What's for Dinner

Food surprises me.  As for us, we buy fast food, prepared items, or frozen entrees WAY more than ever.  I guess today in many households people “pick up dinner” on their way home from work.  Is that you, too?

Even here we have some good fast food choices like street tacos, Chinese, and good salads.  I still like Wendy’s baked potatoes.  (City families have even more choices, with Thai, Indian, etc.)  If we buy a rotisserie chicken it makes at least three meals for two.  I like take and bake pizza more than delivery—which is fortunate since we don’t have delivery.

Frozen entrees’ are the biggest surprise.  Trader Joe’s has several we like.  Good Chinese dumplings.  Just tried their meat balls and added sweet and sour sauce.  Rachel gave us some good ones.

I know food goes in and out of vogue and evolves, but grocery stores have changed SO MUCH in response. When I was young, the tiny frozen entrée section offered banquet meat pies or TV dinners or fish sticks--and “XLNT” tamales which we never bought.  That was IT.

The four biggest grocery store changes reflect where America is at:  1.) huge frozen food sections, 2.) increasing organic produce sections, and 3.) the snack aisle.  There was never a snack aisle.  When I was young, snacks were an apple or a carrot or graham crackers and milk.  Maybe leftover something or other.  Or a slice of bread.  4.)  And the fourth change is wine—outside of Utah. : )   The grocery store had a little beer, I think. Drinking was far less prevalent.

I still cook because sometimes I like our food at home more than what we can get out.  And since we live out of town, it’s faster and easier.

But I don’t like spending a lot of time so I like to have leftovers.  I cook extra salmon so I can have it cold for breakfast—with bagels and cream cheese and lemon juice. Pasta dishes are good later, too.  Some things don’t make good leftovers.  We loved a baked root vegetable mix last week but the leftovers not so much.   Just tried Hassleback potatoes and didn’t care for them the next day.  (Also, preferred thin-skinned red rose or new potatoes.)

We were taught to make up a weekly menu.  Most woman weren’t strict about it, but I still do it in my mind.  “Monday: rotisserie chicken/baked potatoes. Tuesday: leftover chicken in Asian veggies w/sauce,  rice. . .“

We eat so well that sometimes I feel guilty.  For a FHE we hosted we talked about old-style food.  We  served creamed peas on toast, using canned peas.  Yes, it was a legit dinner in our day.  It actually tasted good.  Everyone polished it off.   : )