Monday, January 07, 2008

Another Confession

I don't make a big Sunday dinner. I feel a little guilty about this but right now it just doesn't work for us, for me actually. Our church goes from 9:30-12:30 and when we come home we do a quick lunch and then mandatory quiet time/nap time. At this point in life that Sunday rest is more important to my sanity and spirituality than anything else. I make dinner most every other night of the week and we usually eat together, as long as traffic or work doesn't delay Eric's arrival. I know I could plan slow cooker meals for Sundays, once in a while I do. And I know that when this stage of our life is over I'll get into making a big meal for us to sit down and eat together. But I'd like to start sleeping through the night on a regular basis first.

Yesterday Eric said that maybe he should be planning and making Sunday dinner. I mentioned the shopping part and to which he replied "that would be impossible." I would be happy to hand over the dinner reigns to him any night of the week. With more practice I'm sure he could make some fabulous meals. Anyone who can read house plans should be able to construct a meal, right? As of now, Eric's cooking skills aren't very honed. A few Sundays ago he was craving his speciality, a soup that I'll call "Russian Missionary Scrounge Soup." It isn't bad, actually. Broth with lots of lemon pepper, corn, potatoes, pasta, carrots, onions. He craves it on cold days even though it is never as cold here as it was in Russia. His other speciality is onions and potatoes fried up in a pan, eaten with A1. Not exactly family friendly.

My dad had his specialities too. Hamburgers with or without buns were a favorite. I can remember standing by the bread board where he would make the patties, watching him criss-cross them with the side of a spatula and then sprinkle lots of Lawry's on them. Grilled cheese and open faced tuna melts were others I recall. What others Sommer kids?

6 comments:

K. Laura said...

I love your confession Paige. Fancy dinners aren't all that--especially when you are sleep deprived. Matt and I used to have a ritual every Sunday in Vegas. We'd come home (after the 9:00 schedule), put the kids down for a nap and then enjoy chips and salsa, and then enjoy our own naps. We did it every Sunday for a year. It was great. I think our "dinner" was more of a supper that year since we had already filled up on the chips and salsa.

Lark said...

Chicken pot pies and tomato soup with the grilled cheese sandwiches. Also, In-n-out. I think that completes the list for Dad's menu. I enjoyed watching him make hamburger patties too. We don't do big sunday dinners either. I have similar feelings as you do, guilty, but not guilty feeling enough to change right now. I will when the kids are older.

Torrie said...

Some one from church just told me that we aren't to make a big fuss over Sunday dinners any more, because the church leaders want us to be resting and having time with our families.
Around here I threw out the idea of big deal dinners a few months ago. No one really appreciates them, and I don't like doing all the clean up. So now we come home from church, have some form of cheesy lunch {grilled cheese, nachos, mac n cheese} then I go lay down for my 'every sunday mom takes a nap- don't make too much noise, or she'll come down stairs screaming' rest and all is well in the Barnes household till the next Sunday.
After my nap, we have appitizers for dinner. Call it what you want, but calling it leftovers in my house DID NOT GO WELL! So we call them poo poos like they do in hawaii. I know that's not the right spelling, but if you read my blog you'll see that i know i can't spell... any how, we pull all the leftovers out of the fridge, zap them in the microwave and call it a day! the fridge gets ready for cleaning and Costco on monday and there is very little work involved. Try it! It might work for you too!
No guilt! That's the goal!
Everyone gets fed, no one goes starving {by your choice} so relax and enjoy not cooking for one day!

Anonymous said...

you kill me Torrie, what a funny chick, haha...
My Dad used to have quite the menu too. He could make pancakes with all sorts of weird additions (corn,potatoes..ew..I still hate thinking about it.) but our favorite was the burger joint across the street from In-n-out in Pomona- the $.19 burger stand..haha..I think it was up to $.25 by the time we moved away. He drive up and order like 20 of them and we'd eat like kings.
I think Sunday meals are nice- if Im not doing all of the work. So I like you will wait til we can do that cool family thing where everyone helps clear the table- after they've all helped make it- and we can stand at the kitchen sink washing dishes and having some kind of mormon-ad like moments when we discuss memories, the gospel and our love for one another. oh and we will all look perfect in our old age too. WE can all dream right?? :)

curly girl said...

Now that we have church from 1-4, there is some sort of hope that I might feed my family some dinner on Sundays again, since I'll have the morning to throw something in the crock pot or do the prep so it's easy when we get home. Or, maybe I'll continue having "cheesy dinner" a la Torrie and making lots of popcorn in the evening and calling it a day! I somehow usually manage to make cookies or something else I shouldn't on Sundays, too. Sundays are highly nutritious around here.

As for my own dad's specialties, let's see...Nalley's Chili and Hot Dogs, pancakes with various (big and soggy) fruit chunks in them, and once after I'd had oral surgery, he mashed up graham crackers in a glass of water and made me eat it! I'm still recovering from that one.

Fun topic, I mean, "confession," Paige! (Cue the Michael McLean music..."You're Not Alone")

Marc said...

Mmmmm, A1 and potatoes...must be my brother!