Lunch-Club

Most nights, cooking dinner for eight is more work than getting Lindsay Lohan dried out. And even though I enjoy cooking, it is still tantamount to producing a buffet line for an Army platoon.

And with school out, every day at 11 I look around to find 6 hungry mouths, hanging open baby-bird style. They're getting pretty burnt out on my sandwich repertoire, and I can't say I blame them; I was in my late twenties before I could stare a PB&J sandwich in the face again and not want to eat paste instead. Only what do you fix for lunch every. single. day. to satisfy everyone and not end up feeling like a short order cook?

The answer my friends, is passing the buck. I've been letting the kids invent their own lunches and prepare them solo, with mommy supervision. Sure, it's a huge mess and I usually have to run the dishwasher twice in a day, but I figure aside from retaining some mommy sanity, it gives the kids some hands on experience in the kitchen.

And they love it. English muffin pizzas, grilled cheese and ham, simple pasta dishes, omelets, and even just re-heating leftovers are exciting when the kitchen is your oyster.

Yesterday Brett was helping Lucas make his first omelet, carefully explaining when to add the cheese and how to fold it. Lucas, giddy with excitement turned to Brett and gave him a bear hug.

"Whoa Lucas! I must have forgotten to tell you that the first rule about omelet making is that we don't need to hug about omelet making."