Being the Nanny

Alright, it's on to week 2 of being the Nanny. The first week went well. The family is way nice and the kids are pretty good. The boy is 8 and the girl is 5. The family lives in a super nice neighborhood in Davidson and they have a beautiful house and very nice cars. HE works for a corporation's headquarters in Mooresville and SHE works for a marketing company in uptown Charlotte. They have high-powered jobs with high-powered hours. They are a busy couple! I admire their ambition. And I love that they are the kind of parents that when they come home, they want you to leave so they can take over. They want to be with their children. I've worked for families that had me stick around after they got home to finish up whatever I was doing with their kids. I just wanted to be like, "you're home now. And you're the parent. Act like one." And I felt like I'd be a little intimidated by their high status, but they are totally down-to-earth and warm. They are refreshing! The family is also Indian, so they are absolutely beautiful, as are their kids. I want their skin tone!

So a typical week with the kids is busy! The kids have all kinds of lessons: tennis, piano, violin and soccer is coming up soon. I get to work when the kids aren't home so that I can do some light cleaning and prepare dinner. The parents really want me to get there early to get everything done so that when the kids get home, I am completely focused on them. I think this is a brilliant plan. I hate watching kids when I have to fold laundry or wash dishes. I always feel like I can't get everything done or that I'm not spending quality time with the kids. So, I arrive at 2 and the kids get dropped off by the bus around 4. The kids go to a private school in Concord.

Dependig on the day, I am either driving kids to and from practices, or we are concentrating on their homework and practicing their instruments. The kids have a tight schedule and they don't have a lot of room for down time--which I love! They aren't begging me to watch TV because they don't have time. They usually don't get to watch TV until Friday or the weekend. This is also very refreshing!

I am responsible for cooking dinner for the family every day. If you aren't aware, I am not a cook. I don't like cooking and I don't have a ton of experience cooking. And I am married to an AMAZING cook. So, why would I cook when Stu could make something way better? Plus, when I do cook, he always takes over anyway. So, you can imagine my fear when they told me I would need to cook dinner every day for them. Them. The beautiful, high-class, hard-working business people. I'm sure they are only used to the best. But, I told them I was up for the challenge. They are also BIG health-freaks. They are very active and only eat things that are good for them. No junk food in their house! Yay again! The kids don't come home begging for cookies--they eat anything healthy...even salmon. Did I mention that the little girl is 5???

So, every day I arrive at work and find the recipe for dinner that the wife has provided me. It's usually something like a stir-fry or some kind of exotic salad. They eat a lot of interesting and exotic food. They own every spice under the sun and have all kinds of random groceries that I've never even heard of. I am terrified they will want me to cook them some indian food....let's hope they are picky about this and opt to do it themelves...

So, anyway, I have had to cook a lot of random dinners so far. All have been pretty successful. Here was one of my favorites from last week:

Marinated Chicken & Oven-roasted Cauliflower with garlic, olive oil and lemon juice

Marinated Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 tablespoons vinegar, like cider, balsamic, or red wine
• 2 to 3 teaspoons dried herbs, like thyme, oregano, rosemary, or crumbled bay leaf
• 1 to 2 tablespoons mustard, whole grain or Dijon
• 1 to 2 teaspoon garlic or onion powder, optional
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, each about 6 ounces

Directions

Put the vinegar, herbs, mustard, powders if using and oil in a large re-sealable plastic bag. Close the bag and shake to combine all the ingredients. Open the bag, drop in the chicken breast in the bag. Close and shake the bag to coat evenly. Freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, under cold, running water, or in the microwave at 30 percent power for 1 minute at a time.

Heat a grill or grill pan. When the grill is hot, place the chicken on the grill and cook for about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. You can also bake the thawed chicken in a 375 degree F oven for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

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Oven-Roasted Cauliflower with garlic, olive oil & lemon juice

Ingredients

• 5 to 6 cups cauliflower florets, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter (from 1 medium cauliflower)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced garlic
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Place the cauliflower florets in a large saute pan or a roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower, and season with the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Place the saute/roasting pan in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately while still warm.

These recipes are fantastic and easy! I could eat the cauliflower recipe every day...So, we will see if this job makes a great cook out of me! I have also decided to post recipes that I use that I think are delicious and this way I can keep kind of a recipe log for future use.

So, the nanny job is going good. It's pretty chill right now because the kids get home at 4 and the parents are home by 7. It's only 25 hours a week right now (plus Friday nights, which I've already done and will do again this weekend) but it will be about 50 hours this summer (yay for overtime pay!). And I don't have to work on the weekend!!! It's been a LONG time since I haven't had to work on the weekend. I am so grateful for this great opportunity and look forward to what else it brings.

Poor Stu starts working at O'Charleys this week as a cook--he is not thrilled to be back in a kitchen but is grateful for a job. I know how he feels--restaurant jobs SUCK. But, we have been so blessed. We hit the job-hunt scene HARD but we still only looked for a few weeks and were blessed enough to get jobs so soon--so many people are looking for jobs. So,

we are as happy as clams :)

YAY O'CHARLEYS!