You are not going to believe this. I repeat…. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS. My husband cooked dinner this past week not once, not twice, not 3 times but 4 TIMES!!!! Sweet mother of all good things in this world, my days in the kitchen may just be numbered.
HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE? Seriously, it’s like I’m walking around in a dream or something. My husband? He can cook? You mean he’s been faking it for the last 25 years?
Pork chops with a homemade topping
The HH: “What do you mean we don’t have Shake n Bake? Do we at least have bread crumbs? I need to go to the store.”
Mavis: “No you don’t. We have these things called CRACKERS…. you but them in a baggie and SMASH them up.”
The HH: “Well then what!?”
Mavis: “You throw spices in the bag and mix it all together.”
And on and on it goes. Some days I feel like we are in an episode of the Seinfeld show and the HH and I are playing the roles of George Costanza’s parents.
He also made a delicious green bean and bacon salad.
And tomatoes with mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar.
On the fourth night of his cooking extravaganza, I requested chicken with a peach glaze, funky rice and roasted beets. I got a little nervous when I walked by the kitchen and spotted two cans of baked beans on the counter. In the end, he made a pot of rice and chicken simmered in a jar of korma sauce from ALDI.
Not bad husband, not bad. But you know what this means now, right? 🙂 🙂 🙂 {And I know you are totally reading this!} It means CLEARLY you can cook. And you are good at it too and so I totally think you should be making at least HALF of our dinners from now on.
Am I right ladies? I mean we should not let this gift go to waste, right? My husband should take over dinner duties {or at least HALF of them} from here on out. Who’s with me on this?
My efforts in the kitchen we not as impressive this week. In between dyeing wool though I did manage to toss a pizza from ALDI in the oven.
And pick over 12 quarts of blueberries this past week.
And made corned beef in the crock pot. But that was pretty much the end of my meal making for the week. Everything else was pretty much grab and go snacks from the pantry or garden.
We did squeeze a date day in {really a wool buying trip} and tried out a new cafe for breakfast which was fantastic. Eggs Benedict. I don’t know why we don’t ever make it at home. It’s one of my all time favorite breakfast meals.
Maybe I’ll have to put it on my request list. 😉
My husband. Even after all these years, I’m still discovering his hidden talents.
Have a great Monday everyone, and if you can, get someone to make YOU dinner tonight. 😉 It makes cleaning up the dinner dishes so much easier when you’re not the one dirtying them up.
~Mavis
Total Spent in August $207.59
Total Spent in July $276.56 < – $38 Spent on Amish meat and cheese
Total Spent in June $206.47 <- Attempting once a month grocery shopping
Total Spent in May on Groceries $216.50 <- Included a stock up trip to King Arthur Flour
Total Spent in April on Groceries $169.98
Total Spent in March on Groceries $306.75 <– Apartment life, moving across the country and settling into a new house
Total Spent in February on Groceries $259.81 <- Living in an apartment and buying a lot of ready-made meals
Total Spent in January on Groceries $240.15 <– Packing mode and not cooking from scratch as much
Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Mim says
My husband makes great meals also, but our styles are totally different. He follows the recipe EXACTLY, as in, when it says to let the onion simmer about 2 minutes, he sets a timer for 2 minutes. And where I throw in a glug of olive oil when it says 2 tbsp, he measures. Whatever works.
On a totally different subject, Mavis, I owe you if not an apology, then a big serving of humble pie. When you have been talking about mosquitoes, I blithely said “just put on some bug spray and you can ignore them.” Because here in Vermont, we have like 3 who come around me in the garden or down by the pond. And that’s it. So no big deal.
Well, my sister just came back from 4 days in Maine and blew my mind. She said the mosquitoes are epic and anytime you are more than 20 feet from the ocean, you are deluged. Told me the one time she went out to the car without bug spray, her legs and arms were black with the rotten things. And with bug spray, they walked around with visible swarms around their heads.
So now I get what you are saying about trying to work outside. You don’t have mosquitoes. You have MOSQUITOES! Ay yi yi. I would be a basket case.
So apologies for not understanding and seeming glib about the challenge. Hopefully, the old timers will be able to suggest some remedies/strategies.
Meanwhile, I will join you in wishing for an early fall for your sake!
