I have had a very busy day here on the farm. I had a fun chore to accomplish. (More on that later!) But it still kept me busy for the majority of the day. By the time I finished, it was almost 5:00 and I was tired. I just wanted to sit down for awhile and rest.
I typed out a text to Eric. While we don’t get pizza delivery out where we live, he passes a Little Caesar’s on his way home. I asked him to pick up dinner. I think my exact words were “Whatever you bring home, it will be my new favorite food.” My finger hovered over the “send” button. Was this really what I wanted? Did I feel like eating take out? Would I feel good after I ate it? Would it even taste very good?
My finger hit the “delete” button instead. It wasn’t what I wanted for myself or my family. Not for Eric who had worked hard all day and deserved to come home to a nice meal that he didn’t have to stand in line for.
It was time for a real food attitude adjustment.
I got my butt out of my chair and into the kitchen. I tossed some baby carrots into the bottom of my favorite green lasagna pan. I took a pork loin out of the fridge, set it on top of the carrots (makeshift roasting dish) and I sprinkled it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and then I drizzled it with olive oil and threw it in the oven.
I threw together the kale, goat cheese and avocado dip that I was inventing for Eat Your Greens day 5.
I had about an hour to rest while the pork roasted. That wasn’t hard. The oven was doing the work, not me. I even ventured out into the yard to check on my veggie patch and gather eggs, which are two of my favorite daily chores, and therefore, don’t feel like work.
When the pork was almost done, I slathered on some Rosemary Peach Preserves that I had made earlier in the week, and I started a pot of couscous.
Have you ever made couscous? Literally, you boil the water, throw in the couscous, remove it from the heat, cover, and wait 5 minutes. It’s the easiest starch dish in my arsenal.
Meanwhile, Eric texted me as he was about to leave work. The conversation went like this.
Eric: I’m hungry, what’s for dinner?
Me: Nothing special. Rosemary peach roasted pork loin, couscous, carrots, and a kale and goat cheese dip.
Eric: Wow. I wonder what the rich folks are eating?
I will have to admit that dinner was lovely, and did look a little impressive. Of course, I have just let the cat out of the bag about how little effort I put into it. Eric will have no idea that I almost threw in the towel and begged for mercy until he reads this post. Instead, (I hope!) he felt loved as I served him a hot, home-cooked meal of fresh ingredients.
Am I trying to brag about how awesome I am at pulling together dinner? Not at all. I’m hoping that in writing this, I will encourage someone else who needs to hear this. Dinner doesn’t have to be hard to be great. Sometimes what we need is just a real food attitude adjustment! A simple meal, cooked with love, tastes better than any greasy pizza you could grab on your way home, and it’s REAL food you can feel good about. Aren’t you worth it?
Do you have any quick dinner ideas to share with me?
Shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday!
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Tonight at 6 pm, I stuffed the baby in the highchair and sliced an onion, tossed it in the bottom of the pressure cooker, sawed a not-quite-thawed pork shoulder roast into 1 1/2 inch thick slices, tossed them on top of the onions, put in a head of cauliflower and water and forgot to season it. When the pressure cooker was done, about an hour later (it came up to speed slowly because I knew I wasn’t going to be happy about getting up to turn it down) I tossed some seasoning in a bowl, put the cooked pork in, tossed some cream and seasoning in the pot, and pulled out a loaf of good gluten free bread my Dad picked up for me on a trip today. So pulled pork sandwiches with cream of cauliflower soup. Far less effort than going somewhere and buying something.
Oh! I should add that everything we had we got from our local food co-op, organic, and local for the most part.
Wow! I’m going to need to look into a pressure cooker! That sounds amazing!
You are so right. That’s one reason I love to have meals ready in the freezer because it is so tempting at the end of they day to just make the call and have something delivered. I also like to put things in my crockpot in the morning (I am much more a morning person, than a 5:00 pm person) and I can know all day that supper is getting done and all I have to do is serve it up.
I always say I’m going to fill the freezer, but it never seems to happen! I really do need to work on that. Any suggestions of what to start with?
We did have pizza on friday night.. but not store bought but homemade all the way. My son said that I was the best pizza maker in the world… I guess that means he enjoyed it.
Wow! Now I want to try your pizza!
Great post Heather! It’s just what I needed to hear tonight as I’m sitting on the couch trying to motivate myself to make some dinner. We all too often let the business of life get in the way of enjoying a good home cooked meal. I’m going to head to the kitchen now! Thanks for the inspiration.