I used to be a purist - we will NEVER eat in front of the TV. Oh no. We will sit at the table and have intelligent conversation with our children.
Well tonight we had a TV dinner with a difference. We made homemade fish fingers from relatively economical frozen fish fillets purchased at the local supermarket. I removed the skin, chopped them up (luckily bones were already removed), cooked them for a few minutes in the microwave until the flesh had turned from opaque to white, and then mashed them with the juice of one lemon. We added enough breadcrumbs to absorb the excess lemon juice, then shaped them into vaguely fish-finger-like shapes, coated them in more breadcrumbs, and then shallow-fried them in the wok. No compulsory vegetables tonight, just the fish fingers.
We ate them in front of Gardening Australia (isn't that beard and hair AMAZING!) occasionally dipping them in tomato sauce, and the smaller members of the household declared them to be "even better than the ones from the shop!" which is the highest praise possible from a child. TICK - one to Mum.
It's nice to be able to let go of being a perfectionist and embrace practicality.
Remember that famous line from the iconic Australian movie "The House"?
"During dinner, the TV definitely gets turned DOWN."
Yeah.
