I did an inventory of the food we already have in our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer this morning. We have way more than I thought. I found all kinds of things in our freezer that I had forgotten about. We still have some left over goodies from an Omaha Steaks Christmas gift. I didn't know that. Score! We have tons of beans and rice in our pantry that my husband has been stocking up on as our emergency supply. I never think twice about that top shelf in the pantry because it is all food for a rainy day or the end of the world. It's good to be married to a Mormon boy who learned the value of food storage at an early age.
After looking through our food storage, I realized something quite embarrassing and sad. I don't know how to cook. I am serious. Yes, I know how to make things for meals, I do cook for seven people every day, but I really don't know how to cook. I can make casseroles. I can make recipes. I have more cook books than the average bear. I read food blogs for fun. My slow cooker is my friend. But I don't really know how to cook a steak, a pork chop, or a chicken. My biscuits come from the freezer and cost over $3.00 for a bag of 12. My kids eat frozen pizza and chicken nuggets at least once a week. I have only soaked beans over night one time in my life. It was an epic fail. This is how big my culinary skill deficit is. Who doesn't know how to make biscuits or soak beans? (me) It's not like it's rocket science.
So, my six year old and I headed to the library for story time and I found a BASIC cook book. I think it is called How to Cook Basic Food, or something exciting like that. But it's exactly what I needed. No recipe has strange ingredients, and nothing in the book comes from anything pre-made. It's like: meat. salt. pepper. the end. There ain't no call for cream of chicken soup. It's cookin' from scratch like our grannies did. It's obviously all about technique. Lord help us all. (seriously). I have ADD and have trouble watching things turn a certain color and then lifting it off at the right time. I burn everything. And I kill plants by over-watering but that is a different story. I guess I just do lots off stuff "too much."
For lunch I found some soup in the back of the pantry. I really wanted a turkey sandwich and actually thought about going to the store to buy some turkey. But I couldn't fail on my first day of trying. So I didn't. And the soup was yummy. I did realize we were going to run out of bread, though. And that's not so bad for me, but my six year old only weighs 30 pounds and has significant developmental delays and autism. He likes bread. And I am not going to totally deprive him of what he eats for lunch because finding an alternative might take an entire month. So, my husband offered to start baking bread from scratch again. Bless him. He used to make our bread in the good ole days and it was delicious. He made his own jam from the blackberry bushes in our back yard too. Have I ever told you how much I love this man? He is awesome. We did have to buy some more active yeast at the store... and he bought some ketchup. But that was his idea, not mine. He saw all the hamburger patties I had unearthed in the freezer.
Dinner tonight was pork chops from Omaha Steaks with apples and onions. The whole house still smells goooood. I learned how to cook it from the new BASIC cookbook. I felt like Julia Child. My husband was surprised when he came home from work. I was wearing an apron and everything. And I was barefoot. I think it turned him on.
I found a Dairy Queen coupon for a free Dilly Bar. We took the six year old for a treat. That's not really on my plan of becoming less gluttonous, but hey, the other four children will be home on Saturday and it's hard to split a Dilly Bar.
I cleaned out a drawer in my bedside table today. I didn't have any give aways this time, but did find some treasures. I found some letters and cards that people sent me when my Daddy passed away. I found some art work from the kids, and several silver baby cups. And of course I also found lots of outdated junk and I filled a small garbage bag. Be gone junk!
Oh! And my six year old and I made a delivery to the thrift store on the way home from the library this morning. I had 2 big black lawn bags full of gently used clothes and shoes that had been sitting around my house for... gosh.... six months. In bags. I just never made the time to deliver the bags. I don't know why. Maybe it's hard to let go of things even if I know I don't need them. But they are gone now and I really hope the children who will get them will enjoy them. It was cute stuff.
Today, 25,000 people in the world died of starvation. How could I ever look in my kitchen and say, "There's nothing in here to eat!" ??
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for a clear mind today. I thank Thee for the library. I thank Thee for all the food in my kitchen. I pray I will be grateful for each and every item until it is gone. I pray that the four children who are not back from the beach yet will not roll their eyes at me when I explain what's going on around here with my attempt to rescue our life from the excess. In the name of the One who asks me to give it all away and follow Him. Amen.
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