I know that most of you are thinking right now…what she can’t cook? Of course I can cook! I kick ass cooking or baking, just ask any of my daughters friends. No, I’m complaining about menu planning.
I have in my house, a vegetarian, a carnivore, a very picky autistic kid, and me who will take what she can get. Do you have any idea how hard it is to plan meals on a tight budget when no one will eat the same things! I usually end up making way more food than I need to because I’m trying to make sure that everyone is getting the nutritional intake that they need for their respective lifestyles. My husband sticks to meaty kind of meals because his job is very demanding physically and he needs it. My daughter is a teenager that is active in sports and a vegetarian…hello you need more calories than lettuce gives!! Then there is my son who is just a non stop cracker and milk fiend.How do I make sure they stay healthy?
I grew up with meat, potatoes, vegetable and if you were still hungry there was bread and jelly. Now I’m cooking vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian, etc, etc,,, You name it I’m trying to cook it. I love the different types of food but liking doesn’t make it all fit. Unfortunately some diets cancel out others. Like a lot of the vegetarian meat substitutes are made from gluten. Well that doesn’t work with a gluten free diet. Then there is the Indian food which is very vegetarian and yummy but it is very spicy and that is not good for me. My body doesn’t really like spicy. I like the taste just not the effect.
I’m getting to the point where I feel like a restaurant every night. And the cost! Holy Crap-a-moley some of this stuff is insanely expensive. I live in rural Montana! This is not the land of variety shopping especially for the specialized diets!
I don’t even want to cook any more. I’m losing my enthusiasm for new recipes and experimenting. Can someone just magically whack my family with a dinner wand and everyone will eat what I make?!?!?! PLEASE!
adriana pridemore 