My Dinner Date

We have place mats. We have napkins. Let's have a family dinner.

Sure, Son is asleep.

Sure, Husband won't be home for hours.

Daughter and I are home and we're hungry.

I put some ABC pasta (from Publix) on to boil.

Then whipped up a super simple marinara sauce.

1 15oz can of tomato sauce

6oz can of tomato paste (and then two little cans of water)

some balsamic vinegar

4 basil leaves from the garden

some fresh cracked pepper

by the time the water boiled and the pasta was cooked, the sauce was boiling like crazy and ready to eat.

topped with one of Daughter's favorite foods (Parmesan cheese) and presto.

15 minute meal turned into an intimate dinner with Daughter.

Daughter eating (before she stirred her dinner to combine)

Daughter drinking her ice water with extra lemon ... that glass glass is a privilege. She only gets it when we're eating family dinner at the table.

Daughter taking full advantage of her new black napkin.

My amazing dinner date.

btw, the dinner conversation was fabulous. It was mostly about all the letters she could pick out from her dinner and identify and how excited she was that Husband would be home before she went to bed.

UPDATE: I just roasted a head of garlic and sauteed two onions and added another can of paste (and two of water) for a heartier sauce when Husband gets home.