WIS, WWA | Do you think we've over-complicated dinner?
In Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, Little House in the Big Woods, she describes a visit to her grandparents' house, where she and her family share a meal with the grandparents plus some uncles and aunts.
When I reread this book to my own kids, I was very surprised to see that dinner consisted just of a pot of polenta (hasty pudding, they call it), topped with maple syrup. I'm pretty sure that if I was hosting 5-10 extra people for dinner, I would feel compelled to serve more than just polenta and maple syrup!
Whenever I think about this, I wonder if we have made meals more complicated than they really need to be.
I mean, obviously, a meal of polenta and maple syrup is not the greatest thing, nutritionally speaking. Some produce and protein would make that a much more well-rounded meal.
And obviously, Laura's family was limited in their ability to obtain fresh, healthy food year-round; we are privileged to have many more options available to us.
But still, I can't help but think that maybe we are putting a little too much pressure on ourselves when it comes to deciding what constitutes a meal, and when we think each meal we eat has to cover all of the necessary food groups.
And I definitely can see how we put too much pressure on ourselves when it comes to making meals for guests; maybe we don't need to do drinks, appetizers, a main dish, and a dessert. It might be fine to just order pizza, or make BLTs, especially since the point of getting together is to be together.
Anyway. This is why we sometimes just eat pancakes and orange juice for dinner! It doesn't have to be fancy; it just has to get people fed.
What I Spent
I have an embarrassing number of receipts this week.
We spent:
- $9.50 at Weis
- $11 at Giant
- $74 at BJs
- $17 at Lidl
- $13 at Safeway
- $35 at Harris Teeter
- $25 on a Hungry Harvest box
That all adds up to $184.50 which is my highest spending week in a while!
November Grocery Spending
Week 1: $103
Week 2: $184.50
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and Zoe were out shopping together, so they ate at Chipotle. Sonia and I had Swedish pancakes.
Sunday
Mr. FG cooked! He made a chicken salad based on Panera's summer salad (lettuce, berries, oranges, chicken, poppyseed dressing, sugared nuts) + garlic breadsticks.
Monday
A rotisserie chicken story, which you have already heard if you follow me on social media: on Monday, I decided (rather last-minute) to go buy a rotisserie chicken so I could make chicken and biscuits.
Giant was out of them, and I was a little annoyed, but I decided to go to the Safeway next door to get one. Well, Safeway was out too.
THEN I decided to go to Harris Teeter, but their chicken-heating apparatus was shut down for repairs. (!!)
So I called Mr. FG on his way home from work to see if he could stop at BJs to get me a chicken.
Well, BJs didn't have one either. (womp-womp)
Is Monday a day when everyone buys rotisserie chickens? Did we just have bad luck?
I do not know.
But we gave up after four stores and ended up having ham and Swiss panini with sun-dried tomato mayo, with chips and raw produce on the side.
(By the way, we lived in an area that is seriously saturated with grocery stores, which is why we could conceivably check four places for a chicken without venturing more than 5 minutes in any direction from our house!)
Tuesday
I made pasta alfredo topped with chicken sausage (for Zoe) and shrimp (for the rest of us). Raw produce on the side.
Wednesday
A silver lining to Monday's chicken fiasco is that Safeway guarantees that chickens will be available between 11 am and 8 pm. Customer Service gave me a coupon for a free chicken, and I redeemed that on Wednesday.
So, we finally had chicken and biscuits. 😉
Thursday
I made a quick batch of chicken broth so that I could make this sausage and orzo dish.
A good thing about this recipe is that it is quite flexible...I just use whatever veggies I happen to have on hand, and this time around, I only had red wine on hand, so that's what I used instead of the white wine.
Friday
I have an event at church tomorrow afternoon/evening, so I think we will do our date night tonight.
Fridge/freezer replacement coming up, so the theme for this week is "use it up".
S sausage and cauliflower,
S goat with mashed potato and French beans, tasting actually very good. It was an experiment,
M vegetarian millet, leek, carrot and banana with almonds and coconut cream,
T sausage and Brussels sprouts, with potatoes,
W braise red cabbage and shepherds pie,
Th all kinds of leftovers from previous days plus some fried rice and chicken cacciatore, from the freezer,
F today will be chili con Carne and I am ahead of the game since meat has been thawed and beans have been cooked. We will have a busy rush hour at six!
I wonder if not being able to get chicken, overall, is a supply chain issue like I've been hearing about in the news? Which would be weird since we actually raise chickens in this country! Anyhoodle, this is what we ate:
Monday - Savory Grilled Chicken, twice baked potato, carrots
Tuesday - Beefy Cowboy Beans, garlic toast, chopped raw onions and peppers {library day}
Wednesday - Chile Lime Chicken Burgers, waffle fries
Thursday - I was supposed to eat out, but it had been a hard day at the hospital so I fixed pre-breaded, baked chicken tenders over a chopped salad
Friday - TJ's Country potatoes and green beans with a pork chop
Saturday - Definitely take-out
Sunday - I'm visiting my mother in Brenham, so something really easy, like tilapia
But really, I need a break from cooking at all...
@Gina, While I purposefully avoid most news--I can only take so much awful--I find the supply chain issues oddly fascinating in a dystopian way, so I've been reading about them since the start of the pandemic.
Re: chickens, the animals still have to be processed, which requires 1) employees, 2) that the birds fit the machinery, and 3) a means to get them to the store. At the start of the pandemic, when packing plants were shutting down owing to COVID, the birds (and other animals) simply grew too big for the processing machines (yes, seriously, the system is that tightly keyed in for efficiency), and many had to be destroyed/wasted. While COVID numbers are better in most places, there's still a question of employee numbers for both the plants and the shipping companies, what the farms have this year (having taken a big hit last year--see wasted livestock above), plus whether packaging is available. The freak winter storm in Texas knocked out a major glue factory, for example, which months later is still affecting products that use it, like paper grocery bags and food containers. As the pre-storm inventory runs out, the shortage becomes more apparent--grocery bags that used to have handles going without to save glue, for example. And so on!
Like I said, it's a fascinating dystopian rabbit hole to fall down.
@N, Gah, sorry about the multiple "for examples." So much for proofing!
@N,
This sort of thing fascinates me, too. It is all so interconnected and inter-dependent. I work in a hospital nutrition department, and while I do not do the food purchasing, we encounter numerous out of stock issues. For the longest time, we could not get any fish - not just "it's too expensive", there was no fish to be had from our suppliers.
