Cooking for the Sandwich Generation

You’ve heard the term, The Sandwich Generation; those of us who are squished between our parents and our kids running hither and yon trying to be all things to all people and burning the family candle at both ends.

In our family hoagie, there is also a meal prep issue. At one time we had 3 different types of vegetarians in the house, plus two confirmed “Meatatarians“. There’s the no salt/sodium requirement for my mother, my own diabetes and my husbands love and never ending search of the perfect Philly Cheesesteak.  It can boggle the menu making mind.

Factor that in with the fact that I never really know who will be at the dinner table (Football practice, dates, work, going to friends, friends dropping by) and that my mother won’t allow extra food in her fridge for the next day and you have a whole new algorithm of size and quantity to deal with.

Today was designed to be left over day. With only one self sufficient son at home and my husband and I enjoying the calm that hoped for, there was no cooking planned, just help yourself to the odds and ends in the fridge and I’ll make up for it tomorrow.

Of course, this was all before the early morning texts came in from my Mom’s caregivers, and the new flurry of activity started in again. Mom wasn’t feeling well, mom wasn’t eating and mom wanted pasta… today.

Did I mention this was Christmas day? Day of the closed market?

So I set to work, wondering all the while what I could make that worked with what I had on hand and could also be made to satisfy one and all. Today became the day Baked Pesto Shells were born.

Here’s the down and dirty basics:

• Whole wheat pasta shells cooked
• Homemade pesto sans salt (I keep it in the freezer most of the time)
• Sliced mushrooms (Why? Because they needed to be used)
• Chopped leftover chicken breasts from last night (note to self – omit when vegetarian daughters are home)

Put the whole mess into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, top with a little bit of parmesan cheese if the Philly husband insists and bake for about 35 – 45 minutes.

Viola! You have dinner that everyone will embrace and you are once again the coolest thing since sliced bread.

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