Sunday Lunches

Growing up we ate the biggest Sunday lunches ever. My Mommy really outdid herself and it was like a feast!

A typical Sunday lunch would consist of roasted chicken and potatoes, at least 3 types of vegetables (with lots of butter), some savoury rice, a leg of lamb or similar (WITH GRAVY) and there would ALSO be a stew or a curry on the side. There was ALWAYS dessert AND cake or homemade biscuits for the afternoon. It was just the way it was and no one ever questioned it. They just tucked in. Sunday lunches used to be my favourite part of Sundays.

I am not sure if it is a cultural thing or something that only happened in the coloured community but my friends also used to have HUGE Sunday lunches that looked very similar to what I’ve just described.

Fast forward to me now being a Mom and wife and my Sunday lunches look VERY different. I am usually tired on a Sunday and I am not that big on cooking. My DH and kids are not fussy either and I will admit that this has made me lazy. I will admit to serving scrambled eggs on toast for the occasional Sunday lunch. Last week I was also lazy so I did Spagbol. I wouldn’t dare tell my Mom about this because I REALLY don’t think she will be impressed. I will admit to once in a while going all out – when this does happen my DH will usually ask me what’s the occasion.

I usually make ONE dish with vegetables on the side and I do cook triple portions so we can have enough for Sunday AND Monday dinner. I make whatever is in the freezer or whatever I feel like having and occasionally my DH will tell me what he feels like having and then I will make an effort to prepare it for him.  There is no traditional dessert – I do a fruit salad with yoghurt or maybe with Ultra Mel custard. Sometimes I buy a Woollies dessert – our favourite is their Malva pudding. There is no roast with trimmings. There are no buttery vegetables.

In Summer we do a braai for lunch (chicken or fish -always snoek) with salad and rolls on the side..

A big part of me misses eating the way I ate as a kid but it’s also a matter of economics. I simply can’t afford to make so much food for one day and I also don’t want to get fat!

Interestingly enough, my Mother still cooks a lot on a Sunday albeit a MUCH healthier version because my Dad is diabetic and she has issues with cholesterol. They are very mindful of what and how they eat and there ain’t no more buttery vegetables in that house. Dessert is also minimal. Economics now also plays a role and there is none of the leg of lamb and homemade cake and biscuits unless it’s a special occasion or they are entertaining.

I recently asked my Mother why she makes so much food on a Sunday. She told me it’s because she knows that I will pop around with the kids on a Sunday afternoon. Isn’t that sweet? She also said that it’s not wasted because they do have it for Sunday and Monday dinner.

This was my Sunday lunch today: Chicken à la king (one of those packet jobs because I happened to have all the ingredients), rice and lots of oven roasted veg on the side.  I am busy heating some up now for when we have dinner in a bit. I was also inspired by Marcia and have just made these Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oats cookies that she had on her Pinterest board. It was NO BAKE which is right up my alley and you can find the original recipe here.

Have I mentioned that I don’t bake anything except the occasional fridge tart at Christmas time? And did I tell you that I only ever baked ONE cake in my life? I did it when I was 18 and it was to impress a boy! It worked. I married him a few years later…

But, I digress. What did you make for lunch today?

Did you have big Sunday lunches growing up?

What does your average Sunday lunch look like?

A post about food

Lately I have been reading many bucket list-type posts. There are a number of things that I would like to do before I kick the bucket but I don’t actually have my own bucket list written up. Well, not yet.  I recently read this post from Celestine Chua (you really should read her blog – she writes really well)  called 101 things to do before you die. 

I enjoyed reading her list and found points 67 to 69 very interesting – mainly because I have thought along those lines for quite some time now. (best you click on that link and check out points 67, 68 and 69 before reading further)

I have thought a lot about how and what I eat and I recently realised something: I actually don’t need to eat meat the way I thought I needed to.

Maybe because I am making an effort to get my protein allowance from legumes and other sources besides actual meat.

Maybe because I am subtly becoming aware of our environment and how everything I do now is having an impact on all future generations.

Maybe because I am constantly looking for reasonable, sustainable ways to save money AND the environment.

Maybe because (thanks to Hanlie) I am catching on to things like Intuitive Eating and trying to figure what type of foods make me feel good.

Maybe because I am just growing up.

I have considered cutting meat from my diet for a while now but could never really get around to it. My DH has never been keen on the idea so if I do it then it is something that I will have to do alone.  I don’t know if I can cook two sets of meals at night, though I suppose that it can be done if I plan properly.

