Supper's on the Table, Come Home

I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of family mealtime. I think, as the world gets more and more crazy, this ritual of slowing down and partaking of a healthy meal around the dinner table becomes even more precious. Yet, several things have stopped me from doing this in the past.

First of all, Photoguy works a lot of nights. And, even when I think he isn't working nights, he usually is. And, even when he isn't, he often says, "I had a big lunch so I'm not very hungry," just as I'm putting supper on the table. For a long time, making a whole dinner for my baby and me, or my two-year-old and baby and me, or my three pre-schoolers and me (you get the idea) didn't make a lot of sense. Then, all of the sudden, I had a kid in school. And, those evening hours became a precious little flash of time in which to do homework and lessons and practicing and reading and baths before it was off to bed. And, I really, really wanted to have family dinner.

Then, I heard a quote, something to the effect of, "If your life isn't what you want it to be, well, then, maybe you didn't show up." And, I thought, "That is me. I'm not showing up." I was feeling all sad that we couldn't have "family" dinners because of Photoguy's sporadic schedule when I realized that I was only making a sporadic effort. Obstacle number one solved. No matter who would or would not be present, I resolved to stop whining and start showing up for family dinner by preparing it.

After making my resolve, I found out there were more obstacles. One was/is complaining kids. We have a new rule that when someone (usually that would be me) puts a lot of work into preparing dinner, you aren't allowed to say, "EWWWW!!! That looks/smells/sounds disgusting," while making a face and whining loudly. I have to remind the kids of this rule nearly every night. However, they are discovering that they do like more things than just toast and warmed up milk as I put more and more meals on the table and they work up the nerve to try them.

I was still having a few problems. For starters, it takes a lot of time and planning to sit down with a slew of cookbooks, look up all the recipes you're going to use, and make a grocery list. Then, you have to actually remember to take the grocery list to the store (that's probably just me). Oft times I found myself staring into an empty fridge at 4 p.m. surrounded by hungry pleas due to lack of planning. And, I admit, I've never been good at figuring out side dishes. Also, it's easy to fall into the habit of preparing the same things over and over again. Finally, it's been a problem for me that most of my recipes make ginormous amounts of food and I find myself eating/serving the same dish for a week straight until none of us ever want to see that food again.

In an effort to simplify things, I purchased the book: "Supper's on the Table, Come Home" by Rachel Masters, at www.schallertel.net~rmasters/ for $15, and I've been very pleased with the results.

This cookbook is uniquely divided into 13 weeks of meals. Each week contains 5 dinners with accompanying sides, one dessert, and one snack. At the beginning of each section/week, there is a complete grocery list already prepared for you! This has saved me tons of time in the planning phase.

Now, I have to admit, upon first perusal of this book, I initially was disappointed that some of the "side" dishes are tator tots or veggies mixed with Velveeta (is Velveeta even a food?). After setting aside my reservations, I decided to make a few modifications and changes to make the book my own. I soon discovered I didn't need to make that many changes after all. Now, I'm really excited because for the past month, we've been sitting down to complete homemade meals and I'm loving it!

The side dishes include fun things like homemade French bread with lasagna, many yummy muffins from scratch, jazzed up veggies (i.e. homemade curly fries in the apple corer/peeler/slicer), something as simple as orange wedges neatly arranged on a plate with tacos, and good ways to get your kids to try spinach (rolled into balls with stuffing).

The portions seem to be just right for our family. There's usually a small amount of leftovers -- perfect for lunch for two the next day. Most of the recipes are pretty basic. My kids have liked several of the meals (which is saying a lot from this picky bunch). And, I like that the recipes are simple so that I can add my own fancy twists if I want to. This is embarrassing to admit, but, before I got this book, I had never made chili or sloppy Joe's. I just didn't really know how. And, with chili, for example, there are so many kooky recipes out there, I wasn't even sure what kind of beans I should be using or where to begin.

Wallah! Planning, sides, variety, portions -- all solved!

In addition to the 13-weeks of easy meal planning, this book also includes great sections at the end, such as, "what to do with all the garden produce" recipes, breakfast/lunch/holiday feasting ideas, tips on stocking the kitchen, leftovers, freezing, substitutions, cooking for those with food allergies, tips on making bread from scratch, speedy shopping, eating on a budget, improving your kids manners -- a fantastic resource on so many topics!

This is my exceedingly long-winded way of saying, "I'm really impressed with this book." I may be a novice in the kitchen. But, on the first week of cooking from this book, we had a roast the first night, French dip sandwiches (with meat from the roast) later in the week, and at the end of the week, I threw the leftovers from the roast (meat, carrots, onions and potatoes that had been cooked in the crock pot) in a pot with the leftover gravy (made on roast night) and a can of stewed tomatoes and we had a delicious stew. I've never been so awesome at transforming leftovers before.

If you are reading this and thinking that things have gotten a little boring in the kitchen, or, if you are facing some of the same obstacles, I'd highly recommend getting a copy. And, no, I'm not her friend or getting a kick back for saying that.

Also, it seems we've been able to lure Photoguy home for a few more dinners than before. Funny how life works like that.