Where is the Thyme?
Posted in Erin on 15. Dec, 2009
Here’s the thing about working late on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We haven’t fully figured out how to make this work smoothly on the home front. It’s a small price to pay, really, since on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I am able to meet the boys’ bus after school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a babysitter after school and then my husband takes both boys to karate.
This makes me feel no guilt about working late (they’re all at karate anyway) but the downside is we are all arriving home around the same time and no one is at home cooking dinner. I have been trying a host of different strategies for managing this:
1. Using the crock pot. This works sometimes, but other days, I don’t feel like pan-frying meat or browning meatballs before work.
2. Putting frozen foods or quick things like pasta on the menu for these nights. That’s working OK but I notice more times than not I come home to chicken nuggets and smiles. Not my idea of dinner. For the boys yes, for mommy, no.
3. Teaching my husband how to cook. He actually had this skill at one point but has lost it. Although a master of the grill, it’s not something he cares to do much in the winter. Go figure.
4. Take out one of the nights. I can’t afford to pick up dinner both nights, but on Thursdays I am willing to splurge a little and let the kids eat fish sticks.
This afternoon, my babysitter had a dentist appointment so my husband came home early. I said to him this morning, “Since you are getting home early today, do you think you could put a chicken in the oven? I will leave the cookbook open to the page with instructions.”
“Yeah, no problem,” he said.
Shortly after the time I told him to put the chicken in the oven he called me at work. “Where’s the thyme? This recipe calls for thyme. I see rosemary, parsley, sage, bay leaf all in the vegetable drawer. No thyme.”
“Oh, Just use the rosemary and sage. That’s fine,” I said.
Moments later he called back. “Where is the chicken broth?”
“What do you need broth for?” I asked.
“This recipe calls for broth. I am organizing my ingredients, ” he said proudly.
“Um, honey, I think that’s only if you are making gravy. You are not making gravy are you?”
“I don’t know, am I?”
And so it goes.
While I am optimistic I will have a hot chicken when I get home, I’m not sure there will be any sides with it.
One step at a time.
Love it! My husband was recently out of work for four months and you would think we’d be eating pretty (he has worked on this skill but only in a gourmet setting — not an everyday cook). But no. Every SINGLE TIME he went to the grocery store for me, he called a MINIMUM of 3 times with questions. This did not make it easier, actually it was very disruptive to my day. So it went with all the stuff around the house. I’m very happy for many reasons to have him back at work.
He now always gets home at 7:30 but on the nights that my daughter and I are late because of activities, I try to have one night be something fast and simple and the other be leftover or something I made ahead. When I have leftovers I tend to pop them in the freezer and use them a following week so it isn’t too repetitive. The only problem is that it is really hard to match healthy with make ahead since they tend to be pastas, casseroles, etc.
Ha! So male. My husband *loves* to do prep stations. I can’t be around to watch him cook … or clean: so.much.mess. Really? You have to put the measured-out baking soda in a little prep bowl *before* adding it to the cookies? Really?!!
Freezer meals have been my savior (make ahead, thaw out in the morning, pop in the oven/on the stove in the afternoon). I’ve been part of a meal swap that’s been *awesome* on finding new recipes to try (yes, it’s lots of work up front, but I coast the rest of the month). Would it be beyond babysitter duties to get the food baking/cooking? I’d figure if she’s already there …
Try the sweet beef stew crock pot recipe from the Meal Makeover Moms that I think was posted here on the Manic Mommies page a few weeks (months?) ago–it doesn’t require ANY real prep or pre-cooking, just pop the ingredients into the crockpot and go. As a bonus, my very picky daughter loved it (what a surprise). Need to find more crock pot recipes that don’t require prep!
Here’s the link to that beef stew crock pot recipe from the Meal Makeover Moms’ website: http://www.mealmakeovermoms.com/recipes/slow-cooker-soups/sweet-hearty-beef-stew/
No prep crock pot recipes are my savior. Pop open, dump it, cook it.