A little over three years ago we decided to move down to Charlotte. I was not too thrilled about the move back then, but one of The Hubs major selling points was that by moving South we could afford a bigger house. Although a small positive in a sea of negatives (as I felt they were at the time) I have to admit the idea of having a spacious house got me a little excited. Our move pretty much coincided with my decision to eat a whole foods diet that involved cooking about 95% of my meals and so these days it doesn't matter how much space we have in our house. Because I live in one room....the bathroom. No! Although I do take my digestion quite seriously and examine it more than is considered "normal" I clearly meant to say the kitchen.
I spend A LOT of time in my kitchen. I wake up at 6:00 in the morning, attempt to do a few sit-ups while my belly laughs at me and screams "Oh, you think throwing a pail of water on a forest fire is going to help...that's cute", and then head downstairs to get as much done as I possibly can before I hear the Peanut calling for me. Usually this means getting breakfast prepared for the kids....Music Man usually gets a grain-free pancake scrambled egg and some sort of breakfast meat. The Peanut gets 1-2 egg yolks, avocado, some sort of veggie pancake I've got left-over and fruit. On the days I'm on my game, most of these items come out of the refrigerator and just need to be re-heated. But sometimes I have to cook from scratch and that requires me to shift into third gear by the time GMA starts.
After breakfast is clean-up and on days my son goes to preschool it's back to the kitchen when I put the Peanut down for her nap. Usually on these days I try to get dinner all done. I aim for slow-cooker meals, or dishes that taste pretty good heated up. Back to the kitchen again for lunch time and then during afternoon nap time (or "quiet time" depending on which way the wind blows that day for Music Man) I finish up dinner or try to cook something that can be frozen/stored for later...pancakes, chopping veggies for tomorrow's dinner, roasting potatoes. On the days I have both kids at home, I turn to my best bud Mickey Mouse (or Daniel Tiger) during the Peanut's nap so I can have a few minutes to assemble dinner.
Most days I don't have time to actually cook dinner at dinnertime. The 5:00 hour is a delicate balancing act of trying to get the kids into dinner and bedtime mode and while also not pulling out every hair on my head or kicking a hole in my wall. It's also a time of day when anyone's mood (my son's...daughter's...mine) can totally shift the energy in the house and we can go from having a pleasant conclusion to the day to a "dear God I think the clock is broken" type of evening. The Hubs isn't usually around during the week at this time so I've only got two hands and they usually can't be occupied prepping dinner.
Once the kids are in bed, back into the kitchen to clean up all the mess and depending on my energy I do some more prepping or cooking for the following days.
Even though I don't enjoy much of my nice house, I do love my very spacious kitchen. When and if we move again, I think I'll shoot for a smaller house but with a bigger kitchen. I figure I'll just move a bed and a TV in there...
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