Pantry Raid

Every so often, (though not nearly often enough) I have good mom moments. I feel like I need to write this one down to remind me to do it again someday.
I was watching TV during the day, which I don't normally do but I was exhausted and needed to relax. So anyway I was watching this show called Pantry Raid on Netflix. It's not an awesome show, but it seemed harmless to watch with the kids around so I watched it anyway. The basis of the show is this chef goes into normal homes and helps a cooking-challenged woman make a meal using things he finds in her pantry and fridge. Then they serve it up all pretty for her family and friends. Anyway, the show ended and the begging began: "Mom, can we play the Wii, please please please...." Since they didn't need more screen time, and I didn't want to hear them whining while I made dinner, I came up with the perfect solution--we'd do our own pantry raid. The kids were completely on board and we had a blast. They wanted everything from bacon to pickles to soy sauce, yikes! I tried my best to incorporate all of the ingredients they chose but a few had to be left out. We got creative and ended up with a yummy dinner. I'm kicking myself now for not taking any pics!
We made 4 different appetizers. First was mini kebabs using black olives, pickles, pepperonis, red bell peppers, and cucumbers skewered onto fancy toothpicks. We also made little pizza bites by putting the pizza toppings on hot dog buns cut to size. We used cream cheese, bacon crumbles, and cheddar to create a cheeseball-like filling and stuffed it into red bell pepper slices topped with half a black olive. Since we had leftover cheeseball we spread some on crackers as well.
For the main course we made homemade chicken nuggets breaded with corn flakes and an "italian" green salad. We tossed in what was already out- olives, pepperoni, bacon, red peppers, and mozzarella. Then we made up a dressing for it using italian dressing, soy sauce, and a bit of sugar (Calin had picked out the soy sauce and I really wanted to use it for his sake).
While I prepped the chicken nuggets I had the kids fancy up the table. I really wish I had gotten a picture of it, they were so proud! They used this bright tropic-like plastic table cloth then added a vase of fake flowers, my egyptian perfume bottles, Calin's missionary bank (it's huge and shaped to look like a big missionary), and a heart tile from Naiya's room. It was quite an eclectic table setting! They requested we all use glass plates and cups and were so proud of their work. They couldn't wait to surprise Darin when he got home! Unfortunately, we ran out of time to invent a dessert, however we had vanilla ice cream and various toppings for them to create sundaes and they were both pretty pleased with that.
The kids ate everything on their plates and more! They both kept saying it was the best dinner they ever had and I was the best mom ever. I tried to explain to them that the dinner was so good b/c they'd help make it but they still insisted I was the best ever, and who could argue with that?