In A Cooking Rut

I’m stuck in a rut.  A cooking rut and I don’t know where to turn – besides hoping I win the lottery so I can be able to afford a personal chef/nutritionist who will shop, cook and serve healthy and delicious for my family.

What makes this so sad is that I really love to cook and, well, of course – eat!  So the grind of Meatball Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Weiner Wednesdays, Turkey Thursdays and ordering pizza have set in and I need a zap to get me out of this dark, dark place in the crevice behind the refrigerator where dust bunnies are conceived.

It’s hard to cook for a husband who could enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner every night for the rest of his life – to include the cranberries in the shape of a tin can - and be as pleased as Pilgrim.  Frankly, I’m lucky my mother-in-law was a lackluster cook and in a special way I thank her for her culinary failures.  I cook like Julia Child in my husband’s world and look like Sofia Vegara – well, I’m stretching the truth a little about the Sofia Vegara part…

The same goes for my kids’ lunches.  It’s the same crappy sandwich, snack, fruit, and granola bars – but they seem not to care and look forward to buying their school pizza lunch on Fridays.  (I think the cheese on those pizzas are made out of glue.)  I cringe with failure when I pop in to have lunch with my children and there are kids with bento box lunches that look like nutritional works of art.  Really fellow moms – you made a radish and raisins look like a ladybug???  I hate you!

 My advice for new moms and dads trying to expand their kids’ range of food choices?  Call everything chicken.  Yep – chicken.  For years I fooled my kids into eating salmon by calling it “pink chicken” and ensured they were chock full of Omega-3 fatty acids.  Score!  Sure, this tactic will cost you thousands in therapy bills but they will be heart healthy adults.

One of my little secrets is Trader Joe's - especially their mild curry sauce and frozen Asian treats.  It helps to mix up the menu a little bit in our house and then mom seems even more exotic and interesting.   

So, what do I do to live on the edge in suburbia and pretend culinary goddess in McLean?  I bring out the big guns and make…wait for it….breakfast for dinner!  Yep, bacon, eggs, pancakes, waffles, cereal, and sausage.  The kids and husband love it when we step out of our Middle America comfort zone. 

Now, what the heck am I going to make for dinner tonight…..