Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, Anyone?

The remnants of Hurricane Ian blew through Pennsylvania this weekend. There was enough rain predicted that our township canceled every age division’s weekend soccer game. Ari’s game was rescheduled for this evening, which meant that I needed to plan something simple for dinner tonight.

I flipped through the pages of my recipe binder on Saturday evening. I came up empty-handed due to the objections of my children who refuse to eat slow-cooker chili or lasagna. One won’t eat baked mac and cheese. The other… Oh, does it really matter?!?! They’re difficult to cook for these days.

“I could make grilled cheese and tomato soup,” I suggested to Ari after he said no to pretty much every recipe I could be made ahead of time.

“I don’t like tomato soup,” he said.

“You’ve never tried tomato soup,” I replied. “But you like grilled cheese. Grilled cheese and tomato soup are a classic combination. You’ll love it.”

I went online and found a recipe for scratch tomato soup, which I made yesterday afternoon. I figured I’d warm it up quickly this evening while making the grilled cheese sandwiches. (Note to any GF readers: Sub Bob’s All-Purpose Gluten-free Flour for AP flour. Also, sub a seeded and/or thick gluten-free bread in the classic grilled cheese recipe.)

This afternoon, I received an email that the township was canceling all make-up games and practices scheduled for tonight because of the ongoing rain. We may not need an ark, but it was cold and rainy enough to warrant another cancelation. So, I could’ve made dinner after all! But, I DIDN’T HAVE TO since it was halfway made.

So there I was, grating cheese and using a panini grill on a rainy fall evening. This turned out to be the perfect meal for tonight’s weather, I mused as I ladled the soup into bowls. In truth, I was giddy about how this would be the best grilled cheese I’ve ever made. I’m going to be a dinner-making hero.

Isabelle’s response was positive. “This is as good as the grilled cheese at Hersheypark!” Not exactly the comparison I would’ve liked. But it was better than Ari’s comment, which was “This cheese is awful.”

Well, at least he wasn’t complaining about the soup.

In the end, Isabelle consumed two-thirds of the child-size portion of soup and her entire sandwich. (In truth, she didn’t love the soup, but she knew she’d get ice cream afterwards if she tried something new without fretting.) Ari nibbled on half of the grilled cheese sandwich and downed a couple of spoonfuls of tomato soup. Apparently, he really doesn’t like tomato soup.

Ari’s Portions

My GF Sandwich

A swirl of olive oil atop the soup.

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At least she’s honest. #SOL20

Eight days ago, I wrote “When Routines Are Off.” Despite that morning going better, it seems Isabelle intentionally went to school with boots, rather than sneakers, on her feet. Why is that a problem? It was a P.E. day.

I wasn’t aware Isabelle wore boots, not sneakers, to school back on March 4th — after I reminded her to wear sneakers for gym — until today. I received a note home from Isabelle’s P.E. Teacher this afternoon. Here’s what it said:

I know Isabelle knows which cycle day is which. She’s quite good at remembering when to wear sneakers, when to return her library books, etc.

I was unamused when I read this since Isabelle knows it’s unsafe to wear anything but sneakers for physical activity. Therefore, I emailed her P.E. teacher to explain that I’ve printed out the cycle calendar, which will now reside by Isabelle’s shoe bin. She’ll have the opportunity to pick the correct footwear the next time she has P.E. However, if she intentionally goes to school wearing boots on P.E. day, then we’ll remove the boots from her shoe bin. Her P.E. teacher sent me a lovely note of gratitude back within an hour of my email.

If there’s one thing I can be thankful for, it’s that Isabelle was honest with her teacher about WHY she wasn’t wearing sneakers. She didn’t lie by saying she had forgotten. She owned up to making a conscious choice to not wear sneakers twice this month. While I dislike the choice she made, I am proud of her for telling the truth.

Have I mentioned how hard it is to be on best rest?

Isabelle adores these boots. There’s no way she’s going to want to run the risk of losing them so I’m quite confident she’ll make the right choice next time she has a P.E. cycle day.

Nine Months to Take It Off

Marc and Isabelle left for a birthday party moments after Ari went down for a nap. I figured I’d workout while Ari was napping. But Ari woke up before I even turned on my iPad to find a Pilates Anytime workout.
So we played. There were diaper changes and a feeding. After a couple of hours Ari looked tired enough to nap.
Once I thought Ari was asleep, I selected a reformer workout I wanted to do. I was six minutes into my warmup when cries erupted down the hall. 
I hit pause on my workout, lifted Ari out of his crib, and attempted to rock him back to sleep. No dice. So I brought him back, set him on the carpet with some toys, and attempted to workout.

Workout Selfie

Ari rolled everywhere possible in the room. Every time he rolled under or into a piece of furniture, I paused my workout video, dismounted the reformer, placed him in the center of the carpet, sat back down on the reformer, and resumed my workout. After seven or eight times of doing this, I gave up!
It took nine months to put the weight on and it’s definitely going to take at least nine months to take it off!