Someone's in the kitchen with Mama

So we've been testing out some new recipes that I'd love to share with you.

*screech*

Just kidding.  This isn't a foodie blog.  What I really meant to say was I got some super-fun pictures of Julia "helping" out in the kitchen and am looking for an excuse to share them.

Helping wash the dishes.

Correction: Drinking dirty dishwater.

Jack's been begging for Macaroni and Cheese the past few days.  What he really means is the orange stuff that comes in a box, but I try to avoid that if at all possible.  Only the best for my kiddos!! So I decided to go with a full-on homemade recipe this time.  You know, the whole sha-bang - making a roux, whisking, whisking, whisking... and shredding, shredding, shredding until you think your hand is going to fall off.  I forgot how stove-intensive such recipes were.  I could hear the boys re-enacting WWF on the guest room bed but I was kinda chained to the stove in fear of scorching the milk!!  Oh yeah, and because this girl was on a stool next to me.

Look closely, see what's going on here? She just threw a bowl of my carefully whisked egg onto the floor, where it splashed all over the cupboards on the way down.  Not only did I have to pause in my roux-ing to clean it up, but I also had to take time to re-prep the egg.  Not good Girlfriend.

We managed to finish off the mac 'n cheese without browning the butter or scorching the milk.  As for the giant hole in the casserole ... my back was turned.

And Sister was hungry.

Making Mac 'n Cheese from scratch just isn't worth it anymore.  My kitchen was trashed, my boys were neglected for too long, and the kids didn't like it as much as the orange stuff anyway.  So I saved myself $1.59 on a box, but spent at least that much on grated cheese and way more energy than was necessary.  I think from now on I'll save the homemade version for potlucks.

My "big helper" has already figured out when to make her exit ... right about the same time Mom starts doing the dishes.  I hadn't even had a chance to wipe the cheese off her nose before she was off collecting lighters from her brother.

Yup, lighters.  I posted this photo on Instagram and afterwards thought people may be wondering why we have so many lighters in our house.  No, not for smoking.  Jon uses them to burn the wax he uses to shine his work boots.  There, glad I cleared that up.

Oh yeah, in case you actually were interested in those recipes, here's what Julia and I have made the past few days:

Pioneer Woman's Macaroni and Cheese
Runner's World Sweet Potato Muffins (modified)
Smitten Kitchen Brownies
Smitten Kitchen Spinach Quiche (modified)
King Arthur Flour Whole Wheat Waffles
King Arthur Whole Wheat Bread (modified)

And with that (and three sleeping kids) I'm going to go treat myself to a brownie and chocolate milkshake.  Too much chocolate?  The baby disagrees.