For the last 5000 evenings or so I’ve been asking of my family and they’ve been asking of me what’s for dinner. It’s never as easy a question to answer as it is to ask. Most of the time the question “what’s for dinner” simply deteriorates into a rapid volley of the same thing being asked and answered. “I don’t know” followed by “well what do you want” until eventually someone breaks down and makes a decision, take-out or going out being the leading options.
The only problem is that despite the tempting siren call of take-out and dinners out, we can’t actually do that every night. Seeing as I really should teach my kids how to eat healthy and it seems that take out, no matter how delicious, is not likely to ever be the healthiest of choices I’m eventually going to have to cook something.
I know, I know making dinner each night doesn’t seem like much of a hardship but it is never easy. Some nights I would rather do anything other than pick up a spatula and make dinner. And I like cooking; it just so happens that dinner time tends to occur at the time of day when my brain has gone on temporary leave and all I want to do is sit down for 5 minutes.
I even make a list each week before I go shopping of what we have available and what I will be buying to make dinner in the days ahead. Without fail the first few days after making such a list the easy dinners have all been made and the list of remaining options has disappeared. I find myself staring into the freezer with a blank look realizing that everything we have left to make is the things that take way more effort on my part than I care to put in.
Yes roast beef followed by the leftovers being made into sweet and sour pulled roast a day later sounded like a good idea, but that was before forgetting to pull the roast from the freezer to defrost every darn day for a week. Ok it still sounds good but it has also become a pain in the ass.
Chicken Alfredo sounds great the day after the creams best before date comes around. Chicken Caesar salad, refreshing and tasty except thing two won’t eat Caesar salad. Stir fry always an easy option right? Forgot to defrost the steak. Taco’s had those last week, pizza not the healthiest of choices, lasagna nope only have an hour until we leave for soccer.
So what then do I make for supper? I’ll keep asking the question and I don’t think the answer is ever going to get easier to find.