N,
So interesting about all the supply chain issues going on. My son who is a junior in college, just gave a supply chain presentation this week, although his was focused on the ports (their problems) and the related terrorist & drug issues at the ports.
My husband is a huge diet soda drinker. I have noticed that while regular soda appears in the grocery stores, diet soda and Gatorade seem to be hard to get. I have heard that their is a plastic shortage for the bottles but not sure if that is actually true.
@Susan, just home from grocery shopping, and happened to notice shelves full of Diet Coke, but almost empty regular old-fashioned Coke! And lots of miscellaneous empty shelves of random things. Strange!
@Susan, I had read about aluminum shortages but not plastic. Just researching quickly, it seems it’s a perfect storm between the raw materials for plastic becoming harder to come by (shipping restrictions, origin countries in various states if COVID, employee numbers at various stages of manufacturing) and more people switching to single use plastic items for sanitary reasons *because* of COVID. I’ll have to dive into this one further!
@Jenny, Interesting. I'm finding lots of Coke but much less Diet Coke, and more Diet Coke in bottles than cans. For the first time, the prices of Coke and Pepsi are quite different and remaining so.
@WilliamB and others, I have heard all of the above reasons and more. There does seem, at least here, less diet sodas than regular particularly in cans. I usually drink diet Pepsi caffeine free in cans and they went missing in the spring. However, diet Coke caffeine free was all over the place. This continued for weeks and so I called Pepsi and said they are having an aluminum shortage. Diet Pepsi showed up several weeks later for maybe 3 weeks and disappeared again for 4 months in the cans. Still, diet Coke was everywhere. Diet Pepsi caffeine free has now been around for almost a month and diet Coke is still everywhere. Is no one buying caffeine free diet Coke? Weird.
@Gina, Anywhoodle (love it)
@N, I find the whole supply chain stuff fascinating as well.
It is beginning to be hot and sticky here so I am simplifying meals. I cooked bolognese sauce which did us two meals. I sliced up some leg ham so ham and salad have made an appearance. I had a rotisserie chicken too and once the had been used in sandwiches and very strong bone broth for the Christmas meal. We also had a rice pilau with whatever else was to found to add to it.
A most emphatic YES to your lead-in topic. I feel like home cooks watched too much Food Network (or, now, look at too many online recipe sites or Instagram) and now feel that their food they make at home is supposed to mimic a restaurant.
No.
Your food is supposed to feed your household in a nutritious--and hopefully tasty :-)--manner. Save the restaurant aspirations for holidays or something.
Also, Tuesday I have a post scheduled about how my view on my children's nutrition is more an overall throughout the day rather than on a meal by meal basis. That is, I don't even try to serve a fruit or vegetable with every meal, but I do make sure not to serve the same thing (i.e., bread or peanut butter) for more than one meal. Every meal doesn't have to be a model of nutrition.
Anyway. I have Many Thoughts about this (as always), but I'll leave it there and just say what we ate this week.
Saturday: Pickled radish appetizer, carrot sticks, personal pizzas for the three kids at home (brother on a field trip, dad hunting) because I had some leftover cheese and sauce and was baking bread anyway. I made green chile and hamburger soup, too, to use up a bunch of things in the refrigerator, and that's what I ate. Okay, I also had a couple of pieces of the kids' pizzas. 🙂
Sunday: Beef pot roast with tomatoes and garlic, roasted carrots, rice, frozen green beans
Monday: Leftovers, plus some rolls I brought home that were leftover from the school lunch
Tuesday: Shepherd's pie, mashed squash
Wednesday: Aaaand, more leftovers. Leftovers are my salvation on work days. It's one of the reasons I really like working only every other day.
Thursday: Beef stir-fry, rice
Sunday: I got a rotisserie chicken at BJs and we made mashed potatoes and roasted veggies to go with it. Then, I made broth with the leftover chicken and froze the broth.
Monday: We had spaghetti and meatballs with a green salad.
Tuesday: Personal nachos: each person topped their own chips. I had a few different kinds of cheese, black beans, chicken, pulled pork, jalapenos, salsa, etc. Then we baked them in the oven until all was melty. I used these really cute individual size casserole dishes that I got by redeeming grocery store points. We also had guacamole and sour cream.
Wednesday: Baked macaroni and cheese and I served it with fruit salad. I made a double recipe for the mac and cheese because everyone in my family likes it in their lunch box.
Thursday: Homemade pad thai and some frozen potstickers
Tonight:
Actually, it was through your blog that I came to realise it was ok to have simple meals, like pancakes, for dinner or to cut up fruit and veg, rather than always go the extra effort of incorporating veggies into meals.
Reading your meal plans was helpful in that respect, and I found when I take the pressure off having to prepare a full meal every night, I enjoy cooking far more.
I believe that simple is fine, whether you have company or not. I have a good friend that sometimes invites me over for leftovers for lunch and sometimes I bring my leftovers over and she eats hers. The point is to spend time together however you can make that work. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough.
Yes, I do think we've made meals too complicated. Maybe it's well-intentioned, out of trying to present a nutritionally well-rounded meal, or a result of the exposure to restaurant meals and cooking shows that previous generations did not have.
My husband and son are both extremely picky eaters and I finally settled on cooking very simple meals to suit them: usually a protein entree, a starch, a vegetable side and a dish of some fruit. One of their favorites is pork chops, baked potatoes, green peas and canned peaches (the famous 4 Ps dinner). Not fancy, but quick to make, nourishing and they enjoy it.
This week I spent $113 at the grocery store, of which $4.59 was for a bottle of dishwasher rinse aid, and am rather puzzled at how we spent so much, except that almost $20 went for two items: a bag of frozen berries and a large bag of pistachios. We did stock up on some canned soup to keep on hand for winter sickness days, but still it was high for a trip that did not include any fresh meats.
@Ruby, Do you know the trick for opening those frustrating pistachios that are barely cracked? My sister showed it to me, and I was so delighted I did a whole post to share how to do it. Briefly, use a half-shell from a previously shelled pistachio, wedge the half shell into the small crack of the one you want to open, then twist the half-shell to force the small crack open further. So much better than breaking fingernails. P.S. Your 4 Ps dinner sounds like most of the dinners I make. Minus the fruit, because I'm not even that indulgent. 🙂
@Ruby, 4 Ps, I love it!
@kristin @ going country, I do know that fab trick! My husband is the big pistachio eater, but sometimes I'll get a few and we don't waste a one.
