When I loath cooking

Yep, 2005 when I was in Philadelphia  for a convention and got a free photo of me in my chef jacket. Grew my hair back out to my waist as I got tired of fighting it to stay up inside my hat.

It sometimes surprises people when they mention I must love to cook everyday being a chef... as a self employed chef that answer depends... for work , love a good solid 5 days a week which usually ended up at least 10 plus hrs a day..at home, I am always looking for plan overs vs left overs and how to slap a good balanced meal on the table in 30 minutes or even better in the oven where I can do something else, like read a book and drink tea.I never have been much at crock pots  At work I love working with different ingredients (great in Atlanta GA) at home here in Ohio, not going to get that variety unless I travel 3 hrs one way to Jungle Jim's. though there are a few things I could order from Amazon if I really wanted to...I loath to order produce or fresh herbs online.

Right now, I am sitting here fighting bronchitis, as Hubby shared his (GRR) and for the first time in 25 yrs we are both sick at the same time and both are not really wanting to cook, let alone clean up.

Keeping with that theme HA HA...I fall back on old stand by's of when I was a widow with kids... Breads, pizza crusts etc were 98% of the time homemade.It wasn't that I did not want to spend time cooking , I was working 3 part time jobs and being single mom...not a lot of time or energy left.

Sunday Beef roast with root veggies (the next time I served beef roast it would be followed by beef noodles and the time after that would beef veggie soup)

Monday leftover beef roast as stew with dumplings (if some how there was leftover it went in to pot pie or Blue plate special of beef over stuffing with mash potatoes)

Tuesday enchilada casserole (made either the night before or in the morning) with lettuce, tom and onion

Wednesday homemade pizza with salad (crust made night before or that morning and prebaked)

Thursday Tuna noodle(store bought noodles) casserole with veggie tray and dill dip

Friday Grilled cheese(home made bread) and canned soup (store bought unless I canned chili or beef veggie soup)

Saturday mac and cheese with peas or peas and carrots mixed in with hot dogs.

Sunday Roasted turkey (yep all year around),sweet potatoes and green beans (next round of turkey would be white bean chili followed by shredded turkey sandwiches, might be a pot pie or blue plate special)

Monday Turkey noodles(homemade), mashed potatoes and cole slaw with apple sauce.

Tuesday Homemade taco pizza with salad

Wednesday mackerel patties, boiled parsley potatoes and peas or peas and carrots

Thursday Homemade baked beans with corn bread and cole slaw.

Friday Aunt Dolly's oven meal casserole (what ever was left from turkey, a layer of veggies topped with slice potatoes and what ever cream soup.

Saturday Spaghetti with red sauce (sometimes meat  or veggie sauce), homemade garlic toast

Sunday Pork roast with root veggies (next round BBQ pork sandwiches followed by Brunswick stew)

Monday blue plate special AKA sliced pork on stuffing with mashed potatoes drowned in gravy with green beans or corn and cole slaw.

Tuesday fish sticks, loaded baked potato and cole slaw

Wednesday  Hard tacos with refried beans topped with cheese and salsa

Thursday French bread pizza (homemade French bread) veggies tray

Friday Hot dogs and coney sauce, French fries and in season fruit.

Saturday. Breakfast for dinner... each kid took a turn  at choosing what would be served. Waffles, Belgian waffles, pancakes,French toast. sweet rolls, syrup or pie filling, bacon,sausage or ham, fried apples or cobbler, grits, cream of wheat or oatmeal.

Sunday Lasagna. homemade garlic bread and salad and broccoli (followed by stuffed shells followed by manicotti)

Monday  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn and green beans because there was NEVER leftover pasta LOL. (I will add here Daughter 2 makes meatloaf first and uses the leftovers either in spaghettie with meat sauce or in chili)

Tuesday.bean and cheese burritos, Spanish rice and custard

Wednesday  Grilled cheese and soup of choice, veggie and fruit tray

Thursday  Calzones ( choice of ingredients) with salad

Friday Mackerel patties, mashed potatoes and cole slaw

Saturday eggs , fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy(gravy was made from what ever fat I had saved and be milk gravy if I had extra milk, in good times it was sausage or bacon gravy)

Sunday Roasted chicken, baked potatoes and corn (followed by chicken dumplings and then chicken and noodles the next round)

Monday chicken and rice and broccoli casserole

Tuesday mac and cheese , peas or peas and carrots and smoked sausage

Wed, chuck wagon beans (hamburger or sausage in homemade baked beans) corn bread

Thursday Homemade pizza with salad

Friday Grilled lunch meat sandwiches with veggie tray

Saturday Appetizers...might be pigs in blanket, cheese and pepperoni and crackers, sweet and sour or bbq meatballs... Kids choice.

Sunday  Baked ham, sweet potatoes and cauliflower/broccoli/carrots (followed by scalloped potatoes and ham then hot ham and cheese sandwiches)

Monday Soup beans with ham, cornbread and baked apples.

Tuesday...leftover soup has mixed veggies and rice(or small pasta)added to it and served over homemade bread.

Wednesday ground pork patties, grits and salad

Thursday chili with cornbread and salad

Friday poor man stroganoff ..(hamburger with horseradish in cream sauce over pasta) carrots  and beets

Saturday Cincy Chili (chili over spaghetti) and a salad

I used to rotate through these every 6 weeks with the change of what was served on Monday's. Sunday was when I had time and didn't mind as much the clean up as much so that's when the meal that took time was. I also baked bread on Mondays, Wednesday and Saturday...3 loaves every time.