in attempt to be more organized and prepared for meal's around here i am taking a cue from jessica and creating a weekly dinner menu. there is a dry erase board on the side of her refrigerator where she keeps the week's activities. when we have coffee at her place that board is directly in my line of sight. after many cups of coffee i began to notice things like lemon chicken, lasagne, tacos*...listed in the corner of each day. hummmm. was this her menu? i never got around to asking.last week, after our failed attempt at yoga, we shopped together at wegman's and i finally remembered to ask her. YES! she plans a menu for each week, purchases the food to facilitate that menu and - VIOLA! - dinner.
easy! genius! organized! a list! right up my alley.
the best part about it is that she isn't so rigid that one night's meal couldn't easily be abandoned for sandwiches or take-out leaving yet one less meal that she had to think about for the next week. brilliant!
now this might seem so elementary (and even silly) to some but as i feel my way through my first year as a stay at home mom this was a fantastic realization. i am great about coming up with a meal on the fly but, honestly, it can be somewhat stressful and time consuming. the days that i decide early what we're having for dinner that night are so relaxing. i can prep a bit here and there and clean up as i go.
i absolutely love to cook and this process makes the thought of cooking fun again. i am beginning to realize that cooking a great meal doesn't have to involve 2 hours of prep and fancy ingredients. it can be quick, simple, and semi-homemade (a word i hate but it's applicable) and still be healthy, nourishing and good.
my mother is a good cook. she wouldn't agree but there are many recipes of hers that i use all the time. we ate dinner together as a family every night growing up and the table was the place where we got to know one another, learn about the lives we were leading outside of home and simply be together (and still!) for an hour each day. it is important that wil have that same experience. the ritual of breaking bread, sharing a meal, is in my blood. both my grandmothers were excellent cooks. preparing food for someone was a way of showing them love and, man oh man, did we feel loved!
since wil has come along i have lost my joy for cooking. perhaps it isn't fair to say i've lost the joy as much as i no longer have the time i once had. i used to read cooking light from cover to cover and spend a lot of time talking about food and cooking with my foodie co-workers. ryan and i shared many a sunday making meals together and it was time i cherished. the leisure time we once shared making sri lankan beef curry (our all-time favorite recipe) is time we now share playing with wil. having a baby changes everything.
don't get me wrong...i wouldn't trade playing with wil for a week at the culinary institute. someday we will all prepare meals together and i cannot wait for that day. i simply mean that in having a baby i've focused all my energy on him and put the things that i love doing on the back burner. those things are slowly starting to resurface and it feels good to greet them again and to reintroduce myself to them in a new way.
thanks jess for the inspiration!
*not actual giorgio menu items...or maybe they are. however, in effort to maintain full diclosure i admit to making these up.
15 comments:
planning your meals for the week is great, shawn and i do this almost every week. especially since most of our products (ie.meat,chick.,pork) is all frozen, we get them out on a sunday night put them in the fridge and then they are thawed when your ready for them. as oppossed to going " oh shit, i forgot to get something out for supper" and now its not going to have time to thaw and then you end up going out to eat and spending way more mula. although sometimes you end up abandoning your planned meal during the week for dinner out due to a crappy day at work and you don't feel like cooking.
as you know shawn & i love to cook as well and your right the joy of cooking is seeing everyones face as they take there first few bites and they are just in heaven because it taste so good, there isn't a greater feeling then making people happy. i also agree with everyone eating together with no tv on and discussing your day, we did that growing up as well, its so important. you and ryan are great parents and you are doing everything great, you should be proud of yourselves and the love of cooking will be back to you before you know it or should i say the TIME for cooking will be back with you before you know it.
Thanks for the "props". Love this week's menu!
I do also love to cook and it has become work rather than fun, but every once in a while, I feel the joy...even if all I am making is Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup (last night's dinner), because, you're right, while we love the food, it's really about being together and who says good food has to be fancy anyway?
This is great!
I had no idea that you had EVER been SO in love with cooking! The "love" factor is what makes a good meal or dish GREAT! I've shared many recipes with friends/family over the years only to learn later that, even though they followed my recipe excactly, it just didn't taste the same. That's because they don't "love" to cook. I really believe that. Those who view cooking as a chore or a necessity cannot be compared to those of us who truly take joy in the planning and execution of a meal, especially a meal shared with those we love.
Whenever I find out that someone is coming to visit, my first thought is, "What can I feed them?" Screeching into second place is, "Oh,shit! I've got to get this place cleaned up!" I love to prepare food for the people I love - it's one of my ways to show affection, I guess.
You're right on the mark with the family time/sit-down dinner every night. There's no better way to reconnect at the end of a hectic day. I'm proud of you!
Betsy, I have your grandmother's cookbook that I will give you if you want it. I have been through it and there are some great recipes. Just let me know........
tia - i love hearing from you in the middle of the day. i wish you had off every week! thanks for the compliment about our parenting. we are trying!
jess - again...thanks for the inspiration. we were eating together every night and i have been cooking but i was getting in the habit of thinking about it when ry walked in the door and that wasn't fun for anyone. this is a much easier plan.
charlotte - cooking has long been a passion of mine. it is perhaps the only thing i love to do (almost) as much as reading. i have gotten pretty good over the years! i love to share food and, just like you, it's ALWAYS first on my mind when i find out someone is visiting. the second is also about cleaning my house. we are alike in that way.
becky - would love to take a look through edie's cookbook. no hurry...we can look at it together someday.
planning is the hardest part about cooking. every time i feel like cooking, i sit down with the cookbook and pick out about 5 things i'd like to try and i never have all the ingredients. NEVER. again...forethought.
however, since i have been banned from grocery shopping (because all i buy is a bunch of expensive crap and nothing that can be made into a meal, and i quote) i guess it's really not my problem then, is it?
we do a lot of daily shopping pick-ups and also a lot of grilling out. i can't get either of my boys to sit down for a meal either. i'm depressing myself posting a comment to this blog! i think i need a new family.
i should do this. i used to do this. i should start doing this again. i, too, share the joy of cooking, and i, too, get busy with the kids then either get take out or throw something together at the last minute, which isn't joyful.
good for you! i like seeing your menu too. this will give me ideas to start doing this again! so, thanks!
ps - please share homemade speghetti os!
denise...i would love to see you put up a menu as well. in fact, i was thinking that maybe each of us with a blog might consider it. if not every week...from time to time. inspiration ooozes out from these blogs.
homemade spaghetti-o's courtesy of heather (my friend & neighbor):
*roasted red pepper and tomato soup (both whole foods & trader joe's sell this)
*anelletti pasta
cook pasta in soup. use equal parts pasta & soup....viola!
i agree we should all do a menu on our blog so we can get ideas and not get into a rutt of cooking and thinking of ideas. that is usually when the take out happens when you can't think of anything or you feel like your eating the same thing all the time. so come on girls everyone get a menu for the week up on the blog.
I'm game, but I have to warn you all that I've been in a food prep rut for about 5 years now. My menu may not be too interesting.
jess - maybe your rut is going to be someone's else's breakthrough. ever think of it that way?
i agree jess, your rutt's very possibly could be someone else's marvelous cuisine. this may also get you out of your rutt?????
jess - i'd love to hear creative and easy ideas for chicken breasts, which i do have in the freezer and can pull out to thaw if i knew what in the hell to do with them. HELP.
E-We eat chicken at least once a week if not more. I'm into simple so if you ever see something listed on my menu that you think you'd like to try, email me.
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