Things Taken for Granted
Sunday, October 5th, 2003
UltraGirl and I have agreed that I will to the cooking on weekdays. Anyone who knows me well lnows that cleaning is a real weak point of mine, and I hope that cooking will help distribute the household chores more evenly. The last week and a half, I have been doing the majority of the cooking, and it has made me realize that I REALLY took my mother’s cooking for granted.
I grew up on a farm out in the country with the nearest, non-outrageously expensive grocery store being a 1.5 hour drive away. I come from a family of 6, my Mom and Dad, two little brothers and a little sister. That’s a lot of greedy mouths to feed, but we always had lots and lots of good eats.
Now that I am doing the cooking, I realize what a trials it is. The cooking is not that big of a deal. The tough part is planning the meals, and thinking about making sure that what I cook is enjoyable for the both of us. I find myself making food out of packages about half the time, to avoid the trouble of making a full meal from scratch.
UltraMom almost never made instant food for us, and we really considered it a treat when we got to eat fast food or even TV dinners. Until I started cooking for us, I never realized how much effort mom must have put into our dinners without ever complaining about it. I’d like to express my profound thanks for now, through this awkward poorly organized note. Thanks UltraMom.
P.S. No promises yet, but I may start putting recipes up here to help me remember the things that I’ve made so it’ll be a reference for you and I later.
Cooking can be a chore of a joy; it depends on whether you like to cook or not. If you are cooking five days a week, you get the chance to run a really efficient kitchen--using leftovers or extra bits from one meal in the next. But it does take some planning or creative thinking.
My recommendation: start with a simply prepared meat-- roast chicken, grilled fish, hamburgers--and use the leftovers the next day for soup, a casserole, or omelet filling. You can do the same with vegetables and starches.
Making dinner the first night is a simple task because the cooking methods are plain and on the second night, you already know what you’re going to cook, so you don’t have to think about it.
Aww, shucks. Thanks UltraBob. It’s so nice to be appreciated, and when you do something all the time, it can be pretty thankless. You know, cooking is STILL a trial, and I don’t do that much of it anymore, really. And you are right; the PLANNING is the big thing. I have never been organized enough to plan out a week’s worth of menus, but I’ve often thought it would take the stress out of dinner creating. I have a couple of really good and easy Weightwatcher recipes that I make once in a while; one a veggie lasagna, and another a meatless chilli roleno type casserole. Dad really likes both of these, but I often throw a little chopped ham in the casserole for him. I just returned from a Christian Women’s retreat in Sun Valley. Daughter Heather (I guess it’s UltraDaughter or something?) and sister UltraDebi were there and we had a pretty good time, and I learned a few things. Mostly, I ate too much food that I DID not have to cook, and that, therefore, tasted REALLY good.
Love ya UltraSon
There’s nothing like a steaming bowl of rice and natto, or a grilled fish.
It’s quick, easy, and it tastes goo no matter how many days in a row you eat it.
Yeah natto definitely tastes like goo....