Dine & Cook | Alternative food journalism

I am a Mom and a foodie.  And I don’t think these two things should ever be mutually exclusive.  Most people would read that sentence and agree with me.  Of course parents can and should enjoy good food-- of course they should never give up the simple pleasure of cooking a good meal.  But, have you ever tried to cook with kids underfoot and an infant in the bassinet next to the counter?  It’s not easy.  Trust me, I’ve tried.

Before my daughter was born, my husband and I enjoyed our time cooking and eating.  We had a blast trying out new recipes-- some for the best, some for the worst-- every week.  My life as a foodie was in top form and time was on my side.  There was nothing I couldn’t or wouldn’t make and there was nobody to tell me how to prioritize my time in the kitchen.  Then my daughter was born.

People had warned me that a baby would put a crimp in my cooking style but I didn’t really believe them.  My vision of maternity leave was me in the kitchen with a sleeping baby in the swing, whipping together dinner as usual.  Boy, was I wrong about that.

The first few months with her were a blur of sleepless nights, diapers and takeout. To this day I can barely tell you what I ate, that’s how out of it I was.  But, after a little bit of adjustment, I began to find myself yearning to get back into the kitchen. Craving a sense of normalcy in my life, I wanted to be back in my cooking routine-- flipping through my favorite recipes, enjoying good food once again.

At first I tried cooking while my daughter sat, wide-awake, in her swing.  But she wouldn’t have it.  Come five o’clock she got a serious case of the grumps and was only content in my arms.  By the time she was bathed and in bed-- usually somewhere around nine-- I was too exhausted to resume cooking and scrapped everything for take-out.  I was disappointed in myself and felt totally defeated by my kitchen.  Would the day ever come when I could cook a decent meal and marry my lives as a foodie and a mother?

When my daughter was about five months old she got into a normal nap routine and began sleeping through the night.  At that point I regained a sense of balance and started wondering how I could tackle this growing problem in my household.  While she slept one afternoon I was cleaning up around the kitchen and decided to chop some vegetables before they went bad in the crisper.  Little did I know this was going to become my revelatory moment!

Five minutes later I had the vegetables diced… ten minutes later I had them simmering away in a pot for minestrone soup.  It was so easy!  That evening all I did was reheat the soup and we had a delicious dinner to enjoy.

Aha, cook during naptime!  That’s the answer!  I tried it again the next day, seizing the moment to bake some cookies since I already had soup from the previous evening for dinner.  Success!

Roast chicken came the next week and, after that, lasagna. I carried on with this routine week after week, calling on my favorite recipes that I knew could be made, or at least partially prepared, during naptime.  Come dinner all I had to do was reheat or execute a brief final assembly, like adding fresh pasta or tossing a salad and dinner was served!

Once I figured out this new routine I became dead set on marrying my lives as a foodie and a Mom.  I started telling all of my friends, most of who were struggling with cooking good food, and I started my blog, “The Naptime Chef.”

All of the parenting food blogs seemed to discuss ways to get dinner on the food “fast, quick, easy” but I wanted to write about great, delicious food and how it can be fit into family life.

If your children don’t nap anymore then the food I write about can be made during downtime during the day, like when they are at soccer practice, or after they’ve gone to bed.  I take the stance that great food can fit into family life no matter your schedule. Cooking and eating should be enjoyable, even if you are a parent. In short, we all can be Naptime Chef’s.

Perfect Grilled Lemon Chicken

Meat and poultry can often be placed in a marinade early in the day. I prepare this chicken during naptime and leave it in the fridge to soak all afternoon. Then, at dinner it merely has to be grilled and served. This pairs nicely with a green salad and cous-cous.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 lemons, halved and juiced (save juice and rind)
• 6 cloves of garlic (smashed with flat side of knife)
• 6 whole sprigs of rosemary
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon red pepper (crushed or cayenne works)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry. Pierce breasts several times with fork tines. Drop chicken into a Ziploc bag.
2. In a separate bowl, mix lemon juice, olive oil, salt and spices. Pour on top of chicken and squish chicken around in the Ziploc to make sure chicken is fully coated.
3. Add lemon halves, garlic cloves and rosemary springs to the bag. Squeeze air out and seal. Squish chicken around in all ingredients again to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Marinade in the fridge for at least one hour.
4. Heat grill and cook chicken over a medium flame for 7-8 minutes, or until chicken is just cooked through.

Notes:
Naptime Recipe Props: The great thing about a marinade is that you can always double or triple the recipe if you have more mouths to feed. I bet this would also be delicious with shrimp or fish.

The best part about grilling is that it is so easy. Mixing the marinade takes 5 minutes during naptime and then it merely sits in the fridge and does all the work on it's own. There is nothing more Naptime Chef-friendly than that.

My daughter isn't too keen on the taste of grilled food yet, but she enjoyed this. The rest of the family polished off their pieces, then asked for the recipe.

You can read more of Kelsey Banfield's work at her website, The Naptime Chef.