Cooking Light

While all of us are unique, our personalities, our styles of running a household and raising kids, our neurosis, there are some universal issues that plague us all. One of those things is mealtime. In the hours I've spent whining about this issue, I've discovered that we are all in the same boat.

I love to cook, I really do! The problem is that I the food that I make to be the best of whatever my eaters have eaten. This poses a problem after I cycle through my short list of "big hits". That's when I revert to some old standards that they will eat, and are good for them, but no one really enjoys. I really dread that part of the cycle and it discourages meal planning.

I've been getting Cooking Light Magazine for months now and I always look through them for ideas, but until this week have never made anything from them. After a few sobering complaints about the menu, I sat down, ripped out enough recipes for a week, made a grocery list and stocked the fridge and cabinets.

This is less of a commitment than it used to be because I can buy produce for pennies on the dollar, which means if a recipe doesn't turn out, I haven't spent a fortune on ingredients.

I'm happy to announce that all of the recipes I've attempted have turned out. Finally I feel like I have turned a corner, for now at least. *Remember that part on Dirty Dancing when Baby is dancing with Johnny on stage and she forgets what she's supposed to do so she reverts back to the thumb thing? That happens to me occasionally after a big epiphany like this. Don't be judging me if I fall off.* I just want to share my enthusiasm. It inspires me.