Back in the Kitchen Again

Yep, I had a brief absence from the kitchen again. We have been incredibly busy lately and I've been relying on Steve to do most of the cooking.  This isn't fair to him.  Steve is a fantastic cook.  He works just as hard as I do and deserves to have a break from the cooking too.  As many of you know, I make a weekly menu.  In addition to planning out our meals, I've started assigning who will be cooking each meal.  This keeps me accountable and puts me back in the kitchen.  My return to the kitchen was on Valentine's Day.  That was my gift to Steve.  He had been cooking practically every meal for a month.  He deserved a home-cooked meal that he didn't have to make.  For Valentine's Day I made Buffalo Baked Chicken from my Rachael Ray cookbook.  We also had corn, green beans, peaches and a lettuce salad.  For dessert, I made white chip brownies.  The chicken is good but needs a little tweaking.  The brownies were terrific.  It felt good to be back in the kitchen.  I had convinced myself that I was too exhausted and stressed out to cook in the evenings.  While it's true that I was a little tired on Valentine's Day, cooking seemed to energize me even before we sat down to eat.  Tonight was my turn to cook again.  I made spaghetti with green beans, apple sauce (Grandma's homemade!) and a lettuce salad.  It felt great to be back in the kitchen again even though I merely browned hamburger and cooked pasta.  Everything else I opened from a can or a jar.  And you know what?  That was ok with me.  I was still back in the kitchen preparing a meal for us.  While clearing the table, I had a genius idea to pack my lunch for tomorrow.  Usually I throw it together in the morning... if I have time.  I'm also making granola to go with my breakfast tomorrow.  No more plain yogurt for me.  I'm going back to adding in granola and fruit.  I'm hoping that by having a healthy breakfast and being back in the kitchen, I will feel a little bit more in control of my life.  It has been rather hectic around here and I haven't enjoyed that at all.