Laurie got offended that I used the word "puke." But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like.
~Jack Handy
My mom has always been a great cook. She served us well-rounded, homemade, sit-down meals every night my entire life. A typical meal consisted of some variation of the following: a meat dish, a side dish, a green vegetable, a fruit, and bread. Milk to drink. On special occasions (i.e. when guests were over) there was a dessert.
When I got married and started having kids, I followed her example. I've tried to lay a full, appetizing table each night. Sometimes I'll combine the meat dish with the side dish (i.e. cook the chicken & rice together), sometimes we won't have the fruit, and often I don't add the bread course . . . but generally, I've tried to offer my family a pleasant, satisfying dining experience.
But lately, I just don't have the time nor inclination to do it all. Lately (much to Nathan's noted chagrin), we are lucky to get a single home cooked dish on the table. One night he may come home to a pot of split pea soup. No bread, no fruit. Just soup (I might throw some crackers on the table, if we have some in the pantry). Another night, it might be grilled chicken. Just a platter of grilled chicken. Possibly some baby carrots in a bowl.
I understand basic nutrition guidelines and I do try to feed my family wholesome, well-balanced meals (thank heaven for pre-washed salad mixes!!!). But I just don't have it in me to prepare multiple courses every night. Do you?
So here are some questions for you:
#1 - Do you serve bread with each meal? I think this habit must date back to our European ancestry. Living in both Finland and Turkey, I was amazed at how much bread they eat. Every meal - breakfast, lunch & dinner. That's a lot of carbs!
#2 - Do you feel guilty if you don't have a green vegetable on the table each night? Do dried herbs count as a green veggie? How about pickles?
#3 - How often is too often to serve tomato soup w/ grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner?
6 comments:
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Most of the meals I've been making recently are "one-dish" concoctions, like stir-fries, where the meat and veggies are all mixed together and served over rice. We eat a lot of rice. (I got a rice cooker for Christmas, yay!) I don't serve bread with each meal, Brad wishes I would, but I usually don't think of it until five minutes before it's time to eat, so if he wants bread I tell him to get a slice out of the bag. Green veggies at each meal? We eat a lot of carrots and potatoes, does that count? I try to make a salad a few times a week, which the kids don't usually eat, but I do, then I have the leftovers for lunch. If your kids will eat grilled cheese and tomato soup (only two of mine will) Go for it! Anytime you want to swap recipes to get some new ideas, let me know. I get so tired of making the same things over and over again.
Hmmm... I am not the best at getting THAT MANY dishes on the table. I try to have a veggie, main dish, bread, and beverage. If I can do that- I have succeeded. I do almost always provide bread of some sort. A small exception is tortilla chips with chili... My family loves Pillsbury Cresent Rolls. Talk about a main staple for us! My husband has nightmares of tomato soup (too much of it as a kid) so no tomato soup in our house, and where veggies are concerned, I love em and so do my kids, so I really try to get them on the table everytime. (Now before you think I am one of those oober mom's, this is just my ideal. Most nights I only get a main dish, rice, and either a fruit or veggie, as well as bread or cresents. :S
You forgot to mention that when you do make something, someone at the dinner table loudly complains about it. I rarely serve bread with meals (maybe that is why I don't have to bake a lot of it). Vegetables are a staple for us, but I read in a parenting magazine when I was pregnant that you should not feel guilty about a bag of frozen veggies (the steam in the bag kind are the best) so we eat those a few times a week. I love casseroles and therefore, we eat those often...I get to mix everything together and only have to get that on the table.
Wow Brooke, I'm impressed by your mom's dinner routine and the fact that you have long continued it. It sounds sort of exhausting, particularly because I know my family wouldn't appreciate all the work.
As for me, I never serve bread with meals for two reasons: 1. Blain is gluten-intolerant, and good GF bread is a pain to make and expensive to buy.
2. I think the modern diet is already carb-loaded.
Like Jenny, we eat a lot of rice (brown, usually) and I'm a big fan of one-dish meals like Thai coconut curry, etc.
And green vegetables at every dinner? Nu-uh. Maybe twice a week. But the vegetable family is large and multi-colored, and if the meal is vegetable-based, I'm happy.
Hmm -- I serve bread only if dinner is soup and salad. If I make stew or chili (rare, since the boys won't eat those things), I make cornbread. We are a rice and pasta family (Both boys loathe potatoes, too! But you already knew we were weird.)
Green veggies -- I try. Fresh greens are tough here in the winter (expensive and mushy). Since O is vegetarian, there is a vegetable of some sort in every meal. So, there is always salad (carrot salad or green salad, occasionally a cottage cheese and fruit or veg. salad). If I am making chicken or beef of some sort and rice or pasta, it is easy enough to throw on a pot of frozen green beans or peas. I also do a LOT of (frozen) spinach.
Some nights, dinner is just pasta and tomato sauce, but the sauce is from scratch, and is loaded with carrots.
Herbs do not count as vegetables, sorry.
I am trying to reconsider dinner, myself. We have tae kwon do 4-5 nights per week, basketball, art, soccer training. We get home at 7:00 or 8:00, and so does Mike. That means dinner happens at 8:30. We tried soup/salad/sandwiches for EARLY (5:00) dinners this week, but since both boys were sick, it was not a good trial run. We also have some days where activities are booked from 2:00 - 8:00 -- what to do for dinner then??
So, this weekend I am making a bunch of food (Indian feast tomorrow!), hoping that leftovers get us through Tuesday, lentil soup on Wednesday, pasta or something on Thursday, whoknowswhat Friday, when we are out 4:00 - 7:30 and I will not have time to get groceries all week....
That boxed tomato/red pepper soup from Trader Joe's is popular here. Grilled cheese is a standard lunch, so we rarely see it at dinner. Pancakes, however, DO appear at dinner on occasion. And, while I rarely buy convenience foods, Trader Joe's frozen pizzas have been a lifesaver.
Too funny. I grew up where multiple things were served at each meal, so I feel guilty if I only have one thing to serve.
I always have to have at least 2, which is rare. I like to have grains, protein and veggies, but then again, I love to cook. I have tons of great easy recipes if you'd like. I premake salads and keep them in the fridge to pull out if I have nothing else. I only serve bread with italian food so that you can mop up the extra sauce. I think, if your kids are happy, nuff said!
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