cooking, what works for me

Cooking...it's really a journey for each of us, right? In high school I could not even boil an egg properly. I guess I was spoiled by the fact that my Mom is a great cook and baker. I never really had to know how to prepare a meal alone. When I moved away to college, I lived in an apartment with a kitchen so it was time to learn. When I'd go home to visit, my parents would help me buy groceries (which as a typical poor college student, I really appreciated). I caught on to cooking very quickly. I made things like chicken, steak, and even meatloaf. I was finally a big girl. ;)

So once hubby and I got together I was fine in the kitchen. And I continued to grow as hubby taught me how to make some middle eastern dishes. When I moved here to Saudi, cooking was a normal part of life for me. But, when we moved to our current home two years ago, my hubby and MIL made an arrangement. Because I was busy with work and little guy, and lunch was always prepared in MIL's kitchen anyway (by the housekeepers), why not contribute to the groceries and have food made daily for us as well (my in-laws live next to us so this was easy). It was very helpful and much appreciated but after two years I felt I was losing myself, my women hood (not to sound corny). I realized that my son didn't even know his own mother's cooking. I didn't like that. So I made the decision to cook again for my family. I'll admit, it's not always easy. Going straight to the kitchen after a long day at work can be exhausting, but overall, I'm very happy with my decision.

I knew that in order for this all to work with my work schedule (remember, I teach, which means my day does not end when I walk out of school, I bring lots of stuff home everyday), with little guy, with hubby, and other home related things, that I needed a plan. So that's exactly what I made, a meal plan. In fact I make one for each week (which I mentioned in an earlier post).

I found this awesome calendar from iheartlinen via flickr

Here are the things that have worked for me:

• At the end of each week, I type up a meal plan which includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I print this out and post it on my fridge.
• Breakfast for us is usually light or even "on the go" on weekdays, but I plan nice breakfast meals for the weekends. My success stories so far have been french toast, pancakes, and waffles.
• Lunch is our main meal of the day (which explains why I get home at 2pm and go straight to the kitchen). This is the meal that requires the most time, the most work, and the most ingredients. Success stories have included; baked chicken, lamb soups, steak, lasagna, and many more. I'm lucky to have a stove with a built in rotisserie, so today I made a delicious rotisserie chicken.
• Everyday after lunch I look at my meal plan for the next day. I pull whatever meat is needed from the freezer and place it into the fridge for safe defrosting.

• Because we eat such a big meal in the late afternoon, we don't normally have an appetite for dinner. However, I always plan for a light one in case. I plan for things like sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, etc. Most of these things are frozen or canned which means that they won't spoil if they're not used on the day I plan them.
• I plan a "pizza night" and an "eat out/order in night" each week.
• I plan two desserts per week such as brownies, cake, etc. (I have a major sweet tooth and need something sweet after a good meal.)

Things that I've noticed from my experience so far:

• how successful planning meals can be
• how we are all eating better; a nice variety of things, healthy, balanced meals
• how little guy is starting to eat better, trying new things
• how little we are wasting food, this is something very dear to my heart, with all the starving people on this earth, how dare we waste so much food, when you plan accordingly waste is minimal
• how there's this happy mood in my home in regards to meals

So overall, this has been a very positive experience. My future plans are to take some pictures and share some recipes. :)

food images via flickr and yahoo image search