Kitchen Karma

I have conquered my kitchen.  Like everyone else, I’ve had those days where I’ve opened the refrigerator, grabbed an armful of food, and put it directly into the green bin. I hate those days. But sometimes they happen.  Like when we closed the cottage for the season, and both perishable and non-perishable items came home, creating duplicates or triplicates of what I already had. First I lamented the fact that space was at a premium, then I got creative.

I discovered that salads and tacos are a great way to get rid of small quantities of food. Soup too.  Most important is to be aware of what you’ve got.  Typically, this means that someone, and I do mean one person, has to know what is going into and out of the fridge and pantry, and do some planning. 

I have also discovered that paying attention to schedules and my own energy level makes it easier to manage meals. For example, I’m much more likely to plan and prepare a meal from scratch from Sunday to Wednesday.  I just feel like it. Thursday and Friday are for leftovers, or the forbidden, frozen foods that I can just heat and serve in a jiffy. This is particularly significant for me, because Thursday tends to be a busy day in our household.  There is always a lot of homework and we have an evening commitment. It just isn’t feasible for me to create a culinary masterpiece – or do the requisite clean up.

Saturday is the best day. That’s the day that I’ve relinquished control of the evening meal to my husband. He looks after everything from choosing what to make, getting the groceries, setting the table and cooking.  Clean-up is more of a family affair. It only seems fair.