Mavis Butterfield says
EPIC is the word!!! I feel like such a complainer sometimes, but I know I need to get my act together so I can spend more time outside next summer without having to wear jeans and a long sleeved shirt. We’ve found a few things that work, but I think the big thing will be getting rid of a lot of the brush this fall.
Deb says
Look into Thermocells…they make a personal sized one (hunters use them). I bought 2 bigger ones for my patio and color me impressed! We could sit outdoors and not spend the time swatting (don’t want to spill my wine!) It’s a butane cartridge that heats a pad of repellant so you’re not directly in contact with harmful chemicals. My son wears a small one on his belt when he goes fishing and NO BITES!! You could wear one when gardening!
Kathy says
Oh I definitely agree on the Thermocells! They are terrific and I feel better not having to spray myself with chemicals.
Rosaleen says
Love the hubby coooking idea, if it works for you. Mine cooked supper in the field as Scoutmaster about 15 years into our marriage. He took our wok and did a cooking demo. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Normally, I pretty much prefer he “cook” only his own breakfast and lunch. We don’t do things alike and he doesn’t appreciate my input. I wash things a lot more, am mindful of cross-contamination, use less butter and oil, fewer paper towels, clean up after myself more, use even vegetable parts more frugally, you name it. Who wants to clean up after someone else? Not I!
Elise in the SF Bay Area says
My husband is the GOOD cook in our family (creative, looks at recipes but never follows them exactly, making improvements in his head). It was seriously intimidating when we first met and were married. It was a good 3-4 years before I was really comfortable cooking a nice meal for him… But I’ve also learned from him 🙂 [15 years now 🙂 ] BUT, he leaves a mess. Sigh. Not a big mess, bit still. It annoys me.
My 12 YO daughter just decided that she wants to make dinner once a week for our family 🙂 I had a friend (male) in HS whose mom worked full time (and the dad did too – mostly), and he and his much younger brother were each responsible for a dinner one night a week (same night, like Tuesday for one and Thursday for the other, for example). My friend would make a “real” dinner (with a cooked meat or vegetarian dish) and his middle school brother would make something – like mac n cheese (from a box) or english muffin pizzas. The rule was an main dish, a veg (if not vegetarian main) and a salad (California living). I’ve been telling this story, and she’s inspired 🙂 She made ham and cheese crepes with sauteed mushrooms for the county fair this summer and came in 2nd of 13 entries (age 9-12, she was almost 12). She’s motivated and excited about it 🙂 We’ve always had them in the kitchen growing up, with stools watching and/or helping. They both have decent knife skills for 9 and 12 years old too (safety first!!).
I’m not a vendor or anything, but we LOVED this “stool” for the kitchen when they were little – it’s not cheap (but could be pretty easily copied, I think). It’s 4 sides really let them be near the counter but not touching anything unsafe as early as 2 years old (probably 18 months for the younger one)
https://www.littlepartners.com/the-original-learning-tower They’re available on Amazon too (same price, but also copy-cats for a little less). We put felt on the bottom so we could easily slide it around. We used it for 5 years!!! (and sold it for $100)
Rebecca in MD says
I agree with you, Mavis. Talents should not be wasted!
Just the other day I suggested to my HH that we implement an every other day schedule to share cooking duties. A girl can dream, right?
Rita says
WTG HH!! The meals you prepared look delish! Keep it up!
Laura says
Was shopping at the local Grocery Outlet on Saturday and guess what I picked up? A pint of Gelato Fiasco Madagascar Vanilla flavor. I remembered how much you said you liked it so I forked over the princely (for GO) sum of 3.49. Haven’t tried it yet, but looking forward to it!
Mavis Butterfield says
The vanilla is just okay {in my opinion} the best ones are the smore’s and their chocolate peanut butter. I think it was $3.99 at Market Basket and $6.99 at our little country store. $3.49 is a great price for that brand.
Kari says
We host minor league baseball players in the summer. Our four players decided on nacho night after the game last night. They did all the shopping and cooking, and they banned me from the kitchen while they cooked. It was fun getting spoiled. I did clean up after, but like you said, dishes are much nicer when you don’t have to cook!
Kay Bonikowsky says
Share your corned beef recipe, please? I know you have it a lot!
Thanks!
