Yes I can!

Cook that is. And bake. But I like to bake. Cooking is another story. Today I made dinner. Ranch and onion meat loaf, mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. I got the ingredients for snickerdoodles ready during lunch and then while Owen was napping I got most of dinner ready to go so after he woke up I could pop it in the oven and steamer. I like having dinner ready when Morgan gets home, I just don't like being the one to get it ready!

If Owen and I are going to bake together I like to have everything measured out and ready to go so all we have to do is dump, pour and mix. He's kind of impatient and wants to "do it" himself so if I'm prepared there is less chance of mishap.

He's always in charge of watching the mixer!I rolled the cookies and he did the cinnamon and sugar.

Here are pictures of dinner.

I always wear rubber gloves when I mix meat loaf. I don't like to touch meat with my bare hands. Especially ground meat. Just a little quirk I have. I also make meat loaf in a muffin pan rather than a loaf pan. So I guess they are meat muffins rather than meat loaf. I can't get it to cook in a timely manner in a regular loaf pan. I guess I make it too dense or something. But I prefer it in the muffin pan anyway. The portions are more controlled that way. Morgan doesn't like the clean up though.

I use a potato ricer when I make mashed potatoes. I steam them first and then put them through the ricer. The skins stay in the ricer and I just pick them out. Most of the time I don't have to use a hand mixer, just add milk, salt and butter and mix. Today I had to use the hand mixer because I let them cool and then reheated before mixing.

Here's the final product.

Owen was playing with Ludwig today. He covered him with his dee-dee. Owen thought this was a great time. He even sat next to Ludwig and gave him some gentle cuddles. Much better than hitting him with the wooden spoon!

Ludwig seemed to enjoy the cuddles too.

I got my Wonder Time magazine in the mail today. Look at that headline! Just what I need to read about! Now if Owen would go to sleep, I could read it! It's 9:37pm and we put him down shortly after 8pm. He keeps calling for me but I'm toughing it out.