Saturday, June 22, 2013

Iron Chef Scott

Several days ago K told me that meal planning was the most stressful thing in her life.  I can remember my mom telling my dad the same thing years ago.  

Is it like that little light on the instrument panel of your car....after a certain number of miles it automatically comes on to tell you you need to change your timing belt? At a certain point in a woman's life does meal planning automatically become stressful?

I don't get it.  First of all, K is an excellent chef.  Rarely does she prepare anything I don't like.  (Of course, she knows to never prepare me things like Brussel's sprouts or asparagus.)  I'm a pretty easy (and grateful) customer.

So I put my thinking cap on and thought about meal planning.  How hard can it be?  I always have a ring or two of sausage grilled and in the freezer.  Same with prime hamburger patties.  She makes delicious spaghetti sauce a pot at a time.  Some artisan bread and you have perfect grilled cheese sandwiches.  Beef/chicken quesadillas....tacos....several excellent prepared frozen Stouffer's pasta dishes are in waiting....I even like breakfast for dinner on occasion.  Eggs with bacon or sausage, or an omelet....Mmmm.

And then there's the crock pot.  That thing is amazing!  Ohh....Ohh.  *idea forming in head*  I'll cook something in a crock pot....my first time ever.  I like beef brisket, but all they had at the store were the size of an old Volkswagen Beetle.  How about a pork tenderloin?  I found a recipe that called for dry onion soup mix, white wine, soy sauce, minced garlic, and coarse ground black pepper.  Four hours later....



It was so tender it fell apart when I tried to pick it up.  Doesn't it look good?

Served on a bed of rice or with a potato (MAN vegetables) I think it will be a winner.  Pffftt....piece 'o cake.

Of course, as soon as I press "publish" and this goes viral, I know what K will say.  "You think it's so easy?  Fine, then YOU handle meal planning from now on!"

*Gulp*  I'm suddenly feeling stressed.  ;)

S

Late edit:  Just remembered....I did cook something in a crock pot once before.  A brisket I think it was.  It turned out excellent.  A crock pot is a sort of "can't miss" appliance.




11 comments:

  1. YAY! I am FREE! I am FREE! in my best Jar Jar Binks Impression (no haters love me some Jar Jar) Weesa FREE! WEESA FREEE!!!!!

    Meal planning and preparing and cooking and strategizing and buying and don't forget I like my veggies organic and not from wally world - the whole nine yards is YOURS.

    I feel so stress-less! I feel so care free!

    WEESA FREEE!!!!!!!

    *in the event that it all doesn't pan out of me - I have enough frozen food from Trader Joe's to last me a week

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  2. Oh no Scott!! Did you press publish by mistake?

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    Replies
    1. Mistake? No...I WANTED to get the crap beat out of me.

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  3. I've cooked corned beef in a crock pot though it always turns out a little dry.

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  4. I am gonna go over to Pinterest and find some tasty bits for Scott to whip up!

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    Replies
    1. Blogs really should have a "like" button like Facebook does!

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  5. Mike is the cook in our house, but the decision about WHAT to eat falls to both of us - & neither of us wants to make the decision. It's like that scene from Jungle Book with the vultures, "So, what we gonna do?" "I dunno, whatchyou wanna do?" "I dunno..."

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  6. Scott, you might as well reconcile yourself to the fact that the crockpot and you will be best new friends now.

    I LOVE my crockpot, and I used it a ton when I worked full-time and my kids were still younger. Put some stuff into it in the morning, go off to work, come home, and the house smells like the maid had been cooking all day!

    *Hint* There are tons of cooking blogs out there...with step by step instructions and pictures. Between what Kelly finds on Pinterest and the cooking blogs, you'll become our favorite chef, ready to inspire us! We'll want to see pictures, recipes, dinner invitiations... :-p

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  7. I've been trying to finagle a new crock pot. Ours is decades old and probably out of date for today's recipes. So far, it's a no go.

    But I get the same thing from SWMBO, who I think is a fabulous cook. But she claims she HATES doing it and would never do it again, if she could. I do cook from time to time but she usually disregards my recipes because of too much meat, too much fat, too much . . .

    p.s. Right now she's converting a triple chocolate fudge cake mix to cookies topped with some chocolate truffles that got too warm and glued themselves together.

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  8. I would respectfully suggest that you're missing the point. Any task becomes a tedious chore if done relentlessly. When Mrs. C. and I retire upstairs to bed we bring a large container of ice water with us. Nine out of ten times I'm the one getting the ice and filling the container with water. It really isn't much of a chore but I feel elated when Mrs. C. takes the initiative to do this. Of course it's entirely possible (and likely) that I'm much more lazy than you and should just keep my mouth shut.

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