You can't blame me for trying!

Since I've been at home (a.k.a.: stay-at-home-mom) I've been trying all kinds of new things on la familia. Taking up new crafts, new adventures with the kids, new foods...really opening things up and trying to broaden all of our horizons.

This evenings adventure was a Chinese dish sans recipe. I'm a pretty good cook and can throw together a balanced meal with whatever is in the kitchen. When I was food shopping the other day, in our one little market, I came across some new rice products. I decided we would try the Black Rice, it had some Asian country name on the label. Perfect for tonights dinner.

The package said to rinse the rice first until the water was clear. I rinsed several times...until it appeared to be clear. The water was deep plum colored to begin with. My daughter said it looked like the Sangria I like to drink (of which I was wanting at that point, wondering what I had gotten myself into). I cooked it according to directions and it came out tasting great. My wooden spoon is now purple though.

As the meal went on and my daughter said something, I said, "Smile for me." She did and her teeth were purple. We went around the table showing off our purple teeth. It's one of the most colorful and lively meals we have had in a while. They loved it! And the meal, I'd have to say was a huge success. No one noticed the extra veggies in the dish that normally they would refuse to eat. They even asked for seconds!

Times like this make me so happy I left my job. I will never have these years back again, and too much time was being consumed by work.