I apologize. I pray that someday you will all forgive me for my shortcomings. I don't know how it came to be that the daughter of a pretty good cook could be so lousy at providing for her families most basic need....food.
Do I know how to cook? Sure, anyone can take a recipe and make it taste good. Do I take the time to do that for you? Uhhh, no. That is what I'm apologizing for. I'm pathetic at the planning part. I want it to be quick and easy. Admittedly, I'm not very fond of the clean up either. For years that has equated to dinners out or processed food with an occasional "home cooked meal" thrown in to drown my guilt.
Here is the good news. This weekend I broke through a wall. I had gone to the store and purchased a large amount of fruits and vegetables along with other key ingredients that I would need to COOK this past week. (That in and of itself does not count because we have thrown away a lot of dead fruits and vegetables that have come into our home with great intentions.) (Side note: If you're reading this and have never let a fruit or vegetable die in your crisper then we are no longer friends. I call it quits!) The fruits and vegetables sat in the crisper day after day as all of those before them had. Until on day four (Saturday) I woke up with an idea. What the heck, we'll try it.
Valerie & Kevin were playing and I went upstairs and asked you if you would like to help me in the kitchen. You jumped at the opportunity. We talked about sharp-knife safety, I put the Cutco knives away and pulled out the cheap stuff. And then we went to work. We cut broccoli, carrots, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, tomoatos, strawberries, grapes, peaches, pears, pineapple and more. We made the BEST pasta salad and fruit salad. (Thanks for the idea Arkansas Cindy!) We also made Mommy's awesome sloppy joe. It was all yummy!! At the same time I pulled out some chicken to thaw for Sunday. We were on a roll! Saturday we ate like kings! YEA!!
Sunday morning I was up early to get ready for church. I knew the chicken was thawed and that I could surely throw something together before church. I went to one of the many cookbooks that I had purchased over the years (By the way, none of them prepare the meals for you!) and looked up chicken. I found a recipe that suggested throwing a bag of baby carrots, a can of green beans, onion (Scott had some prechopped and in the freezer) and chicken into the crock pot. After that I was told to put a can of chicken broth over it, sprinkle it with salt, pepper and basil. The last suggestion was some white wine. Hmmmmm....no white wine. But, I still had rum from an attempt at a new meal about a month ago. What the heck, I threw some in. By 7:58am on Sunday morning dinner preperation was done. The only thing left to do for dinner was make Minute Rice. I can do anything for five minutes!
We came home from church and it was AWESOME!!! I wish we had invited someone over to dinner!
Last night I pulled a turkey breast out of the freezer that has been there for longer than I'll admit. I plan on making that tomrrow for dinner. Tonight, Monday, I have a request from you, Valerie. You said at dinner last night, "Mom, since you're cooking, can we have 'orange pasta' for dinner tomorrow night?" Sure!
You both tell me that you'd like to stay home and eat. I promise to give it a shot! I love you both so much and I hope that you'll forgive all of those restaurant meals. The upside is that you both know your manners in a restaurant! Weak, huh?
I love you! Thanks for all of your help in the kitchen.
Love,
Your Pathetic Mom
