The Hardest Dinner to Cook...

I usually plan my dinners out a month in advance. Nutty, and doesn't always take advantage of the weekly sales at grocery stores, but it saves me a huge headache and that pit in my gut when I wonder, "what are we having for dinner tonight" followed by "that sounds good, but we don't have _____ " (fill in the blank).

I have a different problem today.

I am not hungry. The thought of food is fine. The scent of food is fine. The thought of putting food in my mouth is fine. The thought of swallowing terrifies me. It still hurts.

So, when I look at my menu this week:

Sunday: Carrot Pesto- dish intensive (it takes the Cuisinart, a large pot, two mixing bowels, lots of spoons, and the 9x13 pan; that takes up a LOT of space in my kitchen that has a counterspace of only 18in x 18 in)

Monday: Stuffed Shells- again, a little on the labor intensive side, and definitely more time consuming (it seems like it takes an eternity for those shells to boil!)

Tuesday: Zucchini Quesadillas- requires the Cuisinart food processer, a skillet and a grill. 'Nough said

Wednesday: Yogurt Parmesan Chicken- again, a little more than plopping chicken in the pan (I did this in honor of my sister-in-law's birthday, I believe it's one of her favorite dishes?), and I always have trouble coming up with side dishes for this one

Thursday: Calzones- oh, yeah, this one definitely requires more labor; rolling out each little roll into it's own mini pizza crust, stuffing it with pizza topping goodness, and then folding and sealing it, cutting holes on top. Not hard, but making 30 of these takes a while.

Friday: Chicken Carbonara- homemade rolls, to start with, and then grilled chicken, lots of things to cut, chop, slice and then assemble.

Not one of these meals is a on-the-table-in-30-minutes. I didn't realize this week was so labor intensive. I also didn't realize I would be looking at this week trying to recover from Strep throat.

I could do leftovers. Travis took the kids out for burgers yesterday (Bless him! I ate 1/4 of the blizzard he brought me back. YUM, but couldn't eat much, and that's SAYING something if you know me and I also tell you it was a "chocoholic blizzard"). But, that still leaves me with quite a few days of work.

So, do I slog on through and make what's on the menu? or try to come up with a back-up? Maybe I'll look at next weeks menu:

Spaghetti, Kottenstette Quiche (5 min prep, 60 min bake), Eggs Benedict, Meatballs & Rice (I have frozen meatballs), Frittata.

WHAT!?!? Those are like some of my fastest (or at least minimally involved) dinners. I think the one that takes the most work is the Eggs Benedict because I have to be right there while I microwave Hollandaise sauce and that takes maybe 5 min tops.

Hmmm, I'm thinking I need to rearrange my menu. Not only do I not want to eat anything, but all these foods planned for this week are labor intensive or involved. But, if I decide to cook something not on the menu? Disaster- will I have all the ingredients? Will I want to make what I substitute more than I didn't want to make what was listed. Yes, these have gotten me in to trouble many times. Maybe I'll have Travis cook dinner. I'll just lay on the couch and snooze a little more...

Oh, and Becky, any requests? I haven't yet planned the menu for when you're here...

PS We had frozen pizza for dinner tonight.