@kristin @ going country, Brilliant! Thank you!! I did not know that trick. As soon as I read it I ran to the kitchen table where we currently have a bowl of last-ditch pistachios - tried your tip and it worked like a charm. You can't believe how excited that made me : )
@kristin @ going country,
Thanks so much for that tip! I hate those pistachios, and I have been known to use a meat mallet to open them! 🙂
YES to the "have we complicated dinner".
It's gotten even worse with the whole "wellness" health fad going on right now.
I think a lot of people completely lose sight of the fact that the current "nutritional recommendations" are based on:
- the Minnesota Starvation Experiment performed on contientious objectors during WW2 in order to find out bare-minimum *calorie* requirements and safe methods of re-feeding starvation victims, who frequently died shortly after their first post-starvation meal.
- A very flawed and biased attempt to come up with a way to quickly measure population-wide health outcomes via the BMI, which has roots in eugenics.
- An attempt by the federal government to figure out what to do with all the grain produced in the aftermath of the farm subsidies introduced to try to help farmers exit the Great Depression / Dust Bowl
- An attempt to "fix" systemic community-caused health issues by shame-blaming people into thinking their diets will fix everything, rather than looking at actually-helpful things like building sidewalks and bike paths (especially to/from schools), rezoning areas into higher-density and mixed-use (residential and business) housing vs. car-dependent single-family-only zoning, subsidizing fruit/vegetable growers instead of grain growers, and providing a base income instead of the chaos of food stamps. It's so much easier to convince people their poor health is due to their choices than the environment we've created as a society.
@EngineerMom, welllll, you just gave me some good Googling fodder!
@EngineerMom,
That's fascinating. Thank you!
I think you’re right! Your blog has actually given me permission to just do fruit as a side. Or do a main dish and a vegetable. Instead of multiple courses. Whether it’s just normal family dinner or having people over, it’s more enjoyable for me not to be stressed out / exhausted than for it to be a huge elaborate meal.
I’ve had that thought about complicating meals too, especially on nights when I’ve been overly ambitious on what I’m cooking haha I do always plan for simple now though when I know it’s going to be a busy day.
Saturday - takeout taqueria food
Sunday - baked ziti
Monday - sloppy Joe’s, French fries, carrots and zucchini
Tuesday - creamy potato and ham hock slow cooker soup (it really is wonderful coming home from work to an already prepared dinner!), dinner rolls
Wednesday - vegetable enchiladas
Thursday - drunken style noodles with shrimp (first time making this, it was delicious and my kids devoured it! It’s on budget bytes website)
Friday - coconut vegetable stir fry
Yes, I think we have over-complicated dinner - along with just about everything else! Here's my recipe-free lineup for the week:
- Quinoa/veggie bowl
- Plate of roasted veggies: sweet and sour cabbage, zucchini, and Brussels sprouts with Dijon aioli
- Oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts
- Vegetable frittata
- Tofu/veggie stir fry
- Pasta with broccoli and mushrooms
- Popcorn and fruit
I love this list. One of my kids today asked why we don’t do burritos more often. I think of burritos as my slacker dinner, but the kids love them.
I especially love the “popcorn + fruit” meal. I bet my kids would love that as a treat dinner. My mom talks about fond memories as a kid with their Sunday night dinner of grape juice and popcorn while playing games or watching TV as a family.
I often cut down to 2 meals on weekends with an early afternoon grazing snack of cut up raw veggies + cottage cheese “dip”- blend cottage cheese until smooth then stir in a bit of dried onion soup mix…delish. I love to see all of the dinner ideas. With work and other demands, I feel like every day I can pull off some semblance of dinner and sitting down as a family is an investment in my family’s well being.
@Laura, I'm an American living in a developing country and most of the expats with kids make smoothies and popcorn for dinner on Sunday night. We don't have take-out or prepackaged meals or anything like that available, so popcorn and smoothies are the easiest way to end the week, and my 4 kids love it!
@Katie, Laura,
When I was a kid, a long time ago, Sundays evenings were exciting because we had popcorn and chocolate milkshakes while watching The Wonderful World of Disney! But we did usually have a big Sunday dinner, and/or breakfast. Fond memories!
@Jenny, Sounds familiar. We had rotes cheese dip while watching Bonanza and Disney! Good times.
@Katie,
When my 3 girls were young, we did Sunday night smoothies and muffins! We all loved it, especially me (no cooking!!)
My mother usually prepared three cooked meals a day, and lunch and dinner (supper, to us) was usually a meat, two-three vegetables, a starch, pickles and/or olives and sometimes a fruit or dessert. I always heard people in my area ate that way because because we were a heavily German immigrant populated area, most of us had some German immigrant ancestors and that's how they ate. German readers, feel free to tell me if that's just a myth. After being raised that way, it's taken me decades to quit feeling guilty for serving only a burger and fries as a meal, ha.
However, I have a 1940 copy of an Emily Post etiquette book, and in it she points out that when having company over, the company, not the food, is most important, and that a well-known "society matron" of that time routinely issued much sought-after invitations to her house for Sunday evening meals that were always simply chicken and pancakes. So there's that.
This week, I had a very late night so I scrounged instead of cooking what I'd planned that night. My menu order is a little mixed up right now, but I ate:
Farm sausage, homemade sauerkraut and mashed sweet potatoes
"Tamale Pie" made AIP-compliant by using no cumin, chili powder, tomatoes, or cornmeal. The "cornbread" crust was made with plantains and cassava flour. It was good enough, but I sure missed the cumin and chili powder.
Tamale Pie leftovers
Crock Pot chicken with vegetables and fruits, using boneless chicken thighs and coconut milk.
Beef stew with sweet potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, and mushrooms. I based it on a beef bone broth I'd made in my Crock Pot the day before.
Well-seasoned pork loin chops, the rest of the mashed sweet potatoes, and chard cooked in the pork pan after the chops were done.
Tonight, leftovers or I'll cook the rest of the chops in an AIP dish called Apple-Pork Medallions.
Oh, interesting. I come from a heavily German background, so I wonder if that's influenced how I see meals. I know my grandma (the one I've often talked about here) did a LOT of cooking. I will have to ask my dad if she produced meals with as many components as your mom!
@JD, and @Kristen,
Exactly the same in my background, Austrian. Our mom cooked all meals exactly as JD describes except we always began with a soup or other appetizer like shrimp cocktail. Never fruit for dessert, always a baked item. But she didn’t work and loved having the neighbors in for a mid-afternoon torte, crepes, or Linzer cookies, etc. and coffee (with homemade whipped cream)—so more cooking!
