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Making Supper
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Dini




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 6:41 pm
Is there anyone can help me? I hate making supper. I think that there are a few reasons involved:
#1 its work that only lasts for a few min. ie:you eat it and its gone and then you have to clean up
#2 It doesn't always come out good and you work hard making it.
#3 You don't get the appreciation that makes it worthwhile to make it.
Does anyone have any ideas to make me start loving to make supper b/c I really want to b/c takeout is expensive, unhealthy, nauseating when had to often and lastly and most importantly I want to be a good housewife.
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morningstar




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 6:52 pm
One trick is to make more than what you need for one meal and to freeze half.. so that some other night, you get to just pull something from the freezer. Soups freeze well; also meat, and 'casserole" type dishes.

If you use a crock pot, you can put the food up in the morning and not worry about it all day.

YOu can try just making one fresh item for each meal ( soup, or salad, or meat) so that the meals are not all take-out or commercial and gradually build up a repertoire of foods you enjoy making.

How about recruiting the family to help with clearn-up or some of the prep?

Once they realize what goes into putting supper on the table, they are sure to be more grateful.. and when you get help with the work, you are sure to enjoy it more as well.

BTW: if you want to wow your family for fairly little work, try making something for breakfast. Even something as simple as a pot of hot cocoa makes breakfast special..
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momto4




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 6:58 pm
I know how you feel, although for me its not the cooking part I hate but more of coming up with what to make. every morning I literaly think oh no whats for supper. im also a big freezer fan. any leftovers from kugels, soup, chicken etc. go straigt to the freezer. I also double things a lot so ill have it the next week or so.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 7:34 pm
I think cooking is like art - you either can or can't - I could cook - but I can't draw
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anuta




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 7:35 pm
You can use paper plates and plastic utensils to minimize cleanup.
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Flowerchild




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 7:42 pm
#1 its work that only lasts for a few min. ie:you eat it and its gone and then you have to clean up

well, thats what happens to food, you cook it and its gone, but to make it fun you can decorate your food or your table to make it fun. there are books out there that show how to make simple food decorations for your plate. maybe buy some nice plates and put flowers on the table to make it more lively. as far as cleaning, you can inlist your family to help, if you have kids who are old enough they can clean up after themselves by cleaning their plates, your husband(if you have one) can wash dishes atleast once a week.

#2 It doesn't always come out good and you work hard making it.


try to find recipes that are simple, have easy ingridients, I find that simple food always tastes better but maybe its just me. fish, pasta, chicken, potatoes, cousecouse, lasagne, pies, salads, rice, meat, can be made easily without too hard of work. you can buy certain frozen things to help you out. also dinner doesnt have to be heavy or fancy, its breakfast and lunch thats more important, dinner can be light. I once made a very tasty very easy homemade pizza, it was soo good.

[I]#3 You don't get the appreciation that makes it worthwhile to make it.[I]

you wont always get appreciation for food thats how it is, your family probably views it as just food. if it bothers you it would be good to atleast tell your husband to say thank you and its deliciouse honey, something like that, if the kids hear their father compliment mommy they will follow, and you will feel better.
also not everyone appreciates fancy dinners some people would be happy with something simple but tasty. you should figure out what your family enjoys, ask, make a list of foods that your family likes and go from there.
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Mommastuff




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 7:50 pm
I have the same problem as OP.
#1 I'm not a good cook so freezing half isn't worth it. If noone eats it once, they won't eat it again. I could make a dish delicious once and it could comer out gross a 2nd time.
#2 I also have a small freezer so there's not much room anyway.
#3 I've been using paper plates but the cooking dishes pile up. I try to use as least pots/pans as possible but with 2 little kids, I can't find much time to clean even a few.
#4 My crock pot is fleishig so all those dinners will have to be meat (although I have been meaning to try this out for some days)
#5 I never know what to make for dinner in the 1st place!
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Dini




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 7:56 pm
My husband doesn't like eating leftovers. I do freeze stuff for the kids though. They always get supper that was from the nite b4 and if there wasn't any they have from the freezer. my kids are really small. 3.5 is the oldest. And I definately use plastic.
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leomom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 8:54 pm
greenfire wrote:
I think cooking is like art - you either can or can't - I could cook - but I can't draw


I think both cooking and art are talents that everyone is capable of developing!
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leomom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 9:06 pm
I definitely recommend making a weekly meal plan, with VERY easy dinners your family likes. Use the plan to shop & cook. You'll feel so relaxed knowing what's for dinner every night of the week, and knowing you have what you need in the house. For more variety, you can do a two-week plan if you have enough meal options.

You can either list specific main dishes & side dishes for each day (or a one-pot dish that has various food groups), or a type of food for each day, like pasta (spaghetti or lasagna or...), sandwiches (tuna/egg salad/etc.), Mexican (tacos or burritos), "breakfast for dinner" (omelettes, pancakes, French toast, oatmeal, cream of wheat), Asian (stir fry, rice & tofu & broccoli, curried veggies & tofu, etc.) -- and so on. (Of course you'll probably do meat versions of these.)

