Random Answers #7

Here is the promised continuation of the Random Questions series put on by RK. The topic for this one is food - a subject I am always thinking about it seems...

Here are the questions:
1. What does a typical evening meal look like at your house? (Be honest!)

2. What is your idea of a "healthy meal" if you were going to aim for that specifically?

3. What food(s) do you like now that you wouldn't have believed would be in that category 10 years ago?

4. Tell me about one of your best "food memories." (Maybe a date, or event, or just a great meal.)

5. If you have kids, what do your kids like that surprises you? What would they pick for their favorite meal?

6. If you had to give up two items from your personal menu, what would you miss the most?

A typical meal at our house consists of me cooking something - we have a variety of stuff that I choose from, but like most moms that must come up with meal after meal, I find that we often fall into a bit of a rut. The main meat we use is chicken...the main grain is rice...my boys are like their father - they could eat rice and or pasta most every day of their life. My cooking has gone through many stages over the years of our marriage. I was an adequate cook going into our marriage, but many of the things I cooked, my husband did not enjoy. So when it was just the two of us I begged to go out many times just to not have the pressure of coming up with a meal that my husband would eat. Over the years we both have changed. I have changed the way I cook - I know now what to avoid, what to dilute, and what to hide (shhh). And Steven has added to his menu options - he did have a lot of stomach problems that have since corrected which has helped in this area a lot - and he also has just become more adventurous in eating. He grew up in a household where his dad is a "simple" eater and his mom is a warmer-upper in the area of cooking. If it doesn't require a zap with the microwave or can be thawed and cooked in the oven then it doesn't get made. So now with those changes and the addition of 4 children, I would now rather stay home and eat than go out with the whole family - the hassle outweighs the luxury of not cooking.

If I had more time to teach myself how to cook with more fresh ingredients and if I had the organization to meal plan I would like to do that to prepare an even more healthy meal for my family. I try to avoid a mostly box and canned meal, but find this is difficult to do in the winter. In the summer I have less problems in using the fresh ingredients to make a healthy meal. We do use a pinch of organic stuff - and use whole wheat more often than not.

Some of my best food memories involve the older couple that lived across the street from me growing up in Illinois. Every time we returned for a visit she (Frances, whom Miss Lillie Frances is named for) would have breakfast coffee cake made from her sour dough starter that she received in 1969! a variety of fresh baked pies, ham or cheese salad sandwiches for lunch and a yummy dinner of some kind with those brown and serve rolls that you can buy at the store, but always tasted the best at her house. (She made the best pies, hands down) I also love the Thanksgiving holiday - every thing on the menu is yummy (except for that cranberry stuff in the shape of the can and the mushy pumpkin pie) and you are with family without the pressure of gift giving.

A food that is now in my arsenal that I wouldn't have dreamed of 10 years ago....hmmm...maybe some of the vegetarian stuff that we eat sometimes - usually when we go out, cause I don't know how to cook vegetarian...and chinese food - I didn't ever think I would enjoy chinese, but I do for the most part.

My kids surprise me with food at times - Isaiah is becoming more and more picky unfortunately, but when he was smaller he would eat most anything we gave him and went quite a long time before he ate any sort of fast food kids meals. (Not the case these days unfortunately) Huston is our most adventurous eater - he has eaten egg rolls, sauerkraut, red cabbage, mexican stuff, etc. Avery will try things when the mood suits him and is more of a snacker than a meal eater. I don't know what the older ones would choose as their favorite foods - Avery likes breakfast foods - pancakes, waffles, cereal and cereal bars, etc.

Man give up two things....hmmm....chicken probably would be difficult cause we use it a lot and I like chicken....and bread cause that is my weakness - that's why I don't have a bread machine and refuse to learn how to make homemade bread cause I would just sit there and eat it all the time.

So there are my responses - I wish I ate healthier than I do - I know that is something I could change, but I crave too many unhealthy things at this point and the task of not craving them anymore seems too overwhelming :-) Wish I could fall in love with some sort of exercise to counter balance the unhealthy cravings more often!