While I’m Away,
Let Them Eat Comfort Food
I leave today for a trip to Cuba with my father. It’s our first father-daughter only vacation. We’ll be together nine nights – two nights in Miami, seven nights on the Fathom cruise ship. Dad’s always wanted to go to Cuba because he grew up during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He’s wanted to go for over 50 years. I’m honored to be going with him. It’s going to be an eye-opening trip.
You may be wondering how this story relates to iwannabeacook, other than to tell you that there won’t be a newsletter next week. Well, my husband and younger son are going to be home alone next week, so they will have to cook their own food.
I heard my son ask my husband about what they were going to eat while I was away. He assured him it wouldn’t be a problem; he assured me he wouldn’t eat out every night.
Doing what anyone in my situation would do, I gave him a tour of the freezer – steaks, lamb chops, brats, ground beef and pork for meatloaf, chicken. The next stop was the pantry – pasta, rice, potatoes, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, spices. The final stop was the refrigerator – carrots, celery, lettuce, bell peppers, cheese.
I’ve said this over and over again. With a well-stocked pantry, cooking is simple. We browsed the recipes on iwannabeacook and came up with a long list of recipes. Listed below are some of the possibilities. I put this here not only as a reminder to him but as a list for my readers when they have no idea what to cook.
- Barbecue meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, salad with Basic vinaigrette
- Parmesan-crusted baked chicken, Home fries, raw bell peppers
- Roasted chicken, baked potatoes, Sautéed carrots with ginger
- Pasta and green onions, celery and carrot sticks with Blue cheese dip
- Grilled lamb with mint sauce, rice, Steamed green beans
- Grilled cheese sandwich, Spicy tomato soup
- Brats, Caramelized onions, Potato salad
- Tuna melt, salad with Sweet and sour vinaigrette
- Frittata with bell peppers, Pete’s biscuits
He now has nine menus for the week. As it turns out, most of these recipes are comfort foods for my husband and son, and they are relatively quick and easy. Do I think all nine meals will be made? Do I think the vegetables will be prepared, served, or eaten? Absolutely not! But what’s important is that they know they have a lot of choices. All they have to do is to remember to thaw the meat and take his iPad to the kitchen!
There will be no newsletter next week, but the next newsletter will highlight my trip to Cuba. When I travel, my creativity in food planning soars, so be prepared for new and exciting recipes in the near future!
As always, happy cooking and eating!
March 4, 2017