Back On The Wagon

I have a confession to make: for the past few weeks dinner has been a big fail. Meal planning has fallen by the wayside. Dinner at the table – what’s that? And more take-out has been consumed than I’m willing to admit. This week, I’m determined to get back on the healthy family dinner wagon. Of course, I’ve picked an less than ideal week to start. We’re going away for the weekend which means grocery shopping will be done in rush before we leave tomorrow morning and I won’t be in the mood to prep meals for the week when we get home on Sunday night. But I’m going to try anyway. I’m starting with some easy standby meals and if all goes well I’ll get more ambitious in the kitchen next week.

In other news, last night I started A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table by the lovely Molly Wizenberg of the Orangette blog. I was only able to read a few pages before falling asleep (see previous post on sleep deprivation) but I am already smitten with Molly.

I’ve also dipped my toe into the big, bad Twitterverse. I have been afraid of Twitter (irrational, I know) and am now trying to conquer my fear. Find me at @culinarybiblio for more food, book and mom stuff and/or @thebedwyrpress for my adventures self-publishing The Never King.

And now for what you’ve all been waiting for (yeah, right). My meal plan for the week. Wish me luck!

Monday: Pasta and salad. With sauce from a jar. Boring, I know, but both kids have swimming on Monday night (usually it’s only one) and I know we will be home late and boiling water and heating sauce will be all I will be able to manage.

Tuesday: Pork Chops in Apple Cider. This is a recipe I’m pretty sure my mom made up but it’s really, really simple, kid-friendly and yummy. Take boneless, center-cut pork chops (although truth be told, I’ve used bone-in) and brown them briefly in a skillet. Leave chops in skillet and fill skillet with apple cider (apple juice works too, in a pinch) until the cider level comes half way up the chops. Cook until chops are cooked through (about 10 minutes for boneless, but double check. Trichinosis is not fun!). Remove chops from cider and serve. If you really want to get fancy you can throw some sliced apples and onions in with the chops while they’re cooking.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner –Omelets. The Scotsman is the omelet chef in our family so I’m delegating this dinner to him.

Thursday: Kids: French Bread Pizza Adults: Open-Face Caprese. The kids French bread pizza is pretty self explanatory – apply tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to slices of French bread. Bake at 350® for 10 mins or until cheese in melty. I’m going to kick it up a notch for the adults with this recipe from Rachel Ray for an Open-Face Caprese . 

Friday: Homemade Hamburgers. I don’t have a particular recipe in mind at the moment. I’ll probably just wing it.

So there you have it. What are you cooking this week?

Stuck in a Dinner Rut

I’m stuck in a dinner rut. You know what I mean – trying to plan your meals for the week and having no inspiration. What I don’t understand is that if you told me I needed to plan a dinner party or a holiday meal I’d be able to plan multiple, intricate, yummy, interesting meals in a matter of minutes. Ask me to plan some basic dinners for the family and I’m stuck staring at a blank page. Why, why, why? What is so hard about this?

I don’t know the answer to that question but obviously I’ve been asking it for years. I poked through some old and emails found an email to my husband from November of 2011 listing all the various meals I could think of for lunch and dinner. It must not have been very inspiring to either of us as it hasn’t been looked at since….November of 2011. And looking at it now isn’t exactly getting the culinary juices flowing, either.

I think this issue is a big reason why family dinners are so hard. And I’d like to think I’m not alone. It’s one thing to manage to get the family gathered around the dinner table. It’s a different matter to come up with what your going to serve. I think for me, the issue performance anxiety. I’m afraid to try something new in case someone doesn’t like it. My husband is not a fan of pasta so that’s out (although I’m working on him). The kids surprise me with what they do and don’t like. So rather than taking a chance I do nothing at all.

I still don’t know what we’re going to eat in the coming week. But in the meantime I’ll leave you with a recipe for an old favorite that appeared on that 2011 email. This is the best beef brisket you’ll ever have. I demanded the recipe from my friend Kerry years ago after eating it at her house. It was so good I made it for dinner that same night (it was THAT good). I’ve tried other brisket recipes but none of them have held a candle to this one.

Kerry’s Beef Brisket (aka The Best Brisket You’ll Ever Eat)

3 lbs single cut beef brisket

1 cup ketchup

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup cider vinegar

1 pkg dry onion soup mix

½ cup water

½ cup BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 375®

Place the brisket in a 13x9 dish. In a medium bowl, mix together the other ingredients and pour over the brisket.

Cover the brisket tightly with foil and bake for 3 ½ hours. Remove from oven and let cool.

Slice the meat against the grain and return to the sauce. Reheat in the over for approx. 20 minutes.