For years I took my little children to the grocery with me. Back when they were more portable and less prone to asking for things, I brought them along to Aldi and loaded up the shopping cart. I carefully followed my list and tallied the subtotal in my head. This was back in the day before the ubiquitous Debit card, and Aldi doesn’t take checks or credit cards. We used to be able to purchase groceries for a week for a family of four for 75 dollars. Wow! Anyway, loading up the cart, and then the trunk, and then unloading it into the house and kitchen, the refrain repeated in my head: Food for my family. I think the effort it took, lots of lifting, lots of straining and twisting and hefting and so on, brought to mind how much harder folks had to work to provide for their families even a few years ago.
The work I have to do to bring home food for my family involves writing out a menu, a list, turning a key in the ignition, pushing a cart and saying ‘no’ to tagalongs.
My occasional foray into harder food prep also makes me appreciate the ease with which I nourish the people in my house. (Refer to Fish, Dear Readers, for a discussion on fish-gutting.) How wonderful it is to have refrigeration, and water that comes right into my kitchen. The working appliances and gadgets also make my life so much easier.
When we push away from the table, I like looking around at the empty or semi-empty plates. Another meal in the books. Another few hours of energy for us to do what we need to do. I feel a great sense of satisfaction when my meal has included a variety of items prepared by my own hands. I like being the one who cooks food for my family.
Whats4dinner? 