Needless to say, my cooking has always felt like it fell short although I make meals that wow friends who aren’t Germanic.
Like another commenter, I learned from your blog that I can serve watermelon or carrot/celery sticks as part of my dinner and I never looked back. I am a devoted fan for this reason if I weren’t already one for the sensible discussions led by you, great tips, and lively community discussions.
My ancestors came from Germany and my Dad often talks about being raised thinking a noon or evening meal should have a minimum of 2, but often 3 vegetables as JD mentions. Meat stretch further with a lot of veg thrown in.
I read a lot of Victorian housekeeping manuals (yes I know I am a nerd) and the English middle class insisted on soup, fish, joint (roast meat), vegetables, sweet (what we call dessert), savory (usually a small hors d'oeuvre thing, like a slice of anchovy toast), and dessert, which was fruit, nuts and possibly a little candy. That was for dinner. At minimum. In that order.
Is this in the era when most people had household help? I can't imagine putting all of that together every day!
Yes, but in my favorite book, she advocates paying the maid about $7 a year and the cook $15. (Not adjusted for inflation.) Even then, that was a bit laughable.
Then again, back in the day they had much more stringent housekeeping standards than we do. Partially because of technology (the maid had to carry down the "slops" from overnight, which is exactly what you think they are), and burning coal for heat meant everything was covered with "blacks" and "smut" all the time (ashes, and now you know where the word "smut" comes from, ha) and partially because that's the way it was always done, that is, whitening the front step every day. Which would then get dirty when people went in and out, but by God, that front step had got to be whitened in the morning! Such an insane waste of time.
If anyone would like to read this book by Mrs. Alfred Praga, of course it's free.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/Vr5kAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP8&dq=google+books+appearances+%22alfred+praga%22
You can also search for her books on Easy French Sweets, et cetera. I TOLD YOU I WAS A NERD.
<3
@Rose, I croggled as soon as I got to the daily duties. No breaks! Sounds a bit like fiction, even for that time. Fun read, though.
@Rose, I don't see it for free, just the first 22 pages on Google Books and it's not at Project Gutenberg. How did you get it for free?
Sorry I chuckled at your rotisserie chicken debacle; it gets you to thinking it’s some kind of conspiracy!
I spent about $80 at Aldi and $30 at HEB.
Monday: breaded chicken cutlets with almond rice pilaf and sautéed yellow squash and zucchini
Tuesday: Baked spaghetti, salad, garlic bread from homemade bread I had in the freezer
Wednesday: Beef enchiladas and homemade chicken tortilla soup
Thursday:dinner out, (free Veteran’s Day meal at Texas Roadhouse for my husband)
Tonight: Chicken and dumplings
I feel like you have hit on something with the thought that we all do attempt to be over achievers sometimes in the kitchen, but I love to search recipes and meal plan ( a lot easier now that the kids are grown!) and I love to cook. Not to say I don’t have my hectic moments where I want to chuck it all and order pizza; I do, I do! But I also cook and deliver a meal to my mom (86)every single night so I have to consider her as well. She’s easy to cook for. Eats everything, loves leftovers. And when I DO order the hectic-day pizza, she loves that, too.
Aww, I love that you do that for your mom! You are a good daughter.
And yeah, I seriously could not believe when even our fourth rotisserie chicken attempt failed!
@SandyH,, almond rice pilaf sounds like a winner
@Janice, it’s just so simple! Paula Deen’s recipe!
Yes, I absolutely think we make meals too complicated. For us, in this age of overwhelming abundance and convenience, a home cooked meal is competing directly with a restaurant meal. For Laura’s family, a home cooked meal was competing with going hungry.
One of the best parties I ever went to was a tomato soup/grilled cheese potluck. Everyone brought a can of tomato soup, bread or cheese. The hostesses dumped all the soup in a big pot to warm it and we all hung out in the kitchen and grilled up sandwiches of various kinds of cheese and bread.
I rely on Hungry Harvest to do my meal planning, I just cook around whatever they bring. On Monday we had Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, white bean and pumpkin seed salad. On Tuesday we probably ate Cheerios or something, I really don’t remember. On Wednesday we had kidney bean curry over rice. On Thursday we had black eyed peas and kale with cornbread. Tonight I have a lot of beets to use up, so it’ll be something red.
I love to cook and I have no children. That can make a difference....
WWS: $48 Market Basket; $17 fish monger
Sat: dinner at friends house. She made the BEST beef stew that I have ever eaten (made with mustard and cognac/NYT); gougère to start, endive with pears and roquefort. I made French apple cake (David Lebovitz) with cinnamon whipped cream.
Sun: grilled swordfish with olive tapenade. Puréed cauliflower and roasted green tomatoes (last from the garden).
Mon: broccoli and cheddar quiche; fried eggplant with honey & rosemary (to avoid food waste [last of the garden eggplant], not because I thought that they went with the quiche!).
Tues: leftover quiche with red peppers and cucumbers (last from the garden!)
Wed: toast. Got Covid booster on Tuesday.....
Thur: at parent's house: mom made a ground lamb pasta dish from Ina Garten; salad
Fri: taco night!
I couldn’t agree more with your introductory topic! I think we’ve definitely complicated dinners to the point of overspending, over stressing and even causing more food waste in many cases. Thank you for reminding us all that it’s not only unrealistic, but unnecessary.
This week, I meal-planned and it all felt much easier.
Sunday: We had street-cart-style chicken (adapted from Smitten Kitchen's cookbook) with rice and a salad.
Monday: A hard day; the baby had slept very poorly! When my husband woke up and asked me how the night was, I cried. We ate leftovers, I went to bed early, and the rest of the week was better.
Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner with spinach salad.
Wednesday: Salmon with roasted root vegetables. Next time I'll just do parsnips and sweet potatoes. Turnips take longer to roast than the other vegetables, and since we aren't HUGE turnip fans, I'll leave it out.
Thursday: Pizza. I use Smitten Kitchen's lazy pizza dough, which is a no-knead dough (although I do give it a few kneads in the bowl; I'm probably putting in too much flour but it's a forgiving recipe).
Today: I just took a whole chicken out of the freezer and put it in the fridge; hopefully in eight hours it'll be defrosted enough to roast. I'm thinking of making mujaddara on the side as we have a lot of dry lentils hanging around.
Tomorrow: We're planning to visit friends in our old city and get Vietnamese takeout from my favourite restaurant. (Mango salad, salad rolls with peanut sauce, rice-noodle stir-fry with tofu and veggies....mmmm....)
