If we’re not willing to settle for junk living, we certainly shouldn’t settle for junk food.
~Sally Edwards
We’re a busy family, but what family isn’t? My husband and I both work full-time outside of the home. Our two daughters are involved in softball, golf, basketball, theater, orchestra and church activities in addition to their schooling. They both volunteer with animals and missions and enjoy fun hobbies like swimming, running and reading.
But we’ve always strived to have dinner together. Unfortunately, that dinner was often called something like “Number Three Value Meal” and was eaten from a paper bag in front of the television as we all collapsed from our busy days. As much as I wanted to cook dinner for my family, I knew that I wouldn’t have time, or I’d spend a great deal of energy making something that would not be pleasing to everyone.
“I’ve got an idea,” I announced one Saturday as I sat down to make out our weekly grocery list. “What if each of you — even Daddy — took one day to fix dinner? Anything you want. You tell me what day you want and what you want to fix, and I’ll make sure that we have all the groceries you need.”
My ever-supportive husband jumped right in and said he’d take Friday nights. This week, he’d fix sausage casserole, his favorite meal.
Our daughters were a bit more reluctant. My older daughter voiced her concerns first. “You are sure we can fix anything we want?”
I nodded my head.
“Anything at all?” her sister clarified.
“Anything at all.”
“Even blue waffles?” my older daughter asked. Blue waffles? I wasn’t sure that I had even heard of blue waffles. “I guess,” I said tentatively.
“I’m in,” my older daughter agreed. “And this week, I want to make blue waffles, fried chicken and scrambled eggs.”
I nodded and wrote down her menu.
The night before she was to cook, my husband asked me, “What are blue waffles?” Honestly, I had no idea what blue waffles were, but I was willing to let my daughter make them in order for us to gain more quality family time and to give myself a break from the kitchen.
When her day to cook dinner arrived, my older daughter asked me if I had a recipe for blue waffles. I confessed that I didn’t even know what blue waffles were.
“They are just waffles that are blue,” she answered. I handed her the waffle recipe and the blue food coloring.
Since that meal, our daughters have turned out some mighty delicious pans of enchiladas, a great Italian quiche, homemade pizza and an awesome grilled steak salad. I did nix the pepperoni and oatmeal casserole — we’re not that adventuresome!
More importantly, we have a great time gathering as a family in the kitchen to assist the cook of the night, and we have come to appreciate being together at mealtime.
I’m no longer stressed about providing a good meal every night, our daughters are contributing to our household, and they’re learning some delicious culinary skills.
We all sit down together at the table to talk to each other about our days, and we’ve all learned to appreciate the effort it takes to put together a meal. We’ve also learned to appreciate blue waffles — they’ve become a staple in our meal rotation.
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