Four kids. Work. Life. (I know… I’m getting tired just talking about my life.) Sometimes you just need a break. From it all. And after a long day of running around with kids, as much as I want to cook a home cooked meal, I’m E X H A U S T E D! But there’s nothing that I love more than my whole family sitting around a dinner table.
I love cooking fresh scratch meals and I’m really a good cook, but on a night that I just want to relax, Cheddar’s Fresh Scratch Kitchen is the perfect place to do just that without the guilt of not cooking. It’s just like being in someone else’s kitchen!
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is growing the Tampa Bay area (with four locations) and we are so excited they are here in new parts of town! The atmosphere is warm and inviting and the tables are reminiscent of the ones in your kitchen. Everyone is at the table but this time, no one has to get up and my main job is taking, listening and sharing a meal with my kids.
As a Mom of four, cooking that ONE meal that everyone enjoys is like winning the lottery. I have a few of those in my reserves, but most of the time, I feel like a short order cook, cooking things to please the permanent guests of my home.
At Cheddar’s, the menu selection was impressive. My favorite reason: most everything was made from scratch, down to the ketchup at your table (low in sugar and just a few ingredients). If I had all the time in the world, I’d love to make EVERYTHING from scratch, but it just doesn’t happen like I want it to all the time, so I’m glad that there are places like Cheddar’s that take the time to make easy items like this because they know they taste better too!
My kids enjoyed browsing the menus and they too liked to know things were made from scratch. They do know that things “out of a box” just aren’t as good as from scratch.
We started with Onion Rings. Hand made with two homemade sauces. Delicious. The entire stack was gone in an instant.
The portions were large so we shared a few items and even took home left overs.
My kids literally cleaned their plates.
Parents feel the pressures of making the perfect home cooked from scratch meal and society expects us to be everything to everyone. But we are human. We only one person and we are always trying the best we can. And that’s always the most anyone should ask of us.
GIVEAWAY:
I’m giving away four (4) $25 gift cards to Cheddar’s Fresh Scratch Kitchen. To enter, follow the link below! Leave a comment and tell us what you like most about sitting down as a family for dinner. Good luck and we hope your family as just as good of a time as we did.
{RULES: Comment before February 19th, 2016 at 11:59pm to be eligible to win. Winner will be selected at random and notified by e-mail. If winner doesn’t respond within 24 hours, another winner will be chosen. One entry per email address. Gift card will be shipped upon confirmation of address within 7 business days.}
When you sit at the table with your kids, it should be a time to connect. Fresh, from scratch homemade food just makes the whole experience that much better.
My kids will one day be off to college, living on their own, maybe in a different state. I’m cherishing this time we have together because I’m sure to look back on it and wonder where the time went.
