My Toddler Made This Dinner

Tonight we had a dinner that tasted good and was fairly nutritious, which usually makes my little dietitian heart swell. This did happen, but what made me more proud was the accomplishment of cooking it with my 18-month old's help. This is a post about parenting more than sports nutrition, but for those of us who are trying to juggle both, you'll understand my perspective.

Tarala was not only engaged the entire cooking process, but she had fun and learned about cooking, cleaning, and healthy eating. Plus her helping me entertained her as we fixed dinner.

Tonight's menu:

• "Fried" brown rice with edamame, onion, carrots, mushrooms, and egg
• Marinated tofu
• Sauteed sesame broccoli 

We don't have tofu very often in my house because it usually leaves me hungry and unsatisfied, but tonight

was a different story. I finally took the time to prepare it right and it was worth it. I gave it the same love and devotion I would meat by marinating it and prepping it correctly. First I pressed the extra firm tofu in

between two cast iron skillets to get rid of excess water. Then I soaked it in this delicious marinade which later doubled as the sauce for the fried rice. 

Here's how my little helper assisted:

• Measured and poured rice and water, added the lid to the pot
• Got the carrots out of the bag and discarded the peels
• Washed the broccoli, threw the stalks away and placed the trees in the bowl
• Wiped the dirt off the mushrooms
• Measured and stirred the marinade 
• Put the tofu in the marinade 
• Put the leftover vegetables back in the fridge 
• Poured the rice into the stir fry pan 
  

Not as proud that my child climbs on the counters, but we're working on getting a Learning Tower. I promise she was sitting in her high chair for the majority of our cooking experience. She munched on the tofu bits and raw mushroom as we cooked. As most of you know, not all Tuesdays-at-home-with-the-munchkin end in celebratory blog posts so with a successful dinner and successful entertainment, looks like I scored two points today.