Like many of you, I have discovered the joys of Flylady, the site devoted us to learning to love our homes and beautify our surroundings one baby-step at a time. The site, I think, was designed for the domestically challenged, like me. I started the program, had a colicky baby (thank G-d a sweet one, though) and found it difficult to follow any kind of structure for a few good months. Now, I am back baby-stepping my way through cooking and cleaning routines.
One thing flylady recommends is to plan meals in advance. Well, I did do this in a cab to my son’s appointment in school, but I left the list in the cab. So I’ve been going back to my old bad habits of throwing something together for dinner after work, being harried and stressed while cutting and frying, worrying that my kids won’t eat it and I’ll have to give them cornflakes again, worrying if my husband will eat it or just pick at it, and worrying while cooking that my boys are engaged in another fight over toys, or worrying that my baby crying a few minutes while I chop onions is going to make him feel like he can’t depend on his mommy etc.. etc..
So tonight, I looked in the fridge. All I had were a few veggies, some rice and some chopped meat. I thought to myself, “No way are my kids going to eat anything I am going to make out of this.” But, well, I put on some music and got to work. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided I was going to have fun in the kitchen. I shredded cabbage for cole slaw, sliced carrots and sweet potatoes, added oil, brown sugar and cinnamon and popped them in the oven. Then I made vegetable soup, chopped peppers and onions, fried them with the meat, added rice and tomato paste and made Spanish rice. It sounds like a lot, but the prep time was only 20 minutes.
And we all sat down together and guess what. My children ACTUALLY ATE VEGETABLES!
What was different? What made this dinner different from all other dinners? The only thing I can think of is that I was enjoying cooking. I had a good time and wasn’t stressed about how it was going to turn out. I was just cooking out of love. And it was better than any spice I could have used.