Whenever I go to restaurants (and even parties) I automatically check out the vegetarian options first – not that I ever order them because it’s not like I make rare fillet at home so obviously I am going to rather pay to eat that.

The past few months while I have been Weigh Lessing the thought has once again crossed my mind.

The problem is that a decision like this will impact my entire family.

My DH is a carnivore of note and both my sons love their meat. The only other person who I know will go for this without question is my Toddler. That one will eat whatever I give him.

I can definitely do without meat but I am from the Cape Flats and therefore I MUST have fish. This is one thing that I cannot compromise on under any circumstances.

I don’t really like eggs (I have maybe one egg a month and I do add it into my food if necessary) and I am lactose intolerant so currently consume very, very little dairy. I don’t do any form of processed meat (except for a bit of shaved ham once every 2 weeks or so) and so these are going to be quite easy adjustments to make.

I LOVE eating beans, and lentils and vegetables and even soya-based products. I love soups and so do my kids. My kids are CRAZY about soya which is a good thing as it is an excellent source of protein. I LOVE pastas but am very aware that I will have to limit my carbohydrate intake or else I will get fat again.

I guess the question that I need to ask myself is whether I can actually fit this into my life. How will I socialise with my carnivore friends and family? Are they going to whine when they need to cook something especially for me? Are people going to stop inviting me for dinner? If they do invite me are they going to serve boring, bland overcooked vegetables? Am I going to have to take my own food along to family functions and weddings?

What are my real intentions for doing this?

I know it’s not to save the poor animals (this is a very, very small part of the reason) so am I shallow enough to admit that one of the main reasons I have considered this is my figure? I guess I have a lot to think about. I don’t hate meat, nor do I love it that much.

Did you know that you get different types of vegetarian?  Some of them consume eggs and dairy, some of them consume fish. The one that I will probably go for (if I do this) is something called a pescetarian lifestyle.  I am certainly NOT going to be giving up fish. Apparently (according to all the serious vegetarians and vegans) this would make me a fake vegetarian. Sorry for them!

Let me know what you think? And let me know if you would invite someone like me to dinner and what you will serve me? I hope it will be fish!

As a treat, I have decided to include some vegetarian recipe blogs that I’ve recently discovered. Check them out and if you try something then let me know how it turned out. PLEASE?

Tania takes her Meat Free Mondays very seriously. Marcia, she cooks just like you – takes a fancy recipe and simplifies it and tweaks it to suit her. Love that! Check on her side bar for Meat-Free Mondays. And she has another food blog where she is adding her MFM  stuff and everything else.

I quite enjoy this blog from Herbivoracious.

And this one from Veggie Belly.

If you know of any good local ones please share them?

 

 

That mehness – I chased her away…

Today I decided to force myself to get out of the Mehness that I felt yesterday and the day before. And wouldn’t you know that I am feeling so much better today?

This is what made me happy today:

1. Waking up after 8 hours of delicious, uninterrupted sleep and actually feeling well-rested.
2. Some early morning quiet time with a decent cup of coffee before waking the kids.
3. Actually sitting down and eating something before getting done and waking the kids. I never ever get to eat until I get to work.
4. Driving to work in silence for a change. We always have the radio blaring.
5. Texting my mother and having her respond with some laugh-a-minute texts.
6. Texting my friend to make an arrangement for Saturday. Her little boy is a bit older than my Toddler and also has speech delays. She is going to give me some tips on exercises that I can do with him (compliments of her boys speech therapist). We are going to visit them this weekend.
7. Actually planning my day properly at work so that I don’t aimlessly move from one task to another. I was most productive today.
8. Going for a walk during lunch time. I haven’t been taking my full lunch hour lately and figured that I am not being paid enough to work through lunch. That stops today. We had a gorgeous day where the sun was warm and walking in the fresh air was just an absolute pleasure.
9. Eating wholesome foods all day. I had dinner leftovers, sweet oranges, lots of water, raisins and a few blocks of chocolate and yes, chocolate is a wholesome food.
10. Coming home and getting straight into the bath and pyjamas while my lovely DH entertained our kids and cooked an excellent curry. Happiness in my mouth.

And now, I am going to read my book for at least 30 minutes after which I will be turning off the lights.

