Comfort Food

Yesterday was a little rough emotionally and physically.  In the morning I had a corticosteroids shot in my ankle joint and it hurt like hell. 4 inch needle being moved around an already painful joint is not the way most people start the festivities for their oldest son's high school graduation,  but that's how I roll. Dealing with my unhappy mother,  apathic graduating son and an ex - husband who hasn't seen his kids in a year leaves me emotionally raw. When I'm not emotionally feeling my chipper self I want comfort food.

Food is NOT just for stomach nourishment in my house. Food is also nourishment for the soul in my house. We use food to show love. Ever have someone bake you a cake from scratch? It's a little more difficult then the stuff from the store or the box and the dishes it makes...that's love! We use food to comfort hurts both physical and emotional.  I have found taking two fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookies provides as much comfort as any pill.

All that being said, what's one of my all time favorite comfort meals? Well pizza always works, but if someone wants to show me care and comfort, nothing beats breaded baked pork chops,  long grain and wild rice and home made bread or corn muffins (the ones from the Jiffy box, please). I like to chase it with a cold coke or lemon aid. I'm not too picky on the bread or the drink. 

After yesterday's physical and emotional drain I decided to care and comfort myself with that meal. I even made strawberry lemon aid! Due to the draining effects,and now being able to find my ankle bone again, I treated my self to a coke and strawberry lemon aid. Now, some ice cream for dessert and a dark chocolate mint before bed and I should almost be recovered!

What's For Dinner

I like to bake.  I like to cook and I like to try new things.  Taking these things into account it should not be a daily battle to answer the question, "What's for dinner?"  There's plenty of good material to choose from on the internet.  I even have a whole Pinetrest board dedicated to food to assist with deciding what's for dinner.  Why does this daily question have to be so hard?

We used to do menu planning for the month.  That helped when I was coaching and my husband's work schedule dictated that he started supper.  There is only so much concession stand food one can eat before your stomach just says NO!  Now when we used to menu plan for the month, each of the kids got a day of the week to pick a meal.  With five kids, that only left two days for me to plan for.  That wasn't too bad, but now the children have tired of menu planning and no longer get excited about assiting with the task.  They will on occasion fight and argue about what we should have for dinner, but to actually plan out a meal that doesn't require one to dirty every dish in the house, or eat out of a paper bag is not in their skill set yet.  Their favorite meal to request is fried chicken, home made mac and cheese, home made crescent rolls and home made cake for dessert.  Who has time for that on a Tuesday after work, and before soccer practice?

Many people ask their husband to assist with meal planning, but my husband isn't really all that picky.  I usually get a whatever you want response.  Well, if I didn't have to cook it I'd like roasted potatoes, home made bread, steak and chocolate moose with a chocolate graham cracker crust for dinner.  Since I'm the one who usually has to cook, calling for pizza looks really good!  Eating out could be a solution.  Problem one with that solution is there are not many restaurants to select from in our area.  Problem two with that solution is we are not rich!

So, if you read this blog (and I hope someone other than my husband is reading this blog) I'm open to suggestions about What's for dinner?

The homemade cake my kids would like for supper

Kids favorite meal minus homemade bread