And So It Began…

You know how when you’re a little kid and you’re always dreaming of being all grown up and fantasizing about what your career will be?  It changes all the time, sometimes even daily, depending on what you are “into” at the time.  Ya wanna  know something about me?  I have ALWAYS wanted to be a storyteller.  I mean, I thought about the things that most littles think about.  You know the kinds of things that pay the bills, but the thought of telling stories never ever left me. 

Problem is, I never thought I had any stories worth telling.  Nothing that anybody else would want to hear, but as I’ve grown over the years, and have a fair amount of time behind me, come to think of it, maybe I do!

 I have always swam upstream a bit.  I’m stubborn, I do it my way, if you tell me no, I’m gonna do it anyway, and if you say I can’t, I’ll show you!  These were never more true than in my early teen years.

My poor mama and daddy, I put them through the mill, let me tell ya!  As a close friend of mine always says, “I put hair on their chests!”  I lied like nobody’s business, I was NEVER where I said I was, I snuck out of the house on a regular basis, and did the exact opposite of whatever they needed me to do.  I was a DOOZY!

Luckily, life slowed me WAY down, when I found out at the ripe ole age of 16 that I was going to be a mama.  I truly believe that this detour saved me from going down a path that would have been very hard to come back from.  It not only saved me, it saved the buck wild boy who lived next door too!

So, at the age of 16, I became a wife, and at the age of 17, I became a mama.  Now, that was 40 plus years ago, so I've learned a little along the way. 

6 months after Benny and I slipped off to the courthouse and got married, instead of showing up to class, I met my new born baby boy.  He was 7 pounds and 6 ounces of pure sugar, and my little 17 year old self fell head over heels in love with him, and I have never ever looked back.

I was a mama!  It was up to me to make sure he was cared for night and day.  His every need hinged on me.  I didn’t know how lost I was, until this perfect little human came into my life.  He gave me a purpose I had never felt.  I was quite literally his lifeline. I wasn’t about to mess this up!

I know I sound dramatic, but I was forever changed, and it was the beginning of my love affair with the idea of home, and all that I wanted my family to feel inside of mine.  The vibe, or tone, if you will, was up to me.

I wanted warmth, a place to fall into after a long day, a feeling of safety once you closed the door behind you.  I wanted my home to be a soft place for my family to land.  I wanted it to be the one place that they always wanted to come back to.

Mind you, we were as broke as two people could possibly be at the time and clearly knew nothing about the adventure that we were beginning, but we were there for it, and that’s all we really knew! 

On our wedding day, Benny’s parents bought us a living room suit.  It was velvety with wagon wheels and a wooden frame.  I thought it was gorgeous!  My mom took me to K-Mart and bought me all that I needed to get my kitchen set up, until they had time to throw me a shower or two together, and we moved into the tiniest, little broken down, mobile home that I had ever seen, but let me tell you something, we went straight to work.

Benny put in a brand new kitchen, and my mom and I started hanging wallpaper.  To say it wasn’t much, is putting it very mildly, but it was cute, it was clean,  it was our first little home, and I loved it!

I think this whole obsession that I have with family dinners started on that very first night.  Lord, it had been a day!!  We were exhausted, scared, hungry, and broke, so we went to the local convenience store and bought a box of Chef Boyardee spaghetti.  You might remember what I’m talking about.  It was in a red box that had the noodles, a tin full of meat sauce, and a pack of parmesan cheese in it.  I’m sure at the time it was all of two bills.  We read the directions on the back, cooked it up, and enjoyed every last bite of it.  I was off to the races.

I was never a very teachable kid, and knew NOTHING about cooking.  My first trip to the actual grocery store, as a new wife and mom to be, was very overwhelming.  Thank goodness my mother went with me.  She talked me through most of the aisles and made sure I had the staples in my cart.  I don’t remember, but I’m sure she picked up the tab too!  I’m pretty sure it was that very day, when I realized not having dinner was not an option, and neither was eating out for us.

While I didn’t know much, if anything at all,  I knew we had to eat everyday, and I knew it was up to me to make that happen, and so it began! I literally read the back of every can and every box that I could get my hands on.  That ‘s how I learned to cook and feed my family.

Now I know there are people out there who say everything has to be made from scratch, and if it’s not, you don’t really know how to cook, but I’m calling foul on that!  The simpler and easier something is to do, the more likely you are to enjoy it and continue doing it, right??  Dinner is no different, if there’s a shortcut to take, take it, and if there’s a corner to cut, cut it! 

The goal is to gather your family around the table in the afternoons, as often as possible.  Keep it simple.  Quick to cook and quick to clean up.  Before I start sharing my favorites, now’s the time to examine your mindset, if you need to.  Dinner is not meant to be just another thing on your daily to do list.  This is a time for you to serve your family.  I don’t mean that in any type of derogatory sense.  The best way that I can convey what I’m trying to, is for you to picture yourself as a vessel through which your family is feeling love, safety, acceptance, all the things, and YOU hold the key!  As we continue, I’m going to do my best to show you just how impactful something as simple as dinner around the table is, so please stay with me in the months to come.

When I think about dinner, for me, it’s about having a plan for Monday-Thursday.  A good rotation makes it SO much easier.  While I’ll be sharing monthly ideas, recipes, and various rotations, keep in mind, the purpose of a rotation is to cook your way through it. Just keep picking up where you left off. Realistically, a 16 day rotation will likely take you 30 dinners to get all the way through.

I love words, teaching, learning, and sharing. We all have a story to tell. That moment in time when it all began, and I’m excited to share a little bit of mine with you 🥰