(no subject)

[the_rck]

I rescheduled my colonoscopy. Unfortunately, all they had in May was the day after Mother’s Day. That’ll make another family holiday that I miss for health stuff. I’m starting to feel like I’m never going to get back to normal stuff.

I’m very tired. I’m not sure how much of that is disrupted sleep and how much is stress and how much is the fact that I took an Ativan this morning. Ativan doesn’t usually make me tired, but that may be because, normally, when I take it, I’m pretty thoroughly keyed up and spend most of my time in stressful situations.

I very much want to indulge in some retail therapy, but that would be hugely unwise under current circumstances. Even the DVDs on my I-want-to-buy-this list won’t work because Cordelia, without looking at even the titles/covers, has declared that she will never watch any of them. If she were willing, I could arguably justify it.

I’m a little annoyed with Scott. He bought another pork loin. I’m sure he saved a ton of money, and it is nice to get some variety from chicken, but… The dratted things take more than two hours to cook through which means getting them in the oven no later than 5:00 if there’s going to be any chance of me being able to eat that night or cooking it one night and starting to eat it the next night. He wants to put the thing in after he showers, so after 7:00, and then gets hugely cranky when he realizes that that won’t work. He also won’t clean the rack that we use for the stupid things. He doesn’t seem to notice that the rack needs to be cleaned (I just pulled out the rack. I did not clean it or put it away last time. Someone else put it away without cleaning it. I have one suspect).

At any rate, I put the pork loin in the oven. Scott’s going to sulk over whatever plans he had for seasoning it and how I didn’t bother with seasoning at all. The stupid thing is still not going to be done in time for me to eat it tonight, so I have to make something else, too. It’s just that Scott will be coming off a twelve hour shift tomorrow and that we have to eat very early on Wednesday and Thursday.

And Thursday… It’s entirely likely that we’ll have Muslim guests. I have no idea what I’ll serve for dinner. Leftovers are obviously out, but Scott didn’t buy anything useful. The guests are ages 10 and 12, so I don’t need anything spectacular. I just would like to do better than mac ’n’ cheese (although, I know from past experience that they will actually eat that).

Comments

[maramcreates]

I swear, people who aren't in the cooking and subsequent cleaning trenches need to chill out and help out or accept what gets plopped in front of them. I'm the one that usually shops and cooks for my partner, her mom, and myself, and it drives me up the wall when I come home and find that her mom has decided that the carrots in the fridge need eating up, and so she's picked up potatoes, meat, and peas so that we can have Shepherds Pie. The carrots cost us $2 tops, and I can cook the carrots without any of that other stuff in far less time and much less effort. And, the worst that will happen is that we toss out the carrots. Luckily, she is really great about cleaning.

I sometimes go the pork loin route too, but only if I've got lots of time. When I don't, I slice off a few 'steaks' and just pan grill them (they're basically chops at that point). I know that pork tenderloin is a bit more per pound, but it cooks very fast and is easier to season once you cut off the silverskin (oil, salt, pepper, hot iron skillet, sear, cook til 165F, or til pink and slice up and toss back in for a few mins). A pork tenderloin takes me about 15 minutes, and is still cheaper than skinless boneless chicken breast.

[the_rck]

Well, it's complicated around here. Scott does 100% of the shopping, and between March and December of 2015, he did almost all of the cooking because I couldn't. I'm trying to pick it back up again, but I'm out of the habit, and I'm still not always up to it.

Scott is an ambitious cook who never has enough time for what he planned.

I'm... Well, my stamina sucks. I have time, but I can't spend much of it on cooking all at once. I put things in a pan and shove that in the oven, or I dump things in the crock pot and set it going. I don't chop or slice stuff. I may brine stuff, but I rarely do anything more than that and/or pouring a bottle of something over the top of what I'm baking. I can manage a meatloaf. I can sometimes manage browning ground turkey and adding Alfredo sauce, but someone else has to make the pasta if we're going to have that.

[maramcreates]

Ah! I see. That would make things really difficult :(, I'm sorry.

I'm actually the shopper-cook for a similar reason (partner's energy and pain, which you already know about), and her mom's difficulty with planning and executing such things (it also doesn't help that I've had enough of other people deciding what I'll be eating every day--been there done that, and I'd rather gnaw my arm off).

[lunabee34]

do you have a slow cooker? That's an easy way to cook that cut.

[desdemonaspace]

This post made me think of being married. It's nice, but couples are rarely on the same wavelength re: shopping and meal plans.

Your Muslim guests won't eat port, will they? Chicken's a safe bet. (I briefly dated a Muslim who wasn't very observant, and the only time he ate port in his life was by mistake, at a potluck. He was revolted.)

[the_rck]

These kids come from a family that's fairly observant but not particularly conservative. They're careful about their diet. I know the kids go to religious school on Saturdays and that their mother teaches it. I am definitely not serving them pork. Our cleaning lady is Muslim, and I try to make sure that she never has to deal with the remnants of anything pork related we've had in the house.

[desdemonaspace]

That's awfully good of you not to put them through that.

And I cannot believe I spelled pork "port." I think I need new glasses.

[marishna.livejournal.com]

Crock pots are awwweeesssome for stuff like the pork loin. Won't help you now, of course, but if you don't have one it's a great way to get your meals cooked with very little effort. I made a potato scallop last night and mom started it cooking at lunch time. By 6pm on slow it was fully cooked and we didn't have to worry about it at all. You could even set up a breakfast dish to cook overnight and be able to have enough for a few morning meals!

[the_rck]

We have a crockpot, but it's difficult for me to use, both because I forget about it and because it's quite heavy. Moving it to somewhere where I can safely use it is challenging. I can do it if I move it in pieces, but I never want to do that. Our kitchen is tiny, so we can't store it in a place where we can use it.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

It amazes me how long certain things have to cook. It's because of that fact, that we've also had to change dinner plans depending on the day of the week.

Good luck hosting dinner on Thursday.

[the_rck]

Thank you.