@Meira@meirathebear, Do you have a good mujaddara recipe? I keep trying and failing. Lentils and rice should be simple yet I mess it up. I haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong. The lentils are often undercooked and there's not enough water and then I try to correct that and it turns mushy.
@CrunchyCake, Honestly...no, I don't! I can't seem to make it well while still being efficient--I've done it cooking the rice and lentils separately, and caramelizing onions in a pan with the spices and putting it together, but that makes way too many dishes to clean.
Today I'm going to try cooking them in the "pasta method." I'll boil a big pot of water, add the lentils, boil for 9 minutes, add the rice, boil for about 11 minutes, and drain. Then in same pot, I'll caramelize onions in a good amount of olive oil with cumin, coriander, and a tiny pinch of cinnamon, and then stir in the rice. It still feels too complicated to me, though.
@Meira@meirathebear, Thanks - Glad to hear I'm not the only one who finds this seemingly uncomplicated dish complicated!
@CrunchyCake, this is the recipe I use https://cookieandkate.com/mujaddara-recipe/
And follow the instructions for white rice, similar to the pasta method mentioned above, but no draining needed.
TO MAKE THIS RECIPE WITH WHITE BASMATI RICE INSTEAD: Cook the lentils in the boiling water first for about 10 minutes (until somewhat softened on the outside/still firm in the middle), then add the rice and cook until both lentils and rice are tender, about 25 minutes.
Ha! The first time my now-husband and I threw a party, we went overboard on complicated - we borrowed a book on appetizers and made ~17 different dishes. We did not have a dishwasher or disposable items, so we washed dishes for 3 days after that. That was the first, last, and only time we served that many options. Now we often throw taco bar parties or hot dogs on the fire pit, and nobody seems to mind as long as we also have smores fixings.
This is a timely topic for me. I've always cooked and served my family a wide variety of foods (I am a single parent by choice - my girls are both adopted). It was born out of both frugality and wanting my family to have the best nutrition. The last six months have been a challenge for our family as I was diagnosed with inoperable gastric cancer and have been having chemo since early July (getting ready for cycle number 6). Chemo is not curative but life extending. I have zero motivation to cook but if my youngest is left to her own devices, will eat nothing but chicken fingers and frozen pizza. My eldest is at university. So I must cook but have been really trying to keep it simple but healthy.
I have to readjust my expectations for this but I am starting to see that a good meal doesn't have to be time consuming. And occasional take away or convenience food is not going to hurt anyone.
Saturday - grilled chicken breast and greek salad (tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and feta)
Sunday - cream of cauliflower soup, fresh bread
Monday - burgers and oven fries, tomato and cucumber on the side.
Tuesday - Italian sausage and peppers
Wednesday - grilled chicken thighs and asparagus
Thursday - bacon, oatmeal pancakes and blueberries on the side
Friday - tonight is an instant pot chicken penne dish - very easy and quick because my daughter has a hockey game!
Oh my goodness, what a difficult challenge! When I was pregnant and on Zofran for all those months, I often thought of cancer patients, since Zofran was developed for them.
I'm glad you are giving yourself grace and keeping things simple for now.
@Leann,
I am wishing you the best of luck in this journey, and applaud you for continuing to stay committed to the health and best interests of your daughter, even with your own struggles. Your self-sacrifice and selflessness are amazingly encouraging, and may God continue to bless and strengthen you. Much love and good thoughts!
@Leann, oh my goodness, I am sorry for your diagnosis and subsequent challenges. I am sending every positive thought out into the universe for you and your girls.
@Leann, I'm very sorry you're going through this; somehow despite that, you're certainly doing amazing work preparing wonderful food.
@Leann,
My thoughts are with you; you are very brave.
Agree with my heart going out to you, Leann, and wishing the best for your comfort and cheer.
@Leann,
I really admire your courage and strength. What a challenge you have, prayers for you and your family.
It’s interesting reading peoples’ thoughts on whether dinner has gotten too complicated. Meal planning and cooking isn’t typically a stressor for me - I try to plan balanced meals but am also fine doing pancakes or spaghetti for dinner. However, nutrition - even basics like enough fiber and a range of vitamins and minerals - is so important for physical and mental health. I guess in my mind I keep it relatively simple with a general goal of as many veggies (fiber! vitamins!) as possible, and if I don’t plan specifically for that, I’m not great about actually eating veggies.
Anyway, my meals:
S - spaghetti squash, chicken sausage, pasta sauce
S - taco bar with our church small group friends … we hosted, but another family brought dinner for all and that felt pretty magical!
M - crunchy tacos because my kids said please - used fish sticks but didn’t have as many as I thought, so I supplemented with frozen rotisserie chicken that I heated up with taco seasoning. Lettuce and bell peppers on top, corn on the side.
T - TJ’s mandarin orange chicken with rice and broccoli
W - Skinnytaste’s butternut squash and black bean enchiladas which were SO good
Th - homemade chicken pot pie
F - Husband is having people over for a poker night and ordering pizza, kids and I may eat with them.
I totally agree with you! Meals don’t have to be complicated. I love how you’ve shown that it can be anything we want it to be and how we don’t have to conform to what everyone else is doing. We can have simple meals, unexpected sides or breakfast for dinner.
What We Ate
Made and ate everything at home except for the take out. Sides this week include carrots, olives, fruit. In no order since my memories not great:
- chicken patties and fish fillet sandwiches for the grown up & penne pasta w. tomato sauce breakfast sausage for the kids.
- nachos
- hamburgers & tater tots
- Chinese take out
- spaghetti & meatballs
- fish & chips
- Today - TBD
I think it’s true that we often expect meals to be too complicated- I’m also finding that I need to build in a leftovers night or even two- my great grandmother called them “dab dinners”.
Saturday- baked chicken leg quarters, homemade macaroni and cheese, salad
Sunday- leftovers (I took my mom some of the macaroni and cheese and we still had plenty for a leftover dinner)
Monday- Grilled flank steak, black beans, tortillas
Tuesday- dinner out with a friend (husband was working late)
Wednesday- waffles, bacon, fruit
Thursday- baked pork chops, farro with dried cranberries and walnuts, watermelon radish and orange salad
Friday- pizza night
Monday: Black bean burgers, sauteed kale on the side.
Tuesday: Baked spaghetti.
Wednesday: grocery store pizza with a massive salad on the side
Thursday: tortilla soup with black beans
Friday: Broccoli cheddar quiche with banana muffins. (SO much broccoli in this thing.)
