Kid- Mom, what's for dinner?
Mom- Food
Kid- What kind of food?
Mom- The kind that tastes good.
And so on and so on until she either gave up or we did. Too funny! Well now I am the mom and it's my job to answer that for my kids.
I am not a good fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants dinner creater. I get so frustrated when I think "oh such and such sounds good" only to go to my wanna be pantry (it's more of a large cupboard than anything) only to find I'm missing one or two of the ingredients. I'm not good at improvising. Or so I thought. The other night I wanted to pull the famous "Everything is frozen dear, you wanna just go grab something?" but decided against it. So I made a knock off shrimp and chicken scampi. I used what I had in my poser pantry and fridge and it was fabulous!! My kids loved it, the hubs loved it and I loved it. The meals where everyone is happy and full are the best!!!
But normally this is me:
I sit down with a trusty collection of cookbooks and magazines and decide what will be for dinner for about a week or so. I love to look through them and drool over the pics and dream about an endless supply of grocery dollars. That little stack there is only a small part of my Everyday Food collection. If you haven't purchased one I recommend you do. I'm sad I let my subscription run out. Hmmmm, Mother's Day is coming. Maybe I'll re-new it as a present to me.
So, what's on your menu this week? Or are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-girl?
Hmm it totally depends, I like to have major ingredients at the house, in the event we're in the mood for them. But yes, I find myself in your situation of not having that one silly ingredient. Like in my salmon tacos last night-online they advise to make a 'dressing' with mayo and chipotle sauce, which I didn't have. So we tried to mix sour cream, ranch, cilantro, hot sauce, etc. Ranch is a bad idea-that's all it tasted like no matter what we did! But I find the BEST meals made are those definitely planned in advance and made certain that all ingredients are in the Dimond pantry/cupboard. =)
ReplyDeleteYou truly are a foodie! I am absolutely a - "you'll eat what I have (pulled together at the last minute, of course) and don't complain" kind-of mom! Some days I plan ahead - but not as often as I should. Again, you are my inspiration! Your kids will love "Shrimp Scampi" and mine will love "CEREAL!" (but in all flavors of course!) LOL :)
ReplyDeleteAnd you say you aren't a "cook." HA. Only a "cook" could make a shrimp scampi out of things that don't normally equal a shrimp scampi. scampi. scampi......what an odd word....anywho....... As you probably know, my menu is planned by Wife. So if something is planned you'd have to ask her. Though I don't mind throwing stuff together and seeing if it works or not, but the Wife isn't a HUGE fan of that. Who am I kidding, she is in the negative when it comes to being a fan of that. Anyway....thats all I have for today......YEAH TOAST!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYippee you have a blog. I am so excited about it, now we can keep in touch better. Glad to see all is well.
ReplyDeleteloves,
Angie
Lovely, now I'm painted as a negative wife who doesn't like to try anything new, no flying pants for this girl. But seriously... who loves Mac & Cheese with tuna and olives?? No thanks, I just ate a bar of soap. Blecka! I like my food to taste good; especially if I'm the one that has to work for the dollars, do the shopping & spend those dollars, then cook the purchased ingredients, after which clean up the mess that was made - Of Course I don't want to just willy-nilly throw something together! So Yeah, I guess I should embrace being a negative, feet on the ground, same-old recipe wife. I'm a planner!
ReplyDeleteI like to plan, I just don't always get it done. My week and goes better and I feel more successful if I can answer the what's for dinner question with a decided meal. Otherwise, I ask people what they want, feel bad I couldn't provide a restaurant level equivalent of their request, and mood, self esteem and happiness plummet. But sometimes, like tonight, the kids eat more noodles and sauce and Dave eats a sandwich and I don't care.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love all your comments!! Thanks so much for all of them. Just when I think of giving up here you all are. LOVE IT!!
ReplyDelete