People are often amazed that I hate cooking/baking and will ask me why? And so I take them through how a dinner at our house is made... (please note, this really is meant in fun so I hope you don't take it as complaining, cooking just isn't my thing.)
First, I have to come up with a menu. Now, menu planning can be quite overwhelming for someone like me who has no idea what to make!! So... after hunting through the recipe books or cards and nowadays sometimes the internet somehow I manage to come up with a few meals. This job really has gotten a little less overwhelming for me as I realized that I will always have at least 1 leftover night (probably more if I plan things right - details on this handy dandy little trick to follow). My family also enjoys a breakfast night where I serve pancakes, waffles or french toast along with sausage or bacon. I usually do a freezer night - where I either pull something I froze earlier in the month out of the freezer OR where I purchase a frozen pizza or something of that nature. So that means I really only have to plan for 4 nights! :) And for those nights when I'm not prepared with anything either cuz I forgot or was just too busy - spaghetti does the trick.
After the menu is made it's time to figure out what I still need from the grocery store so that I can make all these wonderful dishes that I have so carefully planned for my family. This entails hunting through cupboards, digging through my freezer, and searching my fridge and pantry and carefully documenting those items that I need to purchase and how much of each item I need. Hopefully I also think to remember those other necessities I might need such as toiletries!
Next I'm off to the grocery store and it's not until I get to the store, dig through my purse and all of my pockets, and do a thorough search of my van do I finally come to the conclusion that I must have left my list at home!!! So... I attempt to shop by memory!! At least 2 stores and a couple of hundred dollars later (on a good week) I finally head home already exhausted from my shopping excursion. But all that delicious food still has to be put away. And, if you happen to shop in bulk, you know that that can be quite a chore!
Finally, I start the actual cooking process. I pull out my little menu and choose the absolute simplest thing for dinner (cuz I'm so tired from shopping) kicking myself for not having something already in the crockpot or stopping at Subway on the way home!! Halfway through the cooking process I realize that I forgot a main ingredient... So off to IGA I run (unless Brett is home and takes pity on me - which I'm so thankful that he does!!!) to get my 1 little ingredient. $60 - $100 later and several bags of other little items that I discovered I had forgotten on my original shopping trip I head home to finish making dinner. Now, on the occassion I am STILL missing an important ingredient (it has been known to happen), simply repeat this step as many times as necessary knowing that EVERYTIME I run into IGA it's gonna cost me at least $60!!!!
Phew! Dinner is made, the family is at the table, the blessing is said... now the complaining starts. "Yuck!" "We're having that for dinner???" "I'm not hungry." And my absolute favorite, "What's in this????" And on and on it goes. It makes for lovely dinner conversation. But there really is a good side to all this complaining... If they don't like it, there will be even more leftovers! And if I plan things right I could be serving leftovers for DAYS! So, for those of you who hate to cook like me - make something they DON'T like and it really cuts down on kitchen time. Any complaining you may have to endure really is worth it!!!
Dinner is eaten... well, some of it anywayz and now I have the honor and privilege of cleaning it all up!! Okay... for my kids who might happen to stumble upon my blog they would remind me that I have assigned Brian and Jessi dinner clean-up duty, but for the rest of you who might be reading it (especially for the moms out there) you know the story - someone has to clean up after they are done cleaning!!
That's how dinner is done in my house!
Happy cooking!
6 comments:
Hey, that's great! Here at my house (this year at least) I have been known to keep something like hotdogs (never mind what we learned about them a couple years ago) in my freezer for those emergency nights. I do normally forget to thaw out the rolls and we have often eaten them on bread. Hotdogs are suppossed to be for emergencies only so I like to keep at least one package in the freezer at all times, just in caes, ya know. Unfortunately, there have been a lot of emergencies lately and, for what they're said to be made of, those little guys are pretty expensive!
I haven't eaten a hot dog since you told me what they are made of. YUCK!! Jessi loves 'em - but Heather won't eat them.
You know, I just reread my entry... I wonder if eating is really worth it!! LOL.
I think it's always difficult to try to keep the menu interesting. It seems we get in ruts where we eat the same meals over and over. I'm glad we have a change of seasons here because during the winter months I make more soups and chili and stuff like that. We never eat those things in the summer, but by the time summer is over I'm tired of grilled chicken and burgers and ready for my winter meals. I do like to cook, but my challenge is trying to find new, yummy recipes that my whole family loves.
God never had a problem with the menu and the children of Isreal. He fixed the same thing every day.
Yeah that's true. We're so spoiled!
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