Dinner can be as complicated as we want to make it. We have weeks where I go all out and go crazy in the kitchen, and weeks where I'm basically phoning it in as much as possible (while still mostly cooking from scratch, because being vegetarian doesn't give you many other options!). I think if you're constantly stressed, it's worth taking a look at your menus and meal planning and figuring out ways you can dial it down while still making sure everyone gets what they need.
I agree with you Kristen. I think that we often make meals to complicated for a variety of reasons. For me Cooking and baking is a creative outlet and something I really enjoy so it is rarely something that I don't enjoy doing to unwind at the end of the day or at the end of a long week. Not every day is like that but most are.
I spent $103 @ Kroger this week. Very low for us especially here lately.
Saturday - I had to leave town to pick up my Aunt who had fallen and hurt her head suddenly & unexpectedly. So...I pulled a batch pf spaghetti sauce from the freezer and we ate that with spaghetti noodles, a huge green salad, and garlic bread when we got home.
Sunday - this was family dinner night so I made sloppy joes, a carrot raisin salad, green salad, and chips. I also baked pumpkin muffins and canned a bath of Winter Spice Jam.
Monday - Leftovers plus I made some white rice to help my poor sick dog who refused to eat. I also harvested a mammoth amount of mustard greens, bok choy, collard greens, and kale from our garden. I sauteed the bok with some asparagus, mushrooms, onions, carrots, ginger and garlic for a lovely veggie side dish for us
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - I fried chicken thighs and served them along side mustard greens, pink eyed peas from last summer's garden, and mashed potatoes
Thursday - Salmon patties, yellow squash & onions, rice & stewed pinto beans with butternut squash
Friday - I think we will clean out the fridge tonight to make sure that all odds and ends are gobbled up.
Saturday - I am thinking that I will make a small pork roast with cranberry mostarda and who knows what sides will show up.
Sunday - Chili & Cornbread to take to a friend's home for dinner & fellowship.
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Since I've been a household of one I've given myself permission to eat when and what I like. For me this means lunch is my main meal of the day, which harkens back to my childhood when my father came home at 1pm for what we called "dinner" and my brother and I walked home from school to eat, returning to school for afternoon classes. In the evening we had "tea" which was a variety of sweet foods - cakes, scones etc. I provided the traditional range of meals at the appropriate times to my family for many years and feel like it's my time now! I can't remember exactly what I ate this past week but my favourite was Saturday brunch - blueberry pancakes with sausages, and lots of coffee and chat with family.
I didn't have a chance to read through the comments (will save for later) so if I'm repeating, I apologize! In your WWS portion you said this was your highest spending week in a while ($184.50), but you listed Week 1 at $103 and Week 2 at 168.50. Where did the $184.50 go? Am I asleep at the mouse or is that a typo?
As for WWA...my refrigerator needs repaired/replaced so I'm trying to eat up everything I possibly can from the fridge and freezer or toss if expired or otherwise suspect. So every day was a random hodge-podge, oh, and one day we had pizza. LOL
Oh man, that's a typo on my part! Thank you!
Since it's just me, I definitely go with simple. However, when my family visits, meals turn into a 3-ring circus!
Saturday-spaghetti and salad
Sunday-peanut butter and banana sandwich, Bugles
Monday-chicken casserole
Tuesday-chicken casserole and salad
Wednesday-avocado toast with fried eggs, baked apples
Thursday-stuffed pepper and peas
Friday-planning to have a baked potato and salad
I can't imagine serving just polenta to dinner guests, but I've certainy done it for a quick and easy dinner for my immediate family. I like the idea of simplifying dinners-so much less stress!
1. Vegetarian lasagne
2. Black bean and rice soup with roasted veggies
3. Beyond Beef Burgers
4. Pasta (or rice) with meatballs and marinara sauce
5. Minestrone Soup
6. I don't remember... maybe french bread pizza
7. Leftover lasagne and roasted veggies
But if you read Farmer Boy, on the other hand, their meals were comprised of many dishes and seemed to be quite elaborate.
But I do think we tend to overcomplicate meals. When I was growing up, when we had soup for dinner, we had SOUP for dinner. Soup, and soup alone. Then, when I got married and served soup for dinner, my husband wanted to know what else we were having. What other things could we possibly need with soup? It included meat, starch, and vegetables, so it was a complete rounded meal in my mind! 😀
@Tammy, Have you read "The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie" by Wendy McClure? The conclusion the author reaches (I paraphrase greatly, as I read it some years ago) is that Laura wrote about the food in "Farmer Boy" in such detail because that was her fantasy growing up-- having enough to eat any time, all the time.
@Heidi Louise, I have not read this book. I'll have to look for it, because it sounds interesting.
@Tammy, Even when I first read Farmer Boy as a child, those meals struck me as fantasy/wishful thinking, rather than a specific and accurate representation of what even a well-established, prosperous New England family ate. I mean - 3 pieces of pie? Special meal or not, that's over the top.
I always thought that too...like, how did a kid manage to eat that much in one sitting? So much food!
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I try to embrace more one dish meals. Like a pot of soup or a salad can be a meal in itself, maybe with a piece of bread on the side. If I make enchiladas and they have protein, carbs and veg in them do I really need to make a side dish?
Now that its just the two of us - both our sons cook their own meals - our meals are much simpler. I make salads at least 3X A week to dh's delight. A salad is tomatoes, oranges and sauteed chicken for him and either an apple or cucumber for me. Simple, rather nutritious and easy to keep ingredients handy as I buy an obscene amount of fruit. Stouffer's lasagna is once a week and because we only eat two main meals and one heavy snack, it balances out. One thing I do otherwise is the other meals are enough to eat two nights in a row. Also, mushroom omelets and toast are often on the menu.
1. Sunday … smashed burger, fries, salad - no bread
2. Monday… Sunday’s leftovers
3. Tuesday … Flat bread pizza homemade and salad
4. Wednesday… Eggs, Bacon and potatoes
5. Thursday… Sandwiches and Chips
6. Chick- Fil-A salads
7. TBA
Your sausage and orzo dish looks really good. I'll have to check that out. This week we had:
Saturday - I was working catering for an event, so I ate there. The kids had Little Caesar's pizza and got ice cream from Culver's.
Sunday - Leftover bacon mac and cheese from one of the catering meals, plus veggies and strawberries
Monday - Leftover loaded baked potato soup from the catering job - I added veggies to it, and we had biscuits on the side
Tuesday - Clean out the fridge - leftovers!
