DISH night

Mmm...already prepped and ready 

I have always put a lot of stock into, "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." I have noticed that my outlook and attitude on things definitely shapes my children's attitudes and behaviors towards things so I try to keep a cheery disposition to help keep the peace. Some days it's easier than others, and some days, well...ain't nobody happy. As with most families, the witching hour is 5-6pm. I have 3 hungry, exhausted children, Mark isn't home from work yet, and though I am ready to finally enjoy a few minutes of quiet (or finally sneak in a bathroom break), everyone seems to need something from me. Questions with homework, drama from the day, a dog that needs out, a dinner that needs prepared.... I despise 5pm. After shuffling through 150+ students in the day, plus my own 3 kiddos, by 5:00 I am spent. I have far surpassed my daily quota for the amount of questions I can answer or the amount of decisions I can make in a given day, so the last question I want to hear is the dreaded, "what's for dinner?" I try to prepare meals and a menu in advance to help lessen the chaos during the week, but it leaves my Sunday filled with prep work, when I would rather be enjoying my family or catching up on grading papers. When my friend Kindel asked if we should do a DISH night, (Dinner Is Solved at Hy-Vee) I was PUMPED! I spent Wednesday night drinking wine with 7 amazing women, chatting about life, and preparing some delicious new recipes. A few weeks in advance the 7 of us picked out a meal that we wanted to prepare, and then we showed up to a Hy-Vee kitchen all prepped and ready for us. The groceries had been purchased, the meat had been prepared, and the ingredients were all sorted and ready. I spent 2 hours making 9 batches of Chicken Cordon Bleu and stocking my friends' coolers. In return I left the evening with...Enchiladas, Baked Salmon, Chicken Pot Pie, Mongolian Beef, Chicken Parmesan, Calzones, Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken, and Chicken Cordon Bleu (x2). In 2 hours time, I left with 9 meals and only had to prep one of them. Not to mention I got a night to catch up with friends over a few bottles of wine. That's my idea of cooking. At the end of the night you take the grocery bill, divide it by the number of meals prepared (in our case 64) and pay for the amount of meals that you take home. So far the meals have been delicious, so we signed up to do it again in May and June!