Having a Sit-Down

My husband and I had a "sit-down" recently.

You know what I mean. Family meetings. Marriage conversations. Sit-downs.

With all of the impending changes in our lives happening in only 20ish weeks (eep!), it was time to figure a few things out. Scheduling, for one. Chores, for another.

So we sat and drank breakfast smoothies and talked about what needed to change, what was working well, and how we could keep the balls of church ministry, PhD studies, a new baby, exercise, and sanity, all up in the air.

We talked about the chores we love and those we hate, and those we promise to do that never seem to get done.

It was good conversation. Things were said that I needed to hear. Things like, "I really love you, but you're not so good with the dishes..." My poor husband didn't realize that "for better or for worse" would sometimes translate to "or really worse, like when the roasting pan for the turkey sits out for four days and begins to make the kitchen smell like dead moose..." TMI?

(And lest you think my husband is misogynistic, you should know that he happily and willingly washes 98% of our dishes AND does all of our laundry and cat care. It's the 2% of the dishes and the laundry folding-and-putting-away that I'm supposed to do that often take forever to get done... Yeah. I'm a chronic laundry slacker.)

One of the changes we made is that I'm going to cook more. I like to cook, but due to scheduling conflicts over the years (I often worked afternoons and evenings early in our marriage, leaving little time to play with the oven) I'm still pretty inexperienced at it.

In the long list of chores we divvied up, cooking most sparked my imagination.

"I'll take that one," I said, as soon as it was mentioned.

"Really?" said my husband. He's a man who loves a good meal, and will eat anything set in front of him. "That'd be awesome. If you cook, I'll do the dishes."

"DONE," I said. "Perfect!"

So I'm now in charge of the meal plan and most of the cooking. A scary prospect? Perhaps. But an exciting one, too.

The really good news? More blog recipes for you!

Will you join me in this new culinary adventure? Will you remind me that all is well when I accidentally burn the chicken, char the sweet potatoes, and cook the rice to an unappetizing crisp?

Will you help tell me what to do with the odd assortment of veggies that will soon be arriving from our CSA (bok choy? what the heck?!)?

And - most of all - will you send me links to your favorite easy recipes? An hour or less? Those that don't dirty every dish in the house, for hubby's sake? I would be oh-so-grateful!

On the menu for this upcoming week:

Penne with Zucchini Tomato Sauce
Chicken with White Wine Cream Sauce and Sauteéd Spinach
Gluten Hates Me Nachos

Here goes nothing!