Speaking of cooking – or not, the winner of the Chili’s giveaway is here.

For the first year and a half of Annalyn’s life, my parents came over every Thursday night. And brought dinner with them.

It was a pretty sweet deal.

But last fall, I decided I should probably be able to pull together a meal at least once a week, so I told them not to bring dinner anymore.

For the most part, it’s been just fine. Sure, cooking dinner with Annalyn hanging onto my leg has taken some getting used to. And we’ve had our share of meltdowns and stress and sweat. (Meltdown = her, stress and sweat = me)

Dinner goes much more smoothly, of course, when I have a plan, when I decide what to fix before 5:30 that night.

A couple weeks ago, I planned to make baked mostaciolli. I don’t remember what else was wrong that night, but the evening was not going smoothly. And then I dumped my box of pasta into my boiling water.

It was a bad box. Half the noodles were burnt and almost immediately began falling apart. I briefly thought I could just pick out the bad noodles. But that did not work.

And of course, that was the moment my parents arrived. Annalyn was throwing a fit about something, I was picking burned noodles out of boiling water, and I needed to leave for choir practice in about 45 minutes.

So I improvised. I made do with what I had on hand. And I made a taco casserole. So, in case this ever happens to you – cranky toddler, busy night, burned noodles – here’s the recipe for the casserole:

Taco Pasta Casserole
3 cups macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large can tomato sauce
Cheddar, shredded

Boil the pasta, rinse and drain. Brown the hamburger, drain and add taco seasoning. Mix pasta, hamburger, corn, beans and tomato sauce. Pour into casserole dish, cover with shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.

The good news is that this makes a LOT of food. So not only are you covered for dinner on the first night, but then you have leftovers for lunches or another dinner.

You could probably freeze half before baking, but in that case, I’d recommend not boiling the pasta quite as long. I’m not a fan of “al dente,” but freezing already-soft pasta has never worked out for me.

Have you ever had a box of burned noodles? Or some other last-minute cooking disaster that forced you to improvise? What did you do?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday, Food on Fridays and Presto Pasta Nights (which is here and here).

——————————————

Can’t get enough of Giving Up on Perfect? Subscribe here, follow me on Twitter and join my Facebook page.

This morning I got a speeding ticket on the way to work.

[Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago, so don't go thinking that I got ANOTHER ticket! :) ]

I was driving really fast. On a residential street. In the rain. In other words, I completely deserved that ticket. (The one that’s going to cost me all the money I’ve been saving for a blog redesign and then some. Sigh.)

You know what else I deserved? Getting in trouble with my husband.

But aside from noting that a ticket of my, AHEM, substantial size would get him fired (he drives for a living), he didn’t say anything other than, “It’s okay.”

To read the rest of my story, visit (in)courage.

—————————————-

Can’t get enough of Giving Up on Perfect? Subscribe here, follow me on Twitter and join my Facebook page.

Congratulations to Amber Renea! Random.org picked #18, and that is your lucky number today! E-mail me your address (givinguponperfect at gmail dot com), and I’ll mail it to you!

Thank you to everyone else who commented. I loved reading about what YOU do when you don’t feel like cooking dinner. For the record, it’s almost always ORDER PIZZA at my house!

I know, I know. Eating ice cream isn’t really going to help me meet my weight loss goals any better than not counting my points and eating McDonald’s for breakfast.

And I’m not even a big ice cream person. Mark can eat half a gallon in one sitting, but not me. Unlike most unhealthy tasty foods, like Pop Tarts or cheese dip or chocolate frosting, ice cream can be in the freezer without me feeling even the slightest bit tempted.

See, just like hot wings, ice cream takes too much effort to eat. The getting out of the freezer and the scooping and the waiting for it to thaw a little bit and the eating slowly to avoid brain freeze? Eh. I can do without it.

However . . .

Several weeks ago, I was looking for blog ideas and discovered that 2010 is the Dairy Queen Blizzard’s 25th anniversary.

And I couldn’t just ignore that little nugget, could I?

Thankfully, there’s not a Dairy Queen near my house or my office, so it was really a one-time celebration. (Because, seriously, if one was close by, you know I’d be celebrating all year!)

Sonic is another story. (Which might make you wonder why I even brought up Dairy Queen, but I’m getting there. I promise.)

After I picked up Annalyn from daycare on Wednesday, we stopped at Sonic and got a Butterfinger Blast for Mark and an Oreo Blast for us.

Just like her daddy, that little girl loves her ice cream! She ate at least ¼ of my ice cream – and then wanted to share with Mark, too!

[Side note: As we shared the treat, using the same spoon because why wouldn’t we, I thought, “Good thing she’s not sick or anything.” Yeah. Guess which TWO members of our family woke up with a cough and scratchy throat yesterday?]

I’m still trying to get back on the Weight Watchers wagon, so yesterday morning, I looked up the points in a Blast. And then I wondered: Which is worse for you, a Blast or a Blizzard?

Just in case you’ve wondered, too (and in case you have the good fortune to live near both a Dairy Queen and Sonic), here’s the lowdown:

Dairy Queen Blizzard
Size: 10 oz.
Calories: 550
Fat: 20
Fiber: 1
Points: 12

Sonic Blast
Size: 12.8 oz.
Calories: 548
Fat: 20.8
Fiber: .7
Points: 12

The verdict? Go with the Blast. It’s still 12 points, but you get more ice cream!

—————————————-

This post is part of the Losing It Challenge. How did you do this week?

—————————————-

Can’t get enough of Giving Up on Perfect? Subscribe here, follow me on Twitter and join my Facebook page.