The great and mighty Kelly has fallen to the wicked wrath of Strep Throat. Her first ever, and it seems she will bear it like her Momma: with high fevers and the pall of death. If it weren’t for her red eyes and grape popsicle stained face, she’d have no color at all. When I tried to wrestle her into her bed (after laying on me for 3 hours straight), I found her crawling under the covers wearing a knit dress under her fleece pjs, covered with her winter coat, and earmuffs. Hmm. Me thinks it’s time for another dose of Tylenol?
She perked up around 5, so I decided to make dinner as planned:
Mommy: Kelly, I hope this will make you happy. I’m making Havarti Cheeseburgers for dinner.
Kelly: Havarti Cheeseburgers!! Thank you Mommy! Those are my 10th favorite thing!! I love you.
Wow. I had no idea they ranked so high. We rarely eat cheeseburgers at home, but I’m trying something new: a week without recipes. Nothing fussy or exhausting, just some roasted chicken, veggie quesadillas, shrimp stir fry, and cheeseburgers. I needed a break, but “a break” for me rarely means I want to eat out. It’s a hassle, and it’s usually sub-par food at a high price. No thanks.
But with that being said, I don’t own a grill, and cheeseburgers at home render memories of Eddie Murphy imitating his Mother: “Your Momma don’t need no McDonald’s. I’ll make you a hamburger better than McDonald’s!” There I stood, chopping olives and pouring Worcestershire sauce into my boring, organic meat, quoting a 30 year old comedy act. When I served it to Kelly, she yelled, “This doesn’t look like McDonald’s!” It’s official. I miss Eddie Murphy’s work, and I’m a Mom. But Kelly’s was the voice of a sick 5 year old. The rest of us ate our cheeseburgers, and found them to be entirely palatable. For the first time in her life, I short-ordered cooked for her, and after begging for a pancake, she didn’t eat that either. In fact, she ate guacamole, which is a sure sign an alien has taken over her mind.
So…the weeks you feel like keeping it easy, please tell me, what do you make for your family? I’ll even let you say the forbidden words: Crock Pot. I like to keep a poison “Mr. Yuk” sticker on mine, so if you use the Hamlet of the Cooking World, please be specific as to how you make food that doesn’t taste like runny cardboard.
10 responses to “Our 10th Favorite Thing”
There are 3 things my family always seems to fall back on or ask for at any given time. And I love that basically they are one pot wonders. Meatloaf, potato soup and chicken and rice. I always have the ingredients for these 3 things so can always make them when asked. No recipe really for the meatloaf or potato soup just sort of wing it as far as amt and the chicken and rice is just a matter of how many people are eating as to whether I do a single or double batch. Easy Peasy meals as far as I am concerned.
So sorry to hear that Kelly is sick. Strep is not a very pleasant thing to get. I feel so sorry for her. Will keep you all in my prayers.
These all sound good to me Sue! Thank you for the prayers. We had a long night of high fevers, but she seems better this morning.
Every meal I make I would consider a “take it easy” meal. 😉 Staples around here include: meatloaf, chicken stir fry, spaghetti, orange chicken thighs, pork chops with mustard sauce…
My go-to’s are split pea soup served with homemade croutons (so easy!), soft tacos with brown rice and pinto beans, and spaghetti with chunky tomato sauce. All are easy and usually contain items that I keep in my pantry or refrigerator. Very little cooking, mostly just heating and mixing.
Hope Kelly feels better soon.
Soft tacos with pinto beans just made the weekend lunch menu. We must talk about this split pea soup. I’ve always wanted to try it.
Who has an easy spaghetti sauce? Or do you have a jar you like without tons of added sugar?
I have meals in the freezer that I can pull out. In fact I have so many soups, stews and sauces in there that we have been freezer diving for the past week in order to clear out room. It sure makes dinner easy!
That said, we had pizza tonight. The dough comes together very quickly and I always have tomatoes and cheese around. Usually sausage too.
Quick pizza dough. See? I must learn how to do this!!
It is time for your totally irrational hatred of the crock pot to stop. Seriously. Take a good cut of pot roast. Add finely chopped garlic and onions. Add one envelope of McCormicks Pot Roast seasoning, only instead of mixing it with water, use 1cup red wine. Most importantly, Do Not Add carrots and potatoes!!!!! Cook for many hours. Serve with mashed potatoes. You will think you are in France with Julia Child.
It is not the crock pot that was the culprit of our nightmarish 1970’s goulash dinners. It was adding the potatoes and carrots in there for 7 hours. Don’t do it! And use more wine- that fixes everything!
Wine!! Dr. Lydia, where have you been all my life. Oh yes…IN IT. SO WHY HAVE YOU KEPT THIS FROM ME!?
i just discovered it! And it is truly amazing. I mean, you can’t go wrong with a huge hunk of red meat and WINE!