I've never been a great cook. The thought of being becky homecky in the kitchen sounds great and everything, but it just isn't a reality. When I watch Rachel Ray and Alton Brown, it all seems to make sense and I see myself capable...but then I stand in my kitchen, and it all goes down hill, well actually it starts in the grocery store, but ya know...
Well, I have no solution to becoming better in the kitchen but lately the problem has gotten much bigger than just not being able to create delectable dishes...I can't even think of the dish. Growing up I remember one of my moms least favorite parts of the day was deciding what to make for supper. I used to think..."Good night Mom, you've been doing this for 20+ yrs! Just think of a meal and make it!..." But the last few months I've felt her pain.
It was the same every night for weeks and weeks...Joel would look at me around 4 or 5 p.m. and say, "what are you thinking of for supper"...and every night the only things I could think of were pizza and quesadillas.
Meal Planning...I know, I know, I know. It seems like a great solution, I've sort of tried it. But long story short - its not the solution for Joel and I right now. But I think that I can smell Victory!
So on the way home from my parents house Saturday night, I was forlorn, and stress'n about what to make for supper when we got home. I was trying to think of something other than the two staples...when I just started writing. I wrote down everything I could think of that Joel and I liked to eat, had ever eaten, and I wasn't horrible at making. I came up with a list of 21 entrées. It was a very rewarding activity.
So I then picked the meals from the list with ingredients that I can keep on hand. Now I always have have a dozen + meals on hand, and a list of those meals to remind myself of my options. The other meals just kinda get rotated through, and I buy the ingredients for one or two of the other meals each week!. Its fabulous. And when I'm not not nursing, contorting my body in an uncomfortable position in an effort to type, I'll share our menu, and get a electronic copy for myself that can't be lost!
3 comments:
I have done this before in the past, but that would be something for me to do again now. I like the idea of having certain ones where you always have the items on hand. Good idea:)
If you need more inspiration, I love this blog: http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/
Ooooo!! Meal planning is the WORST! Sooo awesome that you wrote that list out. Happy cooking :)
That's great! That's actually how I started meal planning because I couldn't ever think of good things to put on the list. I need to do that again, seems like we've been eating the same things (tacos, spaghetti) a lot. Thanks for the reminder!
Post a Comment