It goes without saying that in most homes—most, not all—it’s the woman who does the cooking. (I realize there are exceptions to this rule because I know women who are lucky enough to have their husbands cook dinner, so ignore this if you’re one of those…)
Therefore, it’s typically the woman’s job to “create” the dinner. Because of that, we get to hear the question that goes on repeat for all 365 days of the year: “What are We Having For Dinner?”
I don’t know! Do I look like a recipe book?
That being said, what if I don’t feel like being “creative” about dinner. I’ve been creative all day, energetic in the classroom, driven home in traffic, dropped the kids at tennis, and now, LUCKY ME, I get to think about what the hell to craft for dinner.
I’ve blogged about this before, so indulge me. Every year I have to, at some point, write the “I’m sick of thinking about what to make for dinner” post.
I’m exhausted by it.
So…
I’m in Safeway, shopping for my ingredients, and I decide to quickly pop by the magazine rack. I’m having my hair done tomorrow, and I’m thinking of a change. I probably won’t do anything different with it all, but I peruse one magazine. I don’t like anything. I peruse another. Again, I don’t see anything I like.
Then, LOW AND BEHOLD, next to me is the magazine pictured: Taste of Home’s Busy Family Recipes. I throw down the hair magazine, and I pick this up, march to the checkout stand and buy it.
I think what I was saying, as I cooked my first Thanksgiving turkey a few years ago was, “All this work and it’ll be over in minutes.” And while people appreciate your cooking on holidays, where’s that same enthusiasm for the other 360 days of the year?
There are 161 “easy” recipes in this thing—if even half of them are easy and painless, I’ll be happy I plunked down the $9.99 to buy it.
Honestly, I’m tired of being creative with dinner, of trying to find new recipes, of eating the same-old-standbys each week. I need to branch out, but I really don’t care to in the end. I wish I were famous like Oprah so someone could cook for me every night. Seriously—I think that’s the first thing I’d “buy” if money ever fell from the sky and into my lap. With an excessive amount of money, I’d buy…a CHEF.
For now, since I’m just Jo Schmo (the feminine version, of course, of Joe Schmo) and I have a family, I have to suck it up and not be selfish. I have to continue to “think about what to make for dinner.”
Let me ask you this: When you signed up to be a mother and a wife, did you have any idea how much time you would actually spend in the kitchen with food? The hours I have spent are numerous. The numbers are too high to count.
Planning dinner takes an inordinate amount of energy, patience, and time.
To use a cooking expression, stick a fork in me. I’m done.
