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DAILY DINING DILEMMAS
As many working parents know, making and putting decent food on the table every day is a challenge.
I'm big on everyone having breakfast before they leave the house. Pity the poor kid who's handed a granola bar and a 10% “real” juice container as they're running out the door. Granted, I'm not making omelets or French toast or pancakes during the week but at least let me make you an egg sandwich or slice up some fresh fruit before you hit the road.
As part of a college lecture series, I once heard Joyce Carol Oates say she got her best story ideas while on long car trips. Luckily, I have a fairly long commute to and from work -- great for trying to answer the million dollar question "What's for dinner?" And the answer isn't "Reservations." Usually, I try to remember what's in the fridge/pantry/cabinets. When nothing earth shattering comes to mind, I've gotten into the habit of food shopping like the Europeans -- daily.
Because of the tough economic times we’re living in, I’ve noticed a sudden increase in supermarket traffic. An advertised sale of $.99/lb for whole chickens had a line of people in my suburban neighborhood lining up in front of the meat counter, ditto for bags of potatoes, boxes of pasta and rice and “two-fers” on loaves of bread. I realized people were stocking up on items that kept them feeling, well, full.
Of course, it didn’t take much to remind me that when I wasn’t traveling, this is how I had been cooking (and living) for years. I’ve always made my own bread and pizza from scratch and have used cheap cuts of meat to make dishes that have many lives -- leftover pot roast becomes Boeuf Bourguignon or a BBQ sandwich or meat sauce for a lasagna.
Since I limit myself to buying only what's on sale, we often have an eclectic dinner meal. (Although in fairness some of these meals are a little more color-themed than I would like to eat. Tempura green beans, avocado and tomato salad and spinach fettuccine on the same plate?)
Complicating the daily dinner prep is who’s coming for dinner. My oldest was a “regular eater” turned vegetarian turned vegan turned vegetarian who will now eat an occasional piece of fish. My youngest will eat almost anything except cooked fruit. (Maybe because I made her baby food myself?)
Even with these constraints, I make some sort of dinner every night with a table that’s set with candles and cloth napkins and at least two of us sit down to eat – together.
To read about some of my daily dining dilemmas, click on some of the stories on the left.
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