Mission: Dinner

I hate cooking dinner. For a long time, it's been the bane of my existence. A few years ago the laminator at school took over that role, but I continued to struggle with cooking dinner for my family of 2, that became a family 3 in 2008.

This year my teaching position was cut to part-time due to budgetary reasons and I knew our evenings of eating out were soon going to be something of the past. So, this school year, I am on a mission. That mission is to cook dinner 5 nights a week. Definitely at least 4 nights. Well, maybe just 3 is a good number to start at.

Today before heading to work I was trying to think about why cooking has been something I have hated for such a long time. If I am being honest though, I've only really been cooking for myself or my family for the last 10 years. But struggling with something 365 days a year for 10 years is a really long time! The first factor I identified was energy. After working with children in an elementary school all day long the only thing I wanted to do was take a nap once I got home. Now that I am only working part-time I've not struggled with the lack of energy this year as in the past. Another factor is my dear husband. Yes- I love him. I knew that he was a picky eater long before marriage became a discussion in our relationship. But I thought I could convert him. My mom is Italian so I grew up eating all that fantastic Italian food... lasagna, ziti, spaghetti with meat sauce, stuffed shells... mmm, stuffed shells. Can't remember the last time I had those. Ravioli. Anyway- he eats none of those great foods I grew up loving which means half of my cooking repatoire was kicked out the door once we moved in together! Now, I have a semi-picky 3 year old (well, on October 24th) who eats everything under the sun at her daycare center, but limits herself to chicken nuggets, yogurt, grapes, and mac & cheese at home.

So, follow my adventures as I try to capture my culinary domestic goddess-ness and attempt to save money as we wade through our lives on half my normal salary. Cheers!