1/21/09

Thank You, MLK & Simple Frozen Dinner

On Monday I heard my son in the kitchen say, Thank you Martin-Luther-King! I’m sure he was thinking about his day off from school, happy to be home and hanging out with friends and jamming on the piano. But I will say that our kids do know a lot about MLK! We’ve read to our children about King’s life since they were very young.

Around the dinner table that night we asked our kids how they would describe MLK, after reading an excerpt on his life from, Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. In fact, we've been reading to our kids from this book on a nightly basis this past week.

Tender-hearted and tough-minded - was the answer they came up with.

We challenged our kids
Then we asked our kids to think of the people involved in their lives, and to think of who exemplifies such characteristics?

Martin Luther King’s life exemplified courage, bravery, triumph, pain and doubts. Your life will expand or contract, depending on how courageous a person you are, we told our kids.

Another celebration
Our family had another reason to celebrate this past week. We celebrated the arrival of this book, as only one copy was delivered to our front door.


We are very excited for its release next month! (Update: book is now available - you can check it out on Amazon, here.)

Every night a dinner party?
No, not every night is a dinner party in our house! Monday night we had a very simple meal consisting of a frozen pizza and a large, yummy green salad!


This was our MLK dinner!

Frozen pizza
I like to stock up on our favorite pizzas, when I can get them on sale for $3 or under, for quick dinners or an easy snack for the kids.


The green stuff
We usually always have produce in our fridge, to make some kind of green salad!

Kids always love Ranch
My kids' taste buds are definitely maturing, but I always keep Ranch Dressing on hand, pouring a slight amount on, and then add olive oil and sometimes balsamic vinegar! Kids love Ranch - and I've found it's an easy way to get them to eat the green stuff!


The memory - not the food
Our kids will completely forget that their mom served frozen pizza for Martin Luther King’s day this week, but they will remember the substance of our conversation that night. And by the way, each one of our kids claimed one person who they thought to be tender-hearted and tough-minded, but in the end they all agreed there was another person who exemplified these characteristics.

And that would be their Dad!

Do you ever serve frozen pizza when you are in a pinch?

And the winner is
The winner to my Tapas Giveaway is Lisa, from The Long Road to China! I am so excited that Lisa won because not only do we each share a love for food, we’re both married to Irish men! Woo Hoo! In fact Lisa goes by, half gaelic, half garlic! Congratulations Lisa!

I also want to thank each and every one of you for your very kind comments in welcoming my new Reluctant Entertainer design! Again, Darcy accomplished exactly what I wanted – a clean, elegant, classy look. Darcy, you’re the BEST, girl!

26 comments:

Tammy said...

I think it is just wonderful that you read to your kids a little every evening as a family!
Every year, I read a simple kid's book on MLK's life and we talk about him, or even do worksheets or crafts.

Congratulations on the new book coming out!!!

Somehow I totally missed out on this giveaway...:(....but congrats to the winner!

Emily said...

Sandy,

I wanted to share the conversation had around our dinner table on MLKJr Day ... my husband wrote about it on his blog at the Daily Tidings (where he is an editor).

http://forums.dailytidings.com/dt-question?entry=6

Christy said...

I'm so sad I didn't win the give away:(

Yes, I think keeping frozen pizzas in the freezer is a great idea for a quick dinner. The older my kids get, the more I really do realize that it's not about what we are eating (I used to think we had to have really nice dinners- they got expensive and way too time consuming!) but the time spent together is what is important. You want to know what's on the menu tonight... grilled cheese and tomato soup:)

Melanie said...

Red Baron is our frozen pizza choice. Although I really like California Pizza Kitchen Margherita sytle - not often on sale however.
Congrats on the book!
Melanie@Bella~Mella

Shell in your Pocket said...

Ah..so excited for Lisa..she is one of my favorites..yahoo!

Yes, I have done the frozen pizza thing a time or two especially with "sport" and "AHG"..it save time when I have not planned a thing!!!

Happy Wednesday!
-sandy toe

Jen said...

