Did you guys read the comments from yesterday? Hilarious. But my friend Jen had me laughing when she said, “MAKE THAT PARM CALL YOU DADDY!”

But do you know what I kept thinking about? Did you guys see the movie last year, “Four Christmases”? Chris and I are in love with Vince Vaughn so we saw it and my favorite part in the whole movie is when the little kids are fighting with Vince and one says, (excuse the constant cussing on this blog!) “SAY MY NAME! SAY MY NAME BITCH!”

Oh my gosh we laughed so hard! Anyway, that’s what I thought about that damn eggplant!

(Sorry, taken with my iPhone!)

Let’s just say that I THINK it was good. Because there was NO WAY I was going to eat it. But my family seemed to like it so unless they were lying, which may very well be the case, it was a success! And honestly, in the end it was really easy! I’ll be making it again some day b/c even the kids ate it! I also made homemade chicken nuggets by cutting up chicken breasts and using Shake N’ Bake, my FAV, and some basic couscous. Oh and garlic bread. ALL was easy! Although the eggplant recipe called for two medium eggplants and it was too much for 5 adults so I think one would feed a family fine.

Here’s the recipe in case you’re interested…

Ingredients:

– 2 medium eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced into 1/2 inch rounds (we didn’t peel them and everyone ate the skin just fine!)

– 1 T salt

– 1 egg, beaten

– 1 1/2 C plain bread crumbs

– 2 C tomato sauce (I just used Ragu!)

– 1 package of mozzarella cheese

– 1/3 C Parmesan cheese

– 1 t dried basil

Directions:

1. Heat over to 350 degrees F

2. Place sliced eggplant in a colander and sprinkle salt over eggplant and let stand for 10 minutes; rinse salt and pat dry. Dip eggplant in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake until tender, about 5-7 minutes on each side.

3. Add one cup tomato sauce to 9×13 baking dish, half of the eggplant, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese; repeat layering process finishing with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

OK. Let me just say that I ignored ALL the measurements and just sprinkled the cheeses/sauce until it looked good! AND I used a bit more of the mozzarella than it called for b/c I had to open the second bag I’d bought. But I like cheese. Even though I didn’t even taste it! AND in case you’re like me and have never seen a raw eggplant, the inside looks rotten. But my mom, who ended up coming over early to HELP ME, said it was fine. I was about to throw them both away b/c I thought they’d gone bad… and I would have if she hadn’t of been there to assure me they were fine.

So the day ended great!

Chris got home early and got my car unstuck from the 1/2 of snow we have. My sister and her family got in town which meant Sam ran around with my kids and I got to hold my sweet Avery. Everyone liked dinner and Chris put the kids to bed! And by the time everyone was gone and asleep I was so exhausted I didn’t even open my computer but instead watched tv and played “words with friends” on my phone. Oh, and I was in bed before 11pm! That alone is a true miracle!

Gotta run because tonight is KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION! Oh yes. Bailey will join the ranks of SCHOOL AGED next year. Floors me.

More details on our decisions to send her next year vs holding her back and an update on the asthma in our house soon! Thanks for the support yesterday! The comments were awesome!