Still No Cooking

Posted: January 17, 2011 at 8:49 pm

Dare I say that I actually miss cooking? I may have just lost my mind. Me. The chick who doesn’t really care to cook…cannot wait to get in the kitchen for dinner.

We have an incredible support system of friends and family. They are keeping us well stocked with food. Delicious food. As you likely remember, my parents visited for a few days after we came home from the hospital. While they were here they prepared dinner every night.

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Then, last night our friends came over to hang out and have dinner together. Our friends, Ben & Danielle, prepared a dinner of a macaroni casserole with chicken & broccoli along with some salad and cornbread.

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I wished I felt better to spend more time hanging out, but I had a terrible epidural headache. I think it was one of the worst headaches I have ever experienced. I drank two cups of black tea for the caffeine, which apparently helps, and then crashed as soon as possible.

Today, we spent a large chunk of the day at a newborn photo session for baby B.

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I cannot wait to see the photos! From what I could tell, they will be adorable. Don’t worry – I will share the gallery link here when finished in about a week.

Since we spent so much of the afternoon at the photo session, we never had the chance to go to the grocery store. I haven’t been in over a week. That meant we had to dig into the freezer for tonight’s dinner. We opted for Trader Joe’s mandarin orange chicken alongside some canned green beans. Sometimes you have to make due.

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And crazily enough, cooking will wait until Thursday as I have a special dinner planned with my sister tomorrow and we have another meal provided on Wed night.

Question of the Evening – What do you do for dinner when you have basically empty cupboards? Any recipe recommendations for our dinner Thursday?

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69 Comments to “Still No Cooking”
  1. Hallie says:

    Aw, photos! Yay. When I have nothing to eat I usually go with eggs and toast…because we always have that! Back in the “single days” my go-to dinner was yogurt and popcorn, haha, but I don’t particularly recommend that now.

  2. Usually we have pasta or rice in the cupboards so we (hopefully) have cheese and maybe sauce.. so that’s what happens when we are bare!

  3. I’m sure the newborn pics are going to be ADORABLE!

    And I go crazy if I go a few days without cooking… so I can only imagine.

  4. Tiff says:

    Hi, I am a new follower. Congratulations on the new baby 🙂 He is soo adorable.

    When we have absolutely no normal food to eat, we always go for whatever meat is in the freezer, any sort of vegetable we can find and rice(we always keep jasmin and brown rice around) 🙂

  5. Dorry says:

    Glad y’all are being taken care of, but I understand the feeling of wanting to cook myself a meal. My go-to meal is Spanish rice, black beans and an avocado salad on the side.

  6. With empty cupboards, I try to think outside the box. That’s usually when breakfast for dinner comes into play because no matter how empty my kitchen is, there’s usually at least oats or cereal available. Top it with fruit and nut butter and you have a pretty decent ‘dinner.’

  7. When the cupboards are empty, I head to Chipotle 🙂

    Loved the previews of the Baby B pics you shared on FB. So adorable!

  8. Can’t wait to see all the pics – saw the sneak peek on FB. I’m terrible at coming up with stuff when the cabinets are bare.

  9. Can’t wait to see the baby pics. Hope you’re able to have some downtime to let your body heel.

  10. When we have empty cupboards, I cry – haha – if I couldn’t get to the store, we would call someone for take out or something!

    I cannot wait to see the newborn photos of Braedon!

  11. lindsay says:

    I just looked at Baby B’s pics online. So stinkin cute!! I love it. And enjoy those meals. Cooking is just around the corner. 🙂

  12. i saw the sneak peek of the baby pics on facebook – SO CUTE! 🙂 can’t wait to see more!

    when my cabinets are empty, i go grocery shopping! 😉 or i make some kind of grain (i usually have rice, quinoa, or cous cous) and probably frozen veggies. i think i’ve used ketchup or salsa as the sauce in a pinch…. those dinners aren’t usually very delicious!

