Reality Check Chef

by Elaine Gantz Wright

Recipes A question that strikes fear in the hearts of frantically busy moms already clinging to the edge of sanity. As a mom, you probably agree that cooking can be one of those ongoing nuisances you'd rather not think about. Of course, there's that Martha Stewart-type down the street who makes her own raisins, but thank goodness, you have a life!

In reality, getting dinner on the table has always been one of my biggest challenges, but I haven't been able to admit it until now. Mostly because I came from a cooking-dysfunctional home. My mother would rather go to the dentist than fix dinner, and she let that be known loud and clear. I grew up on Sara Lee brownies for breakfast and the cafeteria for dinner. (Definitely warped my perspective.) So, I confess it. I'm domestically challenged. In the era of Super Mom, no one told me that along with my MBA I had to learn how to cook a week's worth of meals on the fly and be able to recite the freezer life of the four major food groups.

That's why I've created the Reality Check Chef. Here is my first batch of recipes reviewed in the RCC's test kitchens and family table.

Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 5 Reality Checkmarks:

	Forget it!
	to
	Make it tonight!

Criteria are:

• Ease: Not having to "zest","blanch", or "pare" anything.
  
• Speed of preparation: Is it possible to cook dinner and keep my children from maiming themselves?
  
• Economy: Allow you to eat well and not stress the budget.
  
• Nutrition: Again, to balance those pizza or fish stick nights.
  
• Kid-pleasing potential: To allow one night without having to enforce the "one-bite-rule" under great duress and threat of impending doom.
  
• Extra points given for leftoverablity and freezing potential.

My 5-year old son Elliot has also developed his own rating system using 1 to 4 airplanes:

Crashed	Disgusting!
	to
	As good as a McDonald's Happy Meal!

If you have any additional recipes for the Reality Check Chef, e-mail them to realitycheckchef@momsrefuge.com