Top Five One-Handed Meals

The kind of week (hell, month) that I’ve been having has given me ample opportunity to consider what kind of healthy(ish) meals I can pull together for my kids quickly and with one arm holding a clingy almost-toddler. Separation anxiety much? Holy crap. Here’s today’s top five:

5. Green eggs and cheese. Crack a few eggs into the bottom of a glass pitcher. (You’ll get the hang of using just one hand to do this after a couple tries.) Grab a few handfuls of pre-washed spinach and fill the rest of the pitcher. Insert immersion blender into pitcher and puree spinach and scramble eggs in no time flat. Pour mixture into a lightly oiled pan and let heat up over medium heat while rinsing blender and pitcher. Grab a spatula and start moving the eggs around until they are cooked through. Spoon a little onto a plate for baby and strap her into highchair with food to distract her. Quickly toss a couple slices of toast in toaster and grate some cheddar on the remaining eggs.  Call repeatedly for your older kid to join you for lunch while you pour the milk and butter the toast. Done.

4. Two-box, one-bag alphabet soup. Open a box of soup stock, any flavour, low-sodium preferred and pour it into a pot and bring to a boil. Pour some alphabet-shaped pasta out of their box into the boiling stock and stir. Add a bunch of mixed frozen vegetables. (I like the No Name stuff and I’m not even kidding — nicely diced.) Soup’s ready once pasta is cooked. Ladle into bowls and put them straight into the freezer. Start hollering for the big kid and distract baby with milk in a sippy cup while you strap her in. Serve to kids from freezer, tepid, as they like. Done.

3. Peanut butter and jam. This one is trickier than it sounds because you need to use the hand that’s around the baby to spread the peanut butter and jam onto the bread. Well, I do anyway because my left arm is so useless that I cannot even hold my kid on that side let alone spread stuff. Also, my doctor recommends no nuts until two years to discourage allergies which means I need to keep baby hands away from the peanut butter. The jam is very good for this. In fact, if you can set baby up with a mini jam sandwich in her highchair, then you should be able to quickly slap together the p.b. and j. for your other kid(s). Slice up some fruit to go with the sandwich and to feed the baby. Done.

2. Cheesy polenta with mixed veg. Bring some water to a boil in a pot and then gradually add your cornmeal, whisking as you go. Note that this involves picking up and putting down your fork/whisk/spoon multiple times in an effort to not dump the cornmeal in all at once. The results will be lumpy if you do this with one hand — get over it. Once the mixture starts to thicken, turn down the heat and let it bubble away for about 20 minutes, stirring whenever you think of it. Then pour some frozen mixed vegetables into a pot and add a bit of water. Really, it doesn’t matter how much because you’ll be draining it later. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let cook for just a couple minutes.  Somehow manage to grate or slice enough cheese to distract baby in highchair so you can properly grate as much cheese as you like to add to the polenta. Add, stir and let finish cooking. Spoon steaming polenta into bowls (or mold into fun shapes with a cookie cutter) and toss into freezer. Spoon veggies directly onto plates since they cool down in no time. Give baby the veggies and call for the other kid. Serve polenta alongside veggies, pour yourself a big glass of wine and done.

1. Chinese delivery. Pick up phone and hit the speed dial. Only order one dish that you think the kids will like and go all spicy szechuan with the rest because god knows they’ll only eat some rice and throw the rest around the room. The only way they’ll ever develop sophisticated palates anyway is to have the chance to spit out a variety of flavours on a regular basis. This time pour your wine before dinner hits the table and be ready to vacuum up fried rice for days to come. Done.