Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Dinner? No I am sorry, we have the plague.

I have missed my little corner of the food world! Honestly, I believe my family has too because I will admit in writing, that as of today, I have not cooked a meal for my family in over a week! Shameful, I know. The person who believes every person can find time to cook a meal has failed miserable to accomplish that...the nerve right?

Well, let's put this in perspective. My real job has kept me hopping, and I mean 12 hour work day hopping. I have thrown a few things in a crock-pot here or there or re-purposed freezer leftovers a couple of times. But the real cause of this latest culinary drought? The plague. You read that correctly. I am convinced that short of dipping my entire house in bleach my family is doomed to a cycle of co-pays, medicines and sick days. I myself am home for the second day in a row after succumbing to bronchitis...this after being sick last Sunday with what my local doc-in-a-box called an "upper respiratory infection" and promptly gave me decongestant.Yesterday, my family doctor consequently shook her head at me "tsk, tsk" while she rubbed my lumpy lymph nodes and wrote me a prescription for amoxicillan. Now, did I mention last Saturday my little boy was diagnosed with Strep Throat...which in turn my husband caught and was home with for two days last week? Prior to that, my husband was sick with what we thought was the flu and was instead a yet to be named virus everyone else has had at some point judging by Facebook statuses.

What does this have to do with food? Well, the motivation to cook diminishes significantly when everyone including the head chef is ill or not getting home until 7PM at night. Hubby stepped it up and made dinner a few nights, our favorite local Italian place has received our online order a few times and last night for fear my small son would be subjected to pizza or grilled cheese again, I went and picked up take-out from a steakhouse chain. Sometimes, it is NOT about a culinary journey but survival. We have been surviving. I am definitely ready to move past survival and start cooking and enjoying eating again.

I am starting today by trying out a new recipe. My cough is still keeping me awake and my culinary creativity is in a Nyquil fog so I found this tasty recipe that I had pinned a while back for honey sesame chicken. I think I can manage the intensive labor it calls for....wish me luck and maybe one day I'll get back to meal planning and cooking...right now I am working on breathing.