iron skillet…
…and then rolled each one around a slice of Black Forest ham.
These grab-and-go breakfast bites come in handy when we’re all rushing out the door.
I barely had time to run errands in the morning before I headed back to school to pick up Lil-O from kindergarten. “School is tooooo shooooort,” my five-year-old whines. “I want to stay in school forever.”
He’ll change his tune soon enough.
Lunch was almost an afterthought: I smushed up an avocado with salt, pepper, and lime juice to make some guacamole, and mixed it up with a can of tuna.
For added umami, I added some cherry tomatoes…
…and scooped up this quickie tuna salad with some sheets of Sea Snax seaweed.
All was well for the next couple of hours; Lil-O played with his Legos while I tended to chores. But after we picked Big-O up from school, Lil-O started complaining about a tummy ache—and within minutes, the situation escalated to tears and shrieks of pain. “It hurts so much I can’t straighten my legs!” he yelled.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the waiting area at urgent care. Luckily, by the time the doctor saw Lil-O, my kindergartener was feeling better. “I’m sorry,” I said to the doc. “It’s just that he was really freaking out, and this is a kid who’s normally pretty stoic. He’s not dramatic.”
“No,” Big-O piped up. “I’m the dramatic one.”
The doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with Lil-O, but by the time the exam was done, it was dinnertime. Back at home, I popped a tray of broccoli into the toaster oven and threw together a skillet supper. I seasoned a package of boneless and skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper and seared them on both sides in a hot skillet.
Next, I removed the thighs to a platter and tossed in some onions, mushrooms, and garlic into the pan.
After deglazing the pan with splash of balsamic vinegar and bone broth, I added the chicken back into the pan.
Then, I added a few sprigs of fresh thyme and half a basket of cherry tomatoes.
I covered the pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes…
…before lugging the heavy pan to the dining table.
I’m happy to report that Lil-O gobbled up dinner with nary a complaint.
Phew!
