Dinner: An Exercise in Failure

So I might as well be honest about dinner tonight.  It was a major fail.  My intentions were good, but it just. didn't. work.

I will start by saying it was HOT today.  Like end-of-August HOT.  I don't love the heat unless I'm sitting by a pool with an icy drink in my hand.  With two kids and no pool, this makes me a sweaty mess.  No Caribbean fantasy here.  And the rest of the week...not much better.

 I decided that due to the fact that we do not have air conditioning on the first floor, I would cook our dinner on the grill (if you ask my husband, I think he will attest that I have above average grill skills).  I didn't go grocery shopping this week...not a good plan, so I scoured the house and found two things I could grill: sweet potatoes and chicken sausage.  Both are gluten free, and we always make sure our grill is clean (and free of gluteny sauces and bread products), so I thought this would be delicious and nutritious (and cooler than cooking inside).

I looked up some recipes for grilled sweet potatoes, and most of them suggested boiling them.  BOIL? Nopey nope nope. Not gonna do that.  So, I cherry picked a recipe that didn't need me to heat a pan of water to 212*F inside my house.  I peeled and cut sweet potatoes into 1/2" thick slices, brushed them with vegetable oil, and sprinkled them with a little sugary spice rub of brown sugar, salt, and pepper.

 I heated up the grill on medium heat, and put all of my delicious food on the grates.

I let them sit for four minutes (like the recipe said), and I turned them...they smelled delicious and had cute little grill marks.  Unfortunately, after the next four minutes, I got distracted by a diaper emergency (no details here I promise), and by the time I was done dealing with it, this is what was left.  Charcoal coated potatoes.

Luckily, the sausages were salvageable. And delicious.  I don't usually buy that brand, (Al Fresco is my go-to sausage) but I had a coupon and got these puppies for free, and with that little "gluten free" symbol, how could I resist?  So I ate sausage for dinner.

I made some instant mac 'n cheese for my toddler, but while cutting up the sausage for her, this happened:

So, I made another batch of instant mac 'n cheese, cut a second sausage, and ate the two that were left. 

On a positive note, dessert was a success. Jell-O never fails me.  It's gluten free, and delicious, and amazing.

 Moral of the story?  Document the fails, because they make the successes that much sweeter.