YES! There is a stack of frozen pizzas at our home too :) Just makes sense and saves us from running out and spending 4 times the $$!!

Anonymous said...

I mostly serve leftovers in a pinch - Redone into Something Else of course. That's our typical Monday night fare because we come home late from piano and all are ready to eat immediately. Like your new design!

Betts said...

We talked to our 6 1/2 yr old about MLK, too. It's amazing to me what they can understand even at that tender age.

I make pizza dough and freeze that. I have to defrost the dough on the counter during the day, and always have jarred pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on hand.

Becky Dellar said...

Sandy - Your site looks great!! And excited to see you got a book on your doorstep! :)

LuLu said...

Yep, we too are a frozen pizza family on nights I realize the time flew by and it's dinner time!
Friday night is always pizza night in our home...I switch it up.. make homemade, have it delivered or frozen... but that night is a no cooking night...
congrats on the book, how very exciting!!
LuLu

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Congratulations to the winner. I love meals like that - pizza & salad, soup & salad, casserole & salad, etc. You get the idea.:)
Have a great day.
Glenda

G. said...

that pizza looks yummy. I love your new design...looks clean and fresh!

Donnetta said...

I've not done frozen pizza much, but I did link to you in my post today about another frozen meal we had. :-)

I am so terribly excited for the release of the new book!!! YEAH!

GiBee said...

Your blog looks absolutely lovely and elegant! Sorry I missed the drawing. I've been down with a horrible stomach virus.

Anonymous said...

hey Sandy!

love the new look, came by here yesterday for some inspiration as we are having people over at the weekend...i couldn't comment tho I am having issues with Internet Explorer, yuk

you must have been busy with the new website and work??

I have a couple of freezer standbys and guess what my kids always comment on how much they enjoy those dinners ;-)


Sarah

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

Congrats on the new book...that is terrific!!

Thank you so much for the giveaway....you know that I am SUPER EXCITED!!

Hope you have a wonderful week:)

Lisa

Kirstin said...

congrats on the book.

I don't usually keep frozen pizza around. I wouldn't mind it, but just don't.

I love the idea of adding olive oil and balsamic vinegar to the ranch...that sound yummy!

Jules from "The Roost" said...

Even your frozen pizza looks fabulous! How in the world am I missing give a-ways!?

Laurie said...

You are teaching your kids such wonderful lessons! What a great idea, even for us adults!

Congrats to your husband on his book!

Laurie :>

Jessica6903 said...

We just had frozen pizza tonight! Wednesday nights is basketball practice for my husband and son so it's a quick night for family dinner. California Pizza Kitchen - Fajita Chicken is our favorite!

Ms. Tee said...

Oh yes, I've done the frozen pizza thing *many* times! :) Congratulations to Lisa!

Darla said...

When I clicked my link to your blog I thought I'd landed someplace else. The new look is terrific. Although I've been reading for some time (and occasionally posting) it was nice to read the "meet Sandy" portion.

Darla

Nicole said...

Congrats to the winner!
Oh yes , we keep frozen pizzas on hand here too . Kind of nice to know you do too :o)

E said...

I think that's fantastic! I am a big believe in making memories and I'm sure that will be a memory forever!

Jen said...

We have pizza's in the freezer in the garage always on hand. you never know when I may be sick and cnat cook or forgot to lay something out or even for a fast night....I do salads with it too...we do pizza muffins also and they are a big hit with the kids...Madison has actually learned how to make them.

Elizabeth said...

Loved reading this post...My husband met the late Dr. King when he was a teenager. His father was transferred (Air Force) to Birmingham, AL. One Sunday morning, he was strolling through the black part of town with a girlfriend, when they heard some of the best gospel singing ever. It was at a church. They both looked at each other and decided to go in (very unusual for early 60's). They listened to the sermon and afterwards, the pastor stood outside the doors to thank all the parishioners for coming. That's when Mark and his friend, the only two white people there that day, shook hands with MIL, Jr. and the Reverand Abernathy.

Mark was always very open-minded about race and later made contributions to the black community youth in North Carolina.

God bless,
Elizabeth