Impossible

I just put dinner in the oven.

Tonight's entree is an Impossible Pie, featuring last night's leftover chicken, tossed with shredded cheddar, peas, and seasonings, along with the usual Impossible Pie stuff. It is hardly difficult to make, but even still, I dragged my feet into the kitchen, barely able to lift the mixing bowl onto the counter. I felt....sorry for myself.

I hate making dinner. It is true. I wish I did like it. "Loves to Cook" is way high up the on the huge list of  "Talents I Wish God Had Given Me".  But it isn't.

Today being one of "those days" with the Monkey (and to be honest, with myself), I had an even lower desire to prepare dinner than normal.

I love the "Anne of Green Gables" book series. I have read them often since my older brother and sister gave me a boxed set when I was around 13. After I became a mother, I remember reading about Anne's mothering days, despairing that I could not be as happy, creative, and free as she seemed to be (and yes, I am horribly influenced by what I read, hear, or see. So the "Be Careful Little Eyes What You See" song has great meaning to me). THEN I finally realized that Anne had house help! And I thought about it.

I think I, too, could be a much more fabulous mother if I had someone to clean my house, or care for my little one from time to time, or - cue the "Hallelujah Chorus" - make dinner for my family.

After that, I didn't feel so bad when I read about people with house help.

I digress...

Back to me feeling sorry for myself in the kitchen tonight, while I spent all of 15 minutes throwing dinner together.

Sure - I hate making dinner. But my family needs to eat. I have to make dinner. I have two choices each time I enter that kitchen:

1. To go about dinner prep with a heavy heart, doing my "duty", or
2. Offering it as a gift to my family, and through my family, to God. And this assumes the grumbling (even the inner griping) stops. 

Either way, dinner ends up on the table.
But my heart knows the difference.

"God sees only her love. She may exhaust herself , even kill herself with work, but unless her work is interwoven with love it is useless. God does not need her work. God will not ask (her) how many books she has read, how many miracles she has worked, but He will ask her if she has done her best, for the love of Him...". . Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Love: A Fruit Always in Season, sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Wednesday.

Strawberry Soup

It is hot here in Texas. Really, really hot. Like triple-digit heat hot. Now, admittedly that is not unusual for Texas, but it is still mid-June. That is hot, my friends!

What better on a hot day to start dinner with a little strawberry soup? This cool, delicious dish perks the palate right up.

I got this recipe from the Quick Cooking 1999 Annual Recipe book, page 64. Or you can go straight to their website and get it there! I used the old-school Starwberry Soup recipe (uses sugar), but I noticed on the website there is a lighter, healthier stawberry soup recipe I will try next.

We ate the soup while we waited for the last of the meatball pot pies to cool down.

Yes, we are nearing the last of the freezer-ready meals I made in May. They lasted even longer than I had planned. I have a list of new things to try. I think this weekend will be a cooking weekend.

Good Food Ahead

(Citrus Chicken, Vegetable Rice, and bread)


I live in a house of males who are not real particular about their food. They have, shall we say, plebian tastes. Advantages: I can get away with a lot of simple meals. The nights I am tired or worn out, no one expects food magic. Disadvantage: complicated meals are not usually appreciated a great deal.
Case in point:  This happened years ago, but it highlights what I am talking about. I made a dinner of stuffed pork chops and some complicated side. I thought it was delicious and was proud of my work. ArtGuy responded with, "It is good". Next night I serve Hamburger Helper. The crew dug in, exclaiming, "Wow, this is really great!" So, I decided I was not going to sweat the whole cooking thing too much!
We have officially been eating on our new plan for 8 days now. Last Tuesday, I spent all afternoon cooking, and froze a bunch of meals - 12 to be exact. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. One mistake I made that I will not make again - I made "almost" all the meals last Tuesday. I had to leave a few to do later. And frankly, that "later" is a big pain. Next time I devote a whole day and get it ALL done at once.

                     (Meatball Pot Pie - there was absolutely nothing left approximately 15 minutes after this picture was taken)

As far as costs go, I am going to reserve that judgment until the four weeks are up. I think it will be cost effective. I have tried many things. I did the whole coupon thing for a while. I saved a ton of money - like $100 a bill. However, I often ended up with more junk food and convenience food than I intended. Not to mention that really doing coupons takes a lot of time, even if you use a site like The Grocery Game. It is like another part-time job. Now, I just use what coupons I have when I happen to purposefully by that item. 
I only have main entrees frozen. I am pairing them with pastas, rices, vegs, breads, and fruit salads. Most meals take about 30 minutes to reheat and have on the table. Easy-peasy!

                                              Apple Meatloaf 


We are eating healthier and defintely eating better! The food has all been ultra-delicious! This will work great for summer. Fall might be harder, as we often have several days when we have activities that do not allow much dinner prep. But 30 minutes seems reasonable.
I have planned 3 of these meals per week, plus one day each week for leftovers. The other three days are for pizza, mac n cheese,  other easy meals,  for eating out, or for whatever comes our way.
The Chicken Manicotti was scrumptious. I forgot to take a picture - maybe next time around!

                  (Shredded Beef Tacos with Mexican rice - yuuuuummmy!)

The Day After

Phew!

Yesterday was a lot of cooking! I started at 3pm and ended around 11pm. Thank you, ArtGuy for helping get the kitchen cleaned up! I didn't think I would cook everything yesterday, but once I started, it was much easier to just keep going.
 I did not plan meals for a whole month, but I did make 12 meals. It seemed like so much more! Of course, these would make more meals if we had a smaller family!
On the menu:
Shredded Beef Tacos - 2 meals
Cheesy Chicken Manicotti - 3 meals
Citrus Glazed Chicken - 2 meals
Meatlball Pot Pie - 3 meals
Apple Meatloaf - 2 meals

They are all happily nestling in my freezer! Well, except the Meatball Pot Pie. I didn't have the pie crusts, so the meatballs are made and in the fridge until I get some crusts.  These meals, plus the usual pizzas, mac and cheese, soups, and so on ought to keep up going.

ArtGuy took all the boys to Romeo's end-of-season soccer party. They celebrated a season with no loses. These boys are really fun to watch! Congrats, Blue Knights. And thanks, Coach Steve for being the best soccer coach ever! Jonathan has had three wonderful soccer coaches, but Coach Steve is really, really great! We feel truly blest to have landed on this team after our move last summer.

Dinner Impossible

Ugh! Days of a headache and not feeling perky and now there are too many thoughts swirling around in my head!
Thanks to Patty over on Reasons for Chocolate, I have been pushing my new dinner plans into "drive" (as opposed to "park" or "just not ever going to happen"). For weeks now, I have been trying to regroup my meal efforts for the family.
ArtGuy will eat just about anything (except mushrooms), The Young Adult will try anything once and eats most anything he tries. CookieBoy does not eat meat, and has a very limited palate. Romeo is moderate in his tastes. The Mad Toddler grazes all day, in his toddler way. I am a pretty picky eater.
It can be difficult to find food that will please most of us, is reasonably inexpensive, is simple enough for me to cook, and does not take all day. Lately, I have not been doing well in this area.
I am going to try a plan from "The Everything Meals for a Month" cookbook. I am not actually cooking for month, but I will try preparing about 15-20 meals to freeze. The recipes sound easy and exciting. I have made a few from this book before, and they were very good. the ones I making this time are new for us! I am hoping this will work.
The Mad Toddler and I went out for a two hour shopping trip this morning, and came back loaded. I hope to start today and get things done. Saint Pascual, pray for me!

                                                 (the mounds of meat in the fridge!)