Wednesday - The kids and I had pizza and salad at church. I have no idea what my husband ate
Thursday - Pork roast, roasted brussell sprouts and butternut squash, plus zucchini
Friday - Pork bbq sandwiches (on FG homemade hamburger buns - YUM!), asparagus, and pineapple
I was very uninspired this week, what with it being the last week of fall sports. Not that we have nothing next week, but it really does wind down noticeably.
Sat - The older boys went to a movie. I gave leftover chicken cutlets to the littles and had I have no idea what myself.
Sun - Chicken pot pie with the last of the green beans from the garden.
Mon - Round one of chicken nuggets for the littles/homemade pizza very late for the rest of us.
Tues - Mac n cheese for the littles/tuna noodle casserole very late for the rest of us.
Wed - Beef chimichangas on a free night for all.
Thurs - Round two of chicken nuggets for the littles/homemade pizza very late for the rest of us.
Fri - Fish tacos assuming we still have power. The wind is crazy right now.
Random thoughts:
- I know Kristen has described how she visualizes differently, but am I the only one for whom the Swedish pancake picture is solidly upside down?
- I wish I lived near big stores. I feel like it's 25 minutes in any given direction and then I get to one. That makes for wasteful trips and it's not even that easy to string errands together very well. I'm not in the boonies by any means, just in a weird void.
For a contrast, look at what they ate in Almanzo Wilder's home while he was growing up: https://www.thehairpin.com/2013/07/every-meal-almanzo-eats-in-laura-ingalls-wilders-farmer-boy/ HUGE amounts of food--their family worked really hard on the land, but still, WOW!
My husband is retired and I am not, so he does the shopping and 98% of the cooking (yes, I'm keeping him!!!). He loads the table and then tries to put more on for the three of us living at home, none of us are big eaters. He feels like the dinner table is naked without at least 5 vegetables in addition to meat, chicken, fish, or eggs. Part of it is that we have a CSA that challenges us to use up our veggies. Leftovers go in frittatas, stews, ratatouille, "chicken glop" (our way to use leftover white meat by mixing it with stuff--different every time) and omelets. My kids learned you might as well eat a veggie now because it will keep reappearing in different forms until it's gone. He feels defeat when veggies go in the compost. We love cabbage, but this year we've had SO MUCH CABBAGE!!! Bigger than bowling ball-size heads week after week. And yes, we made plenty of sauerkraut.
My frugal meal score for the week is that I make my own paneer cheese since it's hard to find and very expensive when you do. It only requires milk and vinegar, a few minutes of hands on time with an electric pressure cooker and a press I bought for $5 on Amazon (I made it many years without the press, but the press makes it that much easier). For the price of a half gallon of milk we get a pound of cheese that can be fried up like haloumi or "bread cheese", eaten for a snack, chunk it up in a salad, added to Indian dishes (we like the curries and veggie dishes).
As meat is becoming more expensive we are using the pressure cooker a lot for cheaper cuts of meat. We've re-discovered pot roast and it delicious! Pressure cooking makes it fall apart on the fork, so tender and velvety and infused with flavor. Yum!
S/S/M---Mac and cheese, made from all the leftover bits of cheese that have been living in the freezer. Delicious!
T--Baked chicken, baked potatoes, cauliflower, oranges.
W--More baked chicken, this time cut into small chunks in a sour cream gravy, poured on Top Ramen that has been in the cupboard for over two years at least. Peas and oranges.
T--Made stock from the chicken bones and added the last of the chicken pieces, added mushroom and had chicken and mushroom soup.
F--Had a mystery shop at a sub shop, so have a huge sub sitting in the fridge waiting for dinner time. For fruit my husband's favorite: frozen peach slices browned in a bit of butter with cinamon and a touch of brown sugar.
What a family eats, when, and who prepares it and cleans up are very much economic issues. I've seen (but of course have no reference to share) articles that look at the prevalence of domestic help up through the 1950's, the pressure to keep women busy in their homes with their new labor saving appliances, and so forth.
Even things like wedding china and silverware sets were designed to support a way of eating, or thinking about eating, or a social class to aspire to.
"Housework Expands to Fill the Time Available," my favorite chapter in "The Feminine Mystique."
"Appearances: How to Keep Them Up on a Limited Income," one of my favorite Victorian housekeeping manuals.
Thought provoking comments, readers! Thanks to everyone who takes the time to write and respond, I learn so much from this community.
My son turned 33 today. Yesterday (the 11th) is Remembrance Day in Canada - a stat holiday which meant that some of the kids didn't work. my 91 year old mom conspired with my son to inform me that they were "coming up" (a one hour drive) for dinner. Mom wanted to get takeout, but the options around here aren't awesome and I usually am disappointed. Mom also wanted to get a cake for her grandson, however HIS girlfriend is almost Vegan, and finding a cake at a bakery was going to be a bit of a challenge.
Instead, and totally because I wanted to and it was easy, I made a dinner that we all enjoy - homemade masa corn tortillas, beans, cheese, and lots of fixings. And napkins. lots of cloth napkins get used, it is a messy meal. I also made a (boxed) lemon cake and found a (purchased ) can of vegan icing, to which I added lemon juice and zest for a significant flavour improvement. I found used cake candles in a drawer (yay past-Teri, saving the candles ...) and had the folk who drove up bring some yogurt and ice-cream and a cucumber.
As others have said, it was never going to be about the meal - it was totally about the company and time spent together. My 22 year old son was sharing with me today how much he had enjoyed last night. My mom sent me an email with the same sentiments. My birthday boy was equally happy with an easy, joyous, unstressed dinner and company.
As for other meals, well, I still haven't figured out how to shop and cook for me and my 22 year old son, we usually have a few too many leftovers that I get tired of, and I do get tired of things after a couple of days. Onward! Still giving myself permission to be learning, old as I may be. Nothing is carved in stone.
I do concur with another who posted about Vitamins! Fiber! and agree that more veggies are a good thing. soups are a great place to assemble lots of these vital food items, and luckily son #2 does like soup, particularly if I have some kind of nice bready options for us to dip....
I definitely think we have overcomplicated meals. And I am horribly guilty of that. And I don't seem to break out of it. Thankfully, my husband likes leftovers and there are only the two of us, so when I cook, I tend to cook larger meals which we eat over several days. But I still worry about the composition of the meals, what they look like (is there enough variety of color??), and if it tastes OK. Part of it is wanting it to be "good" for my husband, because I am not sure I would put the same amount of energy into my meals if it were only me.
