We live a little bit out of the way in a small-ish rural town. Although, it’s only an hour and a dribble away from our state’s capital city, where I live is a quiet, pokey kind of place and I like it that way. I really do (oh, ok apart from the fact that I am unable to get an ADSL connection and rely on a snail-paced NBN satellite dish. Rant over.)
When I first settled here a bit over ten years ago now, there was not a traffic light in sight. For a can’t-be-bothered dinner option, choice had to be made from the one Chinese Takeaway, Eagle Boys, 2 Fish and Chip Shops, the RSL or Pub. You could fuel the car at one Petrol Station and and groceries came from the Supa IGA which thankfully was open until 7pm each night. Living the simple life was pretty simple, yes ma’am.
A skip forward in time has seen a lot change. Our town now has a Woolies and Aldi, as well as the Supa IGA which has changed hands numerous times but soldiers strongly on. Woohoo, spoilt for choice. There are currently two sets of traffic lights, a huge mother of a roundabout and an overpass (just to confuse the old timers) and our fast food options have expanded to include Dominos, Subway, an Italian deli, a noodle kitchen and also an Indian takeaway. All of which are tucked up and asleep early) Better, but still not much of a choice when compared to our city-slicking friends. I kinda see this as a good thing.
Making the choice to eat at home more is easy when your options are limited to the above and also involve a 10km round trip. I find that going out for a meal becomes quite a special occasion and is savoured, the wallet is not battered as often and there must be health benefits too. That said, there are certainly nights where the thought of cooking a hearty family meal is unappealing to say the least. Despite my love of food, cooking and I are not BFFs and on a tired night, after a crappy day I will take the easiest option. Every time. Sometimes though, the thought of a trip to town and back for the Bombay Bliss Vegetable Korma becomes even too hard and a quick, home option is the only way to go.
On a full and satisfied belly, I’ve decided that tonight’s meal has become our ultimate make at home takeaway style menu item. BLT on Turkish, hold the fries. Have a look at the deliciousness this slap-up quick meal became …. all prepped and cooked in less time than it would have taken for a trip into town.
What’s your go-to throw together “don’t wanna cook” meal? Or are you a sucker for a good takeaway??
