It took 3 days for Kates back to stop twinging and get back to normal. The deep relief gel had defiantly worked its magic and helped. Standing in the kitchen she pulled a pan out of the cupboard before gathering the ingredients she needed for tonight's dinner. Cheesy cottage pie.
Dicing up a onion she added half to a pan along with some carrots and olive oil. Cooking them till they were soft before adding peppers, peas, sweetcorn and mushrooms along with a tin of tomatoes. When everything had softened, she tipped it all in to a blender. Blitzing it in to a puree she just hoped it would work and the kids wouldn't realise they were eating veggies.
Wiping around the pan she would cook the mince later for now she was going to get on in prepping the mash for the top. Pulling the potatoes from the cupboard, she began peeling them chopping them in to chunks. She added them to a pan of salted water. Placing a wooden spoon over the pan, it was a hack she had watched on a Facebook video to stop the pan from boiling over.
"what's all this" Mike asked walking in to the kitchen half a hour later
"potatoes for dinner tonight" she smiled putting the chopping board and knife in to the dishwasher
"right and the wooden spoons are for?" he grinned
"it stops the pan from bubbling over and making a mess of the hob" she smiled shutting the door of the dishwasher turning to face him.
"right if you say so. So what is for dinner then" he asked
"my cheesy cottage pie" she said checking the potatoes to see if they were tender and cooked through.
"nice. So what's this?" he asked looking at the veggie pure gloop
"my secret sauce" she grinned carrying the pan over to the sink draining the water. Adding a huge amount of butter and cream she began mashing the potatoes. It was a good way of taking out her aggression, pounding the potatoes to a pulp. Mixing in some cauliflower rice to it as an extra hidden veggie.
Upstairs she could hear a loud thud and lots of banging. Putting the potato masher down Kate walked in to the hall. Standing at the bottom of the stairs she sighed.
"Grace!" she called "can you please stop crashing and banging around like a fairy elephant you'll come through the ceiling"
Grace appeared at the top of the stairs in a hot pink tutu and a feather boa. "how did you even know it was me" she moaned
"because I am your mother and I have psychic powers." she smiled. "now calm down and be less loud" she said
"But mum I need to dance its my talent for the talent show" she said
"well dance quieter then no jumping and fairy-elephanting around." Kate sighed heading back in to the kitchen to finish the prep for dinner.
Adding the rest of the onion to a second pan she stirred it till it was soft she then added mince beef. After cooking the meat through she added her veggie sauce turning it down to a simmer allowing the flavours to infuse and cook through. Tasting the mince, she added the last few flavourings, a pinch of salt and a crack of pepper before turning the gas off and allowing the mixture to cool slightly before pouring it in to the oven dish and spooning on the mashed potatoes. topping it with cheese and some left-over cauliflower rice. . she placed it in to the oven. It would be around 25 minutes before it was ready, just enough time to stack the pans in the dishwasher
"DINNER!" Kate called up the stairs 25 minutes later.
The kids all ran down the stairs pushing their way in to the kitchen they all sat round the table
"what Is for tea mummy" Grace smiled
"cottage pie" Kate smiled as she placed the dish on the table
"ewww I don't like it mummy" Grace wined
"its my cheesy cottage pie. You like that Gracie" Kate sighed. It was a losing battle sometimes with what her children would and wouldn't eat.
Grace thought about it for a moment, taking a small lick from what was on her fork. "yummy" she smiled "thanks mummy"
Surprisingly there were clean plates from all three children and Grace even asked for seconds. Loading the dirty plates in to the dishwasher Kate set it to run
"i could have done that" Mike said walking up behind her handing her a glass of wine.
"i know but it was just as easy if I did it" she smiled walking over to the sofa
"film?" he asked taking the remote from her
"ohhh, lets watch The Street Cat named Bob" she smiled seeing that was available on prime.
"okay" Mike smiled
Kate looked over at him surprised he had given in so easily "really?" she grinned
"yeah well the book was okay so"
Kate laughed surprised he had read it. "you read the books?" she questioned.
"yeah well it was on the side one day, you were at sea so I thought why not" he smiled "it was quite a moving story. One man and his cat"
"lets just watch the film" she grinned nestling down in to his open arm.
so 30 chapters! I cant believe it thank you to everyone who has stuck with this it is a huge support. so anyone else (with sibblings) wonder how parents knew it was you doing something wrong? also if I was dancing around (badly) my mum would tell me to stop being a fairy elephant because I would usually be heavy footed.
the film they watch at the end was going to be Me before You (which is one of my fave films and the books are amazing) but since I heard the sad news that Bob the cat (star of the books and film) sadly died yesterday I thought I would pay tribute to bob.
huge love and I shall write again soon xx