A Single Mom's "Must Haves" in the Cupboard
When you go through trying times, crappy food and disposable plates come in handy.
Since my separation/divorce, I have refused to use real plates. I go to Costco and buy the jumbo pack of Chinet paper plates. I do this because when I was married, I had big meals all the time and tons of dishes to wash. Now, I minimize the washing part and maximize the recycling part of "dishes." It's awesome. "Done with dinner kids? Just TOSS that plate!" Yes, I wash silverware and glasses and pots and pans, but somehow, tossing that plate into the recycle bin makes me feel free. Call me crazy, but I love it! It's the NEW me, and the new me HATES doing dishes (still!) Tossing the dinner/lunch plate is my way of throwing caution to the wind and breaking free of "rules".
Another thing - I really don't "cook" anymore. I do a lot of microwaving and "throwing together" easy meals. Is this healthy? Not really, but it works. I throw in the basic food groups for the kids in the morning and for school lunches, but dinner be damned! Four course meals are never an issue for me, and I make sure, so as not to be a completely crappy mother, that my kids get lots of exercise to run off all the crappy food they get for dinner.
Well, let's re-think that: Some food is crappy, some is just so easy, it's not really like cooking at all!
For example: My kids love Ramen Noodle soup. Full of salt, powdered "broth" mix...college kids live on it. My kids call it "Mom's Special Soup" (as if I slaved all day over the stove and hand made the cardboard noodles myself! Those silly kids!) If you make a couple of packages of Ramen, throw in some peas or corn, you practically could have a real dinner party with that stuff!
Then there's a staple: Turkey hot dogs! Nuke em, boil em or grill em, and they are easy! Throw in some Kraft Macaroni and cheese and a cut-up apple, and Voila! Another gourmet meal!
How about "Mom's Special Quesadillas?" I am in no way Mexican, nor can I cook good Mexican food, but the "Maureen's American-Irish version" of Quesadillas works well. Buy your Tortillas, put them in a pan with butter, load the inside up with cheese and then anything can be a meal! I've used canned salmon, tuna, diced chicken or cut up veggies and suddenly you have a meal with very little cooking. Even if it tastes awful, it's buried by all the cheese! Kids love it because it's an automatic grilled cheese sandwich - they don't even usually know there's meat or veggies in there - and what kid doesn't love a grilled cheese sandwich in any form?
And finally, there's McDonalds. For some reason, kids love it. I know I love it for the Play Place, that's for sure. Is it raining out? Go to Mickey D's Play Place and the kids can work off all their energy and calories from the "instant" meals! Chicken McNuggets - do they actually have chicken? I guess they do; but who can tell when you use dipping sauce and eat a thousand french fries? And really, who cares?
I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not a bad mother. I do feed my kids healthy meals. I just don't make steak and potatoes and salad EVERY night anymore, and man, that's such a relief! As a matter of fact, when my kids go stay with their dad, I don't even cook for me! Now that's awesome! I usually have a banana for breakfast and lunch, and by dinner, whilst suffering from low blood sugar, friends usually pick me up off the floor and shove protein of some kind into my mouth to move me back into consciousness. It's really cool!
I'm loving the new me. What makes it all worth while is when I hear my daughter say, "My mom is the best cooker in the whole world." Wow! Now that means something! What do you think she'd say if I actually REALLY cooked? I think I'll wait a while to do that, so she'll really be surprised and even more proud of me!
Cheerth!
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