I agree on the making dinner an event instead of a simple gathering of food. Have you heard of the More With Less cookbook? It is packed with simple, frugal recipes meant to be shared. Its one of my very favorite cookbooks. If you can find a copy (perhaps inter library loan) it's actually just fun to read.
@Amanda, My family is German Mennonite, so this cookbook was a staple in my grandma's kitchen.
@Amanda, I grew up with this cookbook too. I was delighted to find my own copy in a local bookstore a few years ago. It has such simple recipes with basic foods, but they are so tasty too. The Vietnamese Fried Rice, basic biscuits, and Crusty Mexican Bean Bake (terrible name, but very tasty) are all favourites of mine.
@Amanda, I love this cookbook, too!
Hmmm…Is it just me or does Sunday feel like a looong time ago?
Sunday- orange lentils (kids call it “mush”) w/garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger + rice+ Avocado, Homemade mango lassi/smoothie w/ Costco frozen mango & the last bit of every liquid in our fridge (milk+ Kieffer+ OJ).
Monday- spaghetti with homemade meatballs (in instant pot), black bean pasta for those watching carbs, morningstar “chkn” for our vegetarian
Tuesday- homemade instant pot black beans (defrosted) in enchiladas w/ chopped avocado tossed in lime juice , apples, iceberg
Wednesday- Pseudo spicy “Chkn” wraps with Morningstar vegetarian chicken patties cut up, last 3 potatoes made into mashed potatoes, Carmelized onion w/ my last yellow onion, chopped celery + carrots, blue cheese dressing, and Cholula hot sauce in a wrap. Shredded cheese for some. Crispy French onion topping for kids that are opposed to delicious real carmelized onions…they’ll come around someday 🙂
Thursday- Trader Joe’s vegetarian potstickers sautéed then steamed in a pan, rice, Costco frozen whole edamame heated in the microwave
Friday- Homemade burritos-some sautéed to get crispy, others in the microwave+ canned corn, chips, guacamole
Pretty happy we stayed strong and didn’t get any takeout or pizza this week, although that may happen tomorrow…I got my COVID booster today and anticipate I may feel crummy tomorrow. No worries, though! Side effects like a 24 hr headache and malaise mean my immune system is working. My husband will be able to handle calling in pizza if needed .
I read love these posts by Kristen and Kristin each week.
Sunday- Birthday party leftovers from Luby’s
Monday- pork tenderloin, leftover Luby’s Mac and Cheese, sautéed cabbage
Tuesday- chicken veggie and rice soup. Hubby was not feeling well.
Wednesday- pork tenderloin and veggie stir fry over whole wheat spaghetti noodles
Thursday- Hubby and I were not feeling well, so the kiddos had chicken nuggets from the freezer with sides of carrots and oranges. No one complained, so all good.
Friday- still not feeling well. Hubby got the kids hamburgers while I slept ❤️
Regarding complicating meals, I think we definitely do! My family is happiest with a protein, veggie, and a starch. Simple is better. Not all meals have to be a feast.
Sunday: A new "Orzotto" recipe (like risotto but with orzo). It was meh.
Monday: Chili mac skillet recipe with lots of bell peppers.
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Popeye's, because we spent the evening at the instacare. My toddler stuck a pea up her nose...
Thursday: "Fancy Ramen", it's just regular ramen but we have a selection of veggies, eggs, and sauces/oils to top it with. My toddler loves it.
Friday: Korean beef lettuce wraps from your site! Another toddler favorite that involves veggies.
Isn't it so annoying when you try a new recipe and it ends up as a solid "meh"?
So sorry to hear about the pea incident. Sonia once stuck a bead (or maybe a lego?) up her nose, but mercifully we were able to blow it out at home. Otherwise, we were going to be on our way to instacare as well!
Yes! One night recently, my husband was out at a soccer game with a friend, and I had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and some chips for dinner because we somehow have a surplus of peanut butter and also that's what I felt like having, and it was a bit of a revelation that that could be an acceptable dinner.
Very busy week with six hours of meetings in edition to reg work week! Whew
Monday: veggie fried rice with scrambled eggs
Tuesday : tuna sandwiches and chicken noodle soup from a can
Wednesday: Sriracha chicken and rice ( half bbq half sirscha) masked potatoes and steam in the bag veggies
Thursday: Ham n cheese pita sandwiches salad from a bag
Friday: MCDONALDS
I don't think we've necessarily overcomplicated dinner. I like having access to fresh and nutritious foods, so that I don't need to have pure starch + a little sugar as my main meal.
@WilliamB, I should add: keep in mind that my usual dinner is hunk of meat + raw/steamed/airfried veggies + raw fruit. Plenty of fresh produce and still not very complicated.
After going to the aquarium today, dinner was omelet with sauteed mushrooms and onions, and a smoothie made of frozen strawberries, leftover bananas, and yogurt in a flavor I didn't like much.
Yes, I think we over-complicate everything related to food! My husband likes to cook when he has time (thankfully!) and he likes ''complicated recipes''. Me? Give me a bagel and cream cheese and I'm all set! If I was rich, I would hire a chef to make all our meals, that would be awesome to never have to cook again 🙂
If you haven't made Kristen's chicken & orzo dish yet, know it is so delicious and so versatile that it will quickly become a weekly staple for which I will be forever grateful 🙂
Yay! It is a great dish for using up whatever veggies you happen to have on hand. And you can switch out the type of sausage too. So glad you liked it.
It was not our best eating week, as I had two evening work dinners, and I'm the organizer/planner/chef. Things got a little crazy. And yes, I definitely think meals have gotten more complicated. My husband is a believer in the more complicated meals, while I would be much more toned down, if it was just me.
We ate some combo of the following:
-Steak and salad (butternut squash had gone bad, much to my dismay, as we were supposed to have this with roasted squash).
-Tacos
-Taco quesadillas
-Salmon
-Spaghetti & meatballs
-Chicken curry & rice
I also took my son to Chipotle, at the end of a very long day of soccer. The cashier says he rang up my free chips & queso (the inspiration for the visit) & managed to use up my gift card but also charge me full price (including the freebie item). I'm so puzzled. I've emailed them, so hopefully they can sort it out & at least give me the value of the gift card back. The cashier looked flustered - I think he was new. 🙂 As the parent of two teens who are looking for part time work, I'm sympathetic. The combo of apps & in person, paying with your phone, things to scan, etc, it's complicated for the cashiers, I imagine!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about meals. It has been on my mind lately that I'm making dinner too complicated. With the kids' allergies, it is hard enough to get a main dish without worrying about side dishes. I've started to simplify meals and it's made a big difference in my stress.