Hope you had as beautiful a Thursday as I had.

x

 

Some stuff about cooking

When I got married I cook not cook at all. I could do a few basics like fry an egg, make burgers, two-minute noodles, fry up some bacon or sausage and that was about it. I blame my mother for this lack of skill. As a child in her house I showed zero interest in cooking and she respected that. I told her that I wish that she had forced the issue because cooking is actually a life skill and if you can’t do it, it will catch up with you at some point. Fortunately she was very helpful when I got married and typed up and filed all the recipes for me – even the most basic things like how to cook rice.

Despite all this help, I just wasn’t feeling the cooking thing. It simply didn’t come naturally to me. I really battled. I had to think long and hard about something. You know you get those chefs/cooks that can smell if the food tastes right?  Those chefs/cooks that just add ingredients with wild abandon and don’t need to measure (like me)?  Those chefs/cooks who eat something at a restaurant or a party and can identify what’s in the dish and then go home and make that exact same dish? Well, I ain’t one of them. Cooking for me was (and still is) like studying. Damn hard work.

Interestingly enough I love to watch people cook. I can spend hours watching the food channel (I could never tire of watching Nigella – check out her site, she posts some of her recipes) and I usually go to the recipes first in any magazine – as if I am actually going to use them. I do tear out the ones that look easy and file them. They all end up being used by my Mother.

For a long time I stuck with the basics and then I slowly started to experiment. My oven was my BFF. As were cook-in sauces. They saved my life in those early days. I am also very lucky that my husband is not too fussy and that he doesn’t/didn’t mind experimenting. He also couldn’t cook when we got married and now it is his most favourite thing in the world.

Last year I was chatting to one of my colleagues, a fabulous woman called Faldiellah. She LOVES cooking and is so passionate about it that you can’t help but want to experiment in the kitchen. She is brilliant at it and it comes totally naturally to her. She is also a vegetarian but cooks animal protein for her husband. She actually makes 2 meals every night. Don’t you think that’s madness?

Anyway. I told her that cooking was like a chore to me and that I didn’t particularly enjoy it. I told her that I found it to be a schlep and that I always took as many shortcuts as I could. I told her that I have no time to peel and chop and all of those things. She responded by telling me something that I will always remember.

She told me that it’s a matter of attitude. She told me that if I change my attitude and see it as something fun and sensual and sensory and creative then I will LOVE it. She also told me that I have sons and that they are going to compare every single woman’s cooking to mine and that I best get my act together so that they don’t feel embarrassed to bring their friends/future girlfriends over for dinner.  She also told me if I don’t sort this issue out now, that my Daughters-in-law are going to gossip about their MIL who is a crap cook. Well. That was just the kick up the bum that I needed.

I consulted my BFF Google and got loads of advice from Faldielah and things just took off.  Nowadays it is something that I enjoy – most of the time. I still feel that it doesn’t come naturally but I am sure that this will happen at some point in my life.  I now make my own stock and cheese sauces and everything. Imagine that? I never buy any of those cook-in products and when I try something new I follow the recipe exactly. After that I can actually manage it on my own and then I usually can adapt it to the way I know my family will like it. I can even contribute to conversations about cooking. I now know what it means to fold and blanche and sauté and all this kind of thing. For everything else Chef Google is always there for me.

I follow a quite a few food blogs. My favourites are the ones with beautiful photo’s, minimal ingredients ( I won’t use more than 7 or 8 ingredients EVER) and well-explained basics. I also love sites that focus on whatever fresh produce is in season and that don’t have weird ingredients that I have to source from China Town or whatever.

I love sites that don’t take it for granted that you know how to caramelise something.  I find the Food24 site to be quite helpful as well as Just Easy Recipes. Perfect for the cook who knows a bit more than the basics but still lacks a bit of confidence.

My current favourite food blog is Real Men Can Cook. I think that a man who can cook well is just HOT. I love his pictures and the way he explains things and I do enjoy his humour – he has that sarcasm thing going on.

My next big food thing is to learn to roast a chicken and to actually invite people for dinner. I never do this. I usually get some stuff from Woollies. Or I have my Mother make the stuff for me and just pass it off as my own. I told my mother that I do this. She just laughed and said that it’s fine and that she understands.

So I am off to google how to roast a chicken and when I eventually do it (it is going to happen this year) I will blog about it – with pictures and everything.

Is cooking your thing? Are you good at it? Do you have any favourite foodie blogs/websites that you want to share?