You can designate one night as pizza night or take-out for a night off. But all meals should be very easy to make or you won't enjoy it. Use frozen vegetables to save time if you don't like chopping. Make things "modular" so kids & adults can choose what they like and combine them on their plates.

For example, make a pot of spaghetti, a bowl of peanut sauce, and some steamed broccoli. Put those out, plus a bowl of baby carrots. Everything goes together, sauce goes on noodles and/or broccoli, extra sauce is for dipping carrots into. VERY easy to make, and everyone is happy.

Personally, I try to make such easy suppers that I don't mind a little cleaning up afterwards. So I'm happy to wash dishes rather than fill up yet another garbage bag of paper & plastic stuff... keep that stuff out of the landfills as much as possible. (Then on Shabbos I do sometimes use disposables - it's all a compromise and everyone needs to do what works for them.)
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mumoo




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 9:08 pm
there is some comfort in seeing that I'm not the only one-

I wish I did get satisfaction out of cooking
I know its a huge mitzvah to feed hungry Jews, I know its like giving of myself, my love to my family
and I still dread dinnertime

dd 9 years old, make the bag lunches for everyone in the morning, b"H
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TzenaRena




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 27 2006, 9:44 pm
Meals have evolved from patchke as a newlywed, to very basic at this point. My husband and kids are more interested in having something to eat now, than waiting around for my patchkerei to be finished.

Appreciation is when no one is still hungry when the food is all gone, or saying they don't like what I made. Then I know I've done my job well. And when the poor hungry souls are full, they do thank me. Very Happy

for my dh, the prescription is "familiar". I learned long ago that it's no use trying to disguise any of his unfavorite foods, and doesn't pay to experiment. So I get away with it big-time, by serving what I know he likes, over and over and over. Chicken and rice, or chicken and potatoes, or chicken and farfel, some steamed vegetables, sometimes soup, get the idea. As long as it's fresh, everyone's happy, and no one complains about my unexotic menu.

for a change we can have split pea soup, a favorite, and fish, with baked potatoes, or spaghetti. Sometimes the kids will want milchigs, grilled cheese sandwiches, but my husband doesn't call that food. so for him, I'll serve some leftover chicken if I'm lucky to have it.
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preggymama




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 6:25 am
TzenaRena wrote:
Meals have evolved from patchke as a newlywed, to very basic at this point.


Im a newlywed and I never did that whole fancy meal thing. My problem is I dont know what to make. I just keep making the same few thing over and over again. Also, Im an awful cook and need to follow exact recipes.
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miriam




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 6:38 am
I was thinking about this thread today. I don't have the same issue with dinner but with cleaning the kitchen, Baruch Hashem, I have a nice size kitchen. I can spend hours cleaning it and less than 24 hours later it's back to being a BIG MESS.
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TzenaRena




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 6:43 am
preggymama wrote:
Im a newlywed and I never did that whole fancy meal thing. My problem is I dont know what to make. I just keep making the same few thing over and over again. Also, Im an awful cook and need to follow exact recipes.


You're not an awful cook, you're inexperienced. As I was. I learned by following exact recipes, and then was able to adapt. That's still how I do it.

That was why that first year, or two of patchkering was good, because I became familiar with basic cooking of all the different categories of food. So I had a few recipes up my sleeve for all occasions. And I can cut through the frills and adapt many recipes to be basic.

Exotic ingredients are unfriendly. I don't need to spend an hour and a half on something that will taste good if done in half an hour.
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DefyGravity




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 6:48 am
When I make dinner I generally made enough so we can eat it for at least two nights.

I generally make a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and a large package of chicken cutlets. This week I made a pot of pea soup and oven baked schnitzel. Lasted two nights.

We mainly eat some type of chicken and soup for dinner during the week, it's easy, a lot can be done with chicken, and there are tons of easy soups you can make.
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gryp




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 6:52 am
I also found I was making the same things again and again so I made a list of all the different dinners I know how to make and stuck it up on my fridge. Now when I'm not sure what to have for dinner I just look at the list and choose what I'm in the mood of doing/eating.


Does anyone know a recipe for tomato soup?
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chocolate moose




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 7:04 am
Cheapskate Tomato Soup
Quick and easy! Gleaned from one of the cheapskate magazines . . .
6 oz. tomato paste in can
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. celery seed
24 oz. milk - refill tomato paste can four times
Put tomato sauce in small saucepan. Add milk, salt, celery salt. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Of course, you can double or quadruple the recipe, depending on how much tomato paste you have . . . and people to serve.
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gryp




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 7:21 am
Thanx CM.
what is celery seed? embarrassed embarrassed
and I always make my soups fleishig. Confused
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chocolate moose




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 28 2006, 7:34 am
celery salt is a spice...why should your soups always be fleishigs?

most of ours are pareve, actually.
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