  13. Melodie says:

    My pantry meal is always burrito bowls. Rice, cans of beans, can of diced tomatoes or salsa and cheese… hopefully I have an avocado laying around too 😉 Top with some plain greek yogurt! My boys love it!

  14. TJ’s Mandarin Orange Chicken is my favorite thing they have there. Thanks for reminding me I have some in the freezer!

    I usually have a variety of frozen veggies on hand so I will throw some in with rice and protein for a filling meal. Either that or BFD, that never fails me.

  15. Jolene says:

    PB&J! 🙂 Or breakfast for dinner. That’s always a goodie 🙂

  16. Jennifer Rahn says:

    I’m in love with your photograph’s pictures. Braedon is gorgeous.

    I’m interested in the epidural headache….this was a week after the fact?

    • Tina says:

      They said it could happen up to a week after. Something with the spinal fluid resettling? Apparently not a big deal as long as it goes away…but heck it hurt!!

      How are you doing?

      • Jennifer Rahn says:

        Yikes. And you were blogging through the headache? You’re a rock star.

        Speaking of which, I LOVE your post today. Reading through everyone’s comments had me choked up. I love that you are so overwhelming loved and supported, because someone of your character and practice of love/kindness deserves to receive it in turn. Thank you for being a model to us all.

        (As for me, I’m hanging in there, trying to check both my excitement and my frustration. The false labor and flu all weekend were no fun, but I’m feeling better today. I would love to meet my son soon, but I’m losing hope that it’ll be before an induction date.)

  17. Stephanie says:

    Can’t wait to see his pictures. 🙂

    I’m terrible at having empty cupboards. I usually resort to oatmeal loaded with chocolate peanut butter. 🙂

  18. That’s so sweet that your friends are keeping you guys’ tummies full – awesome! I hear you though – I know i’d miss cooking, too!

    I can’t wait to see the pictures – love the shot you got of the set-up!

  19. Anna says:

    One of my favorite go to meals in college usually involved sticky rice, eggs and onions and random spices. The less I had the more creative I got 🙂

  20. We always have a ton of stuff saved in the freezer (veggies/meats) so we easily pull those out and make something in the crockpot… canned/dry beans can be thrown in as well!

  21. I have the same plate!
    And I know what you mean… I start to miss cooking after a while.

  22. Aww can’t wait to see the pics from the baby session =)

  23. Ha, I go crazy when I can’t cook too!

    Can’t wait to see the pictures of sweet baby B!!

  24. We always have pasta, sauce, beans and canned/frozen veggies. That keeps us stocked for anything. Oh and I am not above eggs, cereal or oatmeal for dinner.

  25. Sarah says:

    Oooh I can’t wait to see the pictures 🙂 From the pictures you’ve posted, I can already tell Baby B is super adorable! And that macaroni salad looks delicious!

    Typically when I have empty pantries I always have pasta which you can mix with any veggies and protein (chicken, beans, beef, etc) with olive oil seasoned with Italian seasonings for a delicious pasta salad. Or if you don’t have pasta sauce you can always blend a can of tomatoes with Italian seasonings for a quick pasta sauce.

  26. I’m so sorry that you had an epidural headache…I’ve heard that those are those are the worst!

    When we are out of everything or need a quick meal….I’m always one for tacos, pasta, or homemade pizza!

  27. Can not wait to see the newborn pics.

    When I have an essentially empty fridge, I will usually have oatmeal for dinner with some protein powder for an extra punch. I haven’t had to do it in awhile though! 😀

  28. Leashieloo says:

    The TJ’s orange chicken looks awesome, I need to try it!

  29. Aw, how fun getting newborn pics!

    When the cupboards are getting bare… we almost never run completely out of frozen and dried foods, so we could come up with rice or pasta with some type of veggies. I agree with breakfast for dinner as a good option when groceries are getting low.

  30. I just saw the pics on FB! GAH! How cute are they!?!?! 😀

  31. Michelle says:

    Looking forward to seeing the newborn pictures!