Stephanie says
Hurray for your husband!!! Mine will kind of improvise things, but he won’t cook from an actual recipe. He’s more than capable of it, but for whatever reason, he generally won’t, so I’m the one who does the majority of real food cooking. I’ve made my peace with that. 🙂
Marcia says
Oh what he can do when he’s not working 80 hours a week!
As someone else said above – hubby is the same. He mostly cooks from recipes, exactly. I wing it. What that means is that mostly – if it’s his night to cook (he gets off early and picks up the kids), then I either write down something easy for him, or make sure we have leftovers to reheat.
Our meals have been VERY repetitive lately.
Kim says
Good grief, I am so glad I was sitting down when I read your HH had cooked FOUR meals. My hubby says he is going to cook when he retires (4-7 years from now.) I guess after reading your news I will start believing mine. Just think of all the time that frees up for you to pick blueberries, etc.
I believe you said he would be starting a job in the fall. Surely not 80 hours per week like before. Will he still cook then, do you think?
You will have to find him some aprons. Tee-hee.
Mary3M says
Don’t get too used to it. When he starts working again in the Fall – working from home – he will be working and will not be able to stop to help you with projects or things during work hours. Before I retired I was working at home 3-4 days a week and my husband was amazing about letting me work. he has never cooked in over 35 years and I am fine with that. Now that he is sick I realized how much he did – errands, post office,dry cleaners, gas, car servicing – all the little things that you take for granted. And the little romantic things – like clearing off my car with the snow before I had to leave for work. Not roses but romantic in its own way. So enjoy him doing your projects while he can. As to mosquitoes – they are AWFUL this year. I can’t walk to the mail box without getting bitten up – and I am allergic to most of the bug sprays so it’s a nightmare. Benadryl spray and gel help as does cotrisone cream. Welts and buzzing around- awful!!!!!
Gina says
Beautiful blueberries!
Mavis Butterfield says
Tasty too!
Shirley says
My husband: we need spaghetti sauce and why do we have so many cans of puréed tomatoes?
Moi: we don’t need the sauce, just open a can of tomatoes, add some of that Italian seasoning you buy and simmer it while the spaghetti cooks.
My husband: brain exploded
Deborah says
My husband cooks most nights. He is a better cook than I am. But then again, he’s been cooking since he was about 10. The only thing is, he doesn’t put seasonings in anything. Not even mashed potatoes. LOL He does make a mean baked potato in the microwave. When he retired in 2007, I retired from doing all the cooking.
Tracy says
Perhaps you could build/install a number of bat houses on your property? They eat almost their full body weight in mosquitos every night. Beware bug spray….it’s pure cancer-in-a-can.
Mavis Butterfield says
We have a ton of bats! I’ll have to add bat house to our winter project list! Great idea.
Lissa says
Totally off topic, but I’m hanging here with the golden-doodle–do you happen to remember the name of Lucy’s car seat? I need to quit procrastinating and buy one for Winston
Mavis Butterfield says
K&H Pet Products Bucket Booster Pet Seat
Linda Sand says
The only way housewives get to retire is if hubby takes over when he retires. My husband now does the shopping and cooking and dishes but we hire out the housecleaning. Ah, retirement.
Jennifer says
LOL Maybe he was getting sick of the lack of cooking so he took matters into his own hands. But hey – it should be a team effort. Just yesterday my husband did the same thing. Our first day back to school and I had open house from 4-6. He was home at 3:30 and while I had told him where I was going to be – he clearly did not listen or remember. When I checked my phone after open house there were several calls, and several texts wondering where I was and when I would be home. Finally at 6 there was a text saying “I am just going to make L*** and I dinner.” So he gave up on me and cooked himself. We won’t mention how making ME dinner wasn’t even a thought in his head – just him and my son. MEN! I am trying to laugh more at their quirks in an effort to not get irritated.
Mel says
My husband can cook quite well, but it’s usually easier for me to do it based on our schedules and other chores. He’ll also sometimes grill a main course while I make sides. I have noticed that I get out of practice if I don’t cook pretty regularly though. In the late winter and early spring, after we’ve lived off freezer meals for a few months, it takes me some time to get back into the swing of things. It’s odd because I still cook side dishes and holiday meals, bake bread and desserts, etc. when we eat freezer meals, but apparently cooking whole meals nightly is something I have to do regularly to stay in practice.
Angela says
Can you please share the green bean salad recipe that your hubby used? Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
I will as soon as I get it written up.