Bacon and fish

So I made a resolution back in January that we would slow down on the going out to eat all the time.

First, with three active and growing kiddos, were lucky if our restaurant bill is under $40 a pop, so multiply that by 2 or 3 times a week and by the end of the month, the budget is screaming at me wondering where all the cash went.

Secondly, with all the weekly ball games and practices, a lot of our dinners ended up being decided at 8:30 at night when everyone is already starving and turning into gnarling beasts, so the only answer was food and FAST! Therefore, going out to eat seemed to be the easy answer. Nothing like a big, fat burrito sitting on your gut at 9:15 at night.

Anyway, the point to my story is, I made a decision that we were going to start eating at home more, even if we ate supper right before bed. This resolution has required me to do some tricky meal planning, which ain't easy when I can't even find time to go to the store when I need to, but I've managed to be fairly successful these last few months. I've made so many roasts that I'm sure my family detests the thought of swallowing one more piece, heated up far too many casseroles and whipped up some late night pancakes and eggs too many times to count.

The cool thing is, no one has complained about not going out to eat. I'm thinking the kids might actually like going home to eat after their games, instead of schluffin' to yet another restaurant late on a Tuesday evening. They're always accommodating and thankful for their family dinner together, no matter what time of night it is.

However, they have been whining about a few things that I'm about done hearing about. One more belly ache about it, and they will be handed the reigns. Smells.

They wanna eat the dinner but they don't want the house or themselves to smell like it. For instance, they LOVE bacon! Who doesn't really? But they don't wanna smell like it or have the house smell like it for the two days after. They want bacon with their late night breakfast food or they beg me for BLT's but then there's all this grumbling afterwards.

I've tried opening windows, even if it's snowing, lighting candles and spraying air freshener but no matter what, the smell just sticks. Can't help it. You want to eat at home and you like bacon? Then, by golly, you're gonna smell like it.

Then there's the infamous fish smell. They love fried fish and I try to fit in some fish in their diet as much as I can, but what does fish do? Stink up the joint.

They get tired of me making chicken and I can't make steak and hamburger every night so the next choice is fish. They're excited about the meal but then bark all the next day about how bad they stink and how everyone at school is gonna smell them and so on and so on. I have no sympathy and remind them that there's worse things that their friends are gonna smell at school than them and for crying out loud, spray some perfume on and call it good. Geesh!

Anyway, every morning that they complain about smelling like their late-night family dinner, I remind them that they got a homemade dinner and should be proud of that smell!

Cause, gosh darn it, I'm trying really hard to pull off this whole "mom" gig the best I can and I've been pretty proud of myself for not only saving money but feeding my kids a home cooked meal.

So, I decided the next time they wanna share their grief about the bacon aroma in their hair and on their clothes, I will tell them that dinner will be on them that night and I can't wait to see what they'll serve!

And it better not be spaghetti with garlic bread, heaven forbid I smell like garlic when I go to work the next day!

How embarrassing!