    Sorry to hear about the epidural headache – I’ve heard they are bad 🙁

    When the cupboards are bare…I usually order Chinese Food. I can get some healthy stuff (Steamed Chicken and Mix Veggies is my favorite!) and it doesn’t cost an arm or a leg. Or we pick up subs from Publix. Luckily, both places are very close by!

  32. LOVE THE PICTURES!!!! newborns are a really fun age to shoot…such a cute experience 🙂 we usually just end up eating out if there’s nothing there, but i’d totally love your mandarin orange chicken/canned green beans dinner!

  33. Amy says:

    I am excited about the newborn pictures!

    When we’re running low on groceries, I usually stick to things like rice and beans (with salsa + cheese if we have any), pasta, oatmeal or cereal, or eggs (with vegetables or cheese if we have any). Soup is always a good choice, too. If the fridge and cupboards are really bare, delivery or take-out.

  34. Sana says:

    I can’t wait to see the newborn pics!

  35. Heather says:

    Yay! Can’t wait to see the pics of Baby B! My cabinets rarely ever get bare since I’m a bit of a food hoarder, but if I’m having an incredibly hard night making a decision, I usually just throw together a snack type plate: veggies, hummus, a slice of toast, cottage cheese, a little fruit and I’m good to go!

    I’ve been trying to include more fish in my diet that are high in omega 3’s so the first meal idea that comes to mind is something with salmon. My go to dish is grilled with teriyaki sauce, but I saw Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers make a really tasty looking salmon dish using raspberry preserves! Super simple…I can’t wait to try it!

  36. Can’t wait to see all the baby pics… I saw the preview link and they are tooo cute!

  37. Monique says:

    I usually go for soup! 🙂 Good thing it’s winter afterall…. I cannot wait to see these pictures 🙂

  38. can’t wait to see the baby pics!

  39. Kristina says:

    i’ll pull out frozen veggies and make a stir fry of some sort-can’t wait to see those baby pics!

  40. I know the feeling. When I had my hip injury, I couldn’t cook for the first several weeks and I was seriously DYING to get back in the kitchen ( But I do love to cook). Sometimes it’s nice having others bring your meals, but then other times, you just want to be able to prepare what you want!

    I am so excited to see little baby pics!

  41. Lisa says:

    My favorite thing to have in the freezer is brown rice! I get mine from Whole foods and i LOVE it. Put it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and I pair it with whatever i have in the fridge. Grilled Chicken, veggies, anything! =)

  42. That’s a TERRIBLE question! LOL! You don’t want to know the answer…

  43. Heather says:

    What a great support system you have!! We always make egg burritos when we’re low on supplies. They’re our favorite go-to meal.
    Happy Tuesday!

  44. I keep staples on hand for such occasions–pasta, tomato sauce, canned beans, frozen veggies and grains (rice, quinoa, cous cous … etc.) I need to make something quick tonight since we have a meeting to attend. I really enjoyed the night my husband made dinner for me, but I like cooking myself, most of the time!

  45. Can’t wait to see your newborn pics!!!

  46. How wonderful you have so much support!! Must be nice just having things to pop in the oven or microwave! I would miss cooking though too!!

    Are you doing that photo shoot at your house yourself? How professional!

    • Tina says:

      Oh no! That’s not me. LOL

      We received a gift certificate for a professional session. The woman doing them is awesome. laurabrettphotography.com

  47. Sarah says:

    Eggs are my easy go-to meal. You can dress them up so many ways! A common meal for me is eggs, salsa, black beans and avocado or guacamole.

  48. He looks so tiny on that chair! :)}

  49. Can’t wait to see the photos! For a quick dinner, I love spaghetti with parmesean cheese. To make it, I prepare the spaghetti and reserve about 2 cups of pasta water. Once drained, put back in a lightly oiled and hot pan, add lots of parmesean cheese and black pepper and pasta water to your desired consistency. It’s like a creamy sauce of sorts without all the prep and calories – perfection!

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