Julia Child, eat your heart out...

Between all the booster club meetings, Scout meetings, fundraisers, and shuttling Mark between band and basketball practices, I've had very little time (and even less motivation) to cook dinner. My cooking hasn't just suffered--it downright disappeared. 

I felt guilty, and decided to cook at least once or twice this week. In my house, "cooking" means turning on the slow cooker, and I'm a pro at that.

But why should I have all the fun? I realized Mark needs some culinary practice as well, so I enlisted his help.

"Why do I have to make it?" he whined in his most supportive voice ever.  

"You don't have to, you get to," I answered brightly. "I'm gonna show you what to do this time, and you can make it on your own next time." 

And thus began another episode of Child Slave Labor, the ongoing show running in Mark's head.

Together, we whipped up a batch of homemade macaroni and cheese. I'd pre-cooked the noodles, then Mark mixed in milk, condensed milk, butter, salt, pepper, eggs, and a dash of paprika. I helped him fold in the cheddar cheese, and I could tell this was gonna be a good recipe, because the bag we put it in weighed a ton.

"Cheesy!" I said, placing the bag in the fridge. "That's gonna be good."

I showed Mark how to set up the slow cooker timer, and reminded him to spray the slow cooker before adding the mac n cheese. I asked if he had any questions, but he just grunted.

The cheesy pasta turned out really good. I'll make a few modifications for next time (pre-cook the pasta a little less, use sharp cheddar instead of mild, and actually follow the directions that said reserve 1/4 of the cheese to sprinkle on top instead of mixing it all in at once). But overall, it passed my successful dinner test--it was a hot, tasty meal, with enough leftovers for a second meal tonight and a few frozen packages for future dinners. I was very proud of us.

"That was super easy," I said to Mark. "You think you could make it again all on your own?" 

Mark grunted again.

"Can I make macaroni and cheese for dinner?" he asked. "Yeah, I can. I can even go to the store and buy the ingredients." 

"Really?" I asked, excitedly. This was very encouraging news! I didn't think he'd be so excited about cooking.

Turns out, he wasn't. 

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I'll go to the store and look for the blue box of mac n cheese. Then I'll come home and cook it. Boom! Dinner's done."

And my happy mood deflated. So much for teaching valuable lessons here.

"Don't burn yourself out on boxed pasta and ramen noodles," I reminded him. "Or else you'll starve in college." 

Because he certainly won't be putting my cooking lessons to use then!