Fabulous fire

I've been a bit frustrated lately.  Being sick was a bit of a setback.  I'm behind in everything and the house is a total mess.  The kids were on spring break for two weeks; everyone seems to be in vacation mode; and my daughter is talking about male domination. 

I've lost my umph for cooking...we've been basically eating to survive - which may actually be a better relationship with food. 

Last week there were only two cooked meals, featuring those ginormous chicken breasts.  Sunday I walked my daughter through a chicken and broccoli stir-fry and Thursday I made a chicken, pepper, and tomato dish that was very good.

Yesterday my husband and I were both thinking about grilling, so I figured that would be on the menu tonight...I planned to make the mustard sauce. After Girl Scouts I went to Whole Foods and chose chicken leg quarters ($1.39/lb) over beef ($8.99-24.99/lb), grabbed some frozen broccoli and headed home. 

I think I became overwhelmed by the clutter and decided against the mustard sauce and opted for a quick marinade instead - bizaara, everyday seasoning, and garlic expressions.  At 430pm I put the sweet potatoes in the oven and made the false assumption that my husband would take care of the rest.  At 6pm, the chicken was still in the refrigerator because apparently I never said if I wanted to do gas or charcoal. 

Based on the fact that both grills were still covered, needed to be cleaned, and then heated, the best course of action was convection.  No one was thrilled with that idea so it was clear that dinner would not be served until after 8pm. 

Lo and behold the charcoal was soaked so the only option was gas.

As we sat eating dinner in the backyard around the outdoor fire pit, I took in the outdoor space we designed almost 10 years ago.  We are doing a little bit of overhaul this season, replacing one area of flowers with a raised bed of veggies. 

It was soothing to sit in front of the fire with my family.