Culinary Queen

Last night for supper Susan "pulled a Sue." Sue was her mom, and she was known for coming home from work, walking into an empty kitchen, and exiting 15 minutes later with a full meal, delicious and satisfying, that apparently came from nowhere. How she could work her magic in so little time with no plan beforehand using only whatever she found in the fridge and the cupboards I'll never know, but I was a lucky diner in her house many a time. Last night Susan mimicked her mother in this regard to similar success.

After an afternoon of doing laundry, Susan walked into the kitchen, decided to use up some leftovers in the refrigerator, and only a couple minutes later called us all to supper. A few night ago, I had grilled chicken breasts coated in a dry rub (thank you, Emeril Lagasse). Last night Susan reheated that chicken and topped each portion with melted pepper jack cheese (left over from snacks with visiting friends a few nights ago) and a salsa of chopped red onion and grape tomatoes (left over from a picnic a couple days ago). She served it with steamed peas and Uncle Ben's Santa Fe Whole Grain Medley. Quick, easy, and delicious--and a productive use of leftovers! Sue would have been so proud.

A couple years ago, Susan was a follower of the FlyLady, a woman with an Internet presence from which she offers tips to homemakers for setting up productive routines, minimizing clutter, and maximizing sanity in the process. (For example, she has clean-up-in-just-a-few-minutes ideas for those living in CHAOS: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) It was sometime during her time as a FlyLady follower that Susan came up with a weekly menu plan. One night of the week would always feature breakfast foods for supper, another night would mean hotdish, another would be traditional Sunday dinner foods, etc. It was a kinda fun rotation that guided Susan in planning menus and buying groceries, but I don't recall that it lasted all that long.

During supper last night, I suggested bringing back that idea for a while. It might not last long this time around, either, but for a while it might be a fun way to keep experimenting with new foods (although our family is nothing if not experimental with food; there isn't much that Susan isn't willing to make and that we aren't willing to eat). What do you think of this weekly rotation?

• Mediterranean Monday -- food from any of the countries touching the Mediterranean Sea, which provides plenty of options: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco
• Take-Out Tuesday -- two options here: either food that one could order as take-out from a restaurant (e.g., Chinese, tacos, burgers) or food that one actually got from a restaurant (for "I don't feel like cooking" nights)
• Watery Wednesday -- seafood
• Thirsty Thursday -- meals that include a fun beverage: a new flavor of ice cream malt, or a jazzy juice concoction, or an adult cocktail that Susan and I haven't tried before, etc.
• Familiar Friday -- we always have homemade pizza Friday nights, and we're keeping that tradition going
• Scandinavian Saturday -- in honor of our ethnic heritage, we're devoting one night a week to recipes from the Motherland; but to provide Susan with maximum options, we're open to food from Scandinavia and her neighbors, providing these options: Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, of course, but also Iceland, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
• Ice Cream Sunday (clever name courtesy of Hillary!) -- Susan often makes a big Sunday meal (e.g., roast pork, meatloaf, steak, whole chicken) and can still do that; any food item will work so long as it is followed by ice cream for dessert

Susan is game, although she requested that we wait to start this nightly meal planner until the rest of the leftovers are out of the fridge. I'm looking forward to Croatian and Latvian specialties and Midwestern hotdishes alike!