05/21/2022
Lynn Murphy Mark
A toddler’s dinner
For the last two weeks I have been fixing three meals a day for Jan and me. Needless to say, this is a huge departure from our usual habit of fixing stuff for ourselves and eating at different times during the day. Sometimes it’s only two meals a day – probably a healthy fasting habit if done on a regular basis.
The only other time I have been in the kitchen so much was last year when Minnie dog was so sick. I would fix her chicken breast, rice, and carrots, the only thing she would agree to eat. I fixed so much of it that Jan pointed out that I had not spent this much time cooking for someone else in our 16 years together. Well, unless you are a guest, or an ill person or a dog, around here it’s every woman for herself. Jan and I have very different food preferences so It suits us to cook separately. This is one of the quirks of our marriage.
Our wonderful friend, Katie, lives by herself. That does not stop her from fixing fabulous meals for her enjoyment. Tuscan chicken, soups and chilis, cookies and other desserts – all in her menu planning routine. I admire that so much, but not enough to emulate her. I just like hearing what her menu is for the day. Our other wonderful friends, Sister Rose and Sister Mary, are diligent about planning out nourishing meals that include the major food groups in the form of meat, starch of some kind, and a vegetable. Since they cook a lot of fresh veggies they are often out grocery shopping. They sort of share cooking duties, although Mary is really the one most often in the kitchen. Rose is happy to sit back and enjoy the meals.
So the new words for the day at our house are, “What would you like for….” whatever meal is next. At first, Jan’s appetite was not good at all, so her choices were limited to what sounded good to her at the time. No real cooking was required during the day, but I tried to fix a balanced meal for dinner. Protein, a starch, a vegetable. Simple fare indeed. As she gets better and stronger, her appetite is coming back. Oh Oh. This requires some more complicated planning and fixing.
Last night she only wanted chicken noodle soup and crackers. I opened a can of Campbells Chicken and Stars soup and heated it. No problem. I was not hungry at the time so I didn’t think to fix myself anything, but I did sit with Jan while she ate. As soon as she finished, I set her up on the computer for a Zoom meeting and went to turn on the baseball game.
Not long into the game I thought I would have my dessert – a sensible portion of chocolate ice cream. I forgot that I had not eaten dinner, but I strongly believed I was entitled to dessert. Isn’t there a saying, “Life is short – eat dessert first!”? Halfway through the ice cream it dawned on me that I had not eaten dinner yet. I was delighted with myself and happily finished dessert.
But, what about dinner? A bag of Skinny Pop popcorn and a Coke Zero filled the bill. And I’m not even embarrassed to report myself to the nutrition police.
I treated myself as if I were a picky toddler refusing to eat anything green or orange. I remember when Cameron was a baby and he liked broccoli until the day came that he treated it like public enemy number one. I remember when my own kids were little and I was pleading with them to eat their vegetables. I remember caving on my meal time rules and giving them whatever they would agree to eat, just to get something in their tummies. Chocolate ice cream and popcorn – an overgrown toddler’s perfect meal!