Thursday, November 26, 2009

My verdict.....

Well, if today's experience did nothing more than make my family appreciate me (Queen Mama), then it was worth it.

With the aches and pains I'm having from this damnable arthritis plus my bad knee, I just find it way too hard to be standing on my feet for hours at a time preparing a huge meal for my family with no help. For years now I have been whining and complaining about this but it fell on deaf ears. I kept asking for help in making the food and also the clean-up but help was minimal. Finally, this year I decided that enough was enough. I announced to my family that I was not cooking dinner. That I didn't care what we ate or where we ate it....but it was not going to be prepared by these little hands. My daughter said that she would take over. The torch was passed............sorta.

She decided.....since she really does not like to cook.....to buy the dinner already prepared. At our local grocery you can get such a meal. For $69.99, you get dinner and dessert....enough for 8 people, already prepared. All you do is warm it up. She ordered this meal and picked it up the night before Thanksgiving. All looked in order. Thanksgiving day she put the turkey in the oven and when it was ready (after 2 hours) she then warmed up the rest of the stuff.

Now the picture above is of a TV dinner and I'm going to tell you that I think this particular TV dinner probably has more taste than what we ate. This already prepared meal was very bland. The turkey almost had no flavor. Its beyond me how you can mess up a turkey. The mashed potatoes tasted like a mixture of instant and real....we will probably never know for sure what it was. The dressing, however, was good but the gravy was horrible. It was the color of vanilla pudding and had no taste at all. I didn't even try the broccoli or carrots. The fruit salad was good. The pumpkin pie was awful.

My family is spoiled because I am a good cook. I cook with love and I take extra measures to make sure the food I prepare has a wonderful taste. Nothing bland comes from my kitchen.

I think my family learned a lesson. Everyone agreed that nothing could compare to what they are used to. My daughter announced that at Christmas she was going to learn how to prepare a meal like I've always fixed and asked if I would show her how. (haven't I been trying to do this for 15 or more years now?)

So, my verdict on already prepared meals.....at least from this establishment....is a score of 2 out of 5. If you can make a meal out of dressing and fruit salad. True, it was cheaper to put it on the table than it would have been if we had bought the groceries and prepared it.....but we have nearly no leftovers and the food was not that good. For the first time....I didn't even CARE if I had leftovers to bring home.

So sometimes you just have to show your family (tough love) what its gonna be like without a home-cooked feast in order for them to actually do something about it. I think I'm going to go to the store and get the stuff to make some pumpkin bars and/or a pumpkin pie. I really missed that. I'm already looking forward to Christmas dinner.

11 comments:

Lee said...

I am so sorry your meal sucked! But, what a way to teach a lesson!! I'll have to remember that in the future.

gayle said...

I too am sorry your meal was bad...for some reason ours was only a little better...not sure what happened!!

Pat said...

You need to read the blog Sandi writes at Holding Patterns and read the threat to her children.

Smocha said...

Ha ha . I'm sorry you food sucked but your post was still funny:)

I think in the past 3 years my GF Floozie1 and I have had Thanksgiving dinner at Ryans (the feedbag) restaurant. We were both alone and NO WAY were we cooking.

I always imagined that those ready made meals would be about that quality and taste of food. Thanks to your review I will NEVER buy one :)

Glad the kiddo is taking over.
I never "asked" for help cleaning up , I delegated who was doing what. That's also tough love :)

ain't for city gals said...

I totally agree...my job has always been to bring the pies...this year I copped out and bought them from Costco....they looked good and I figure hey I can't make them for the $ they are charging...what a mistake...I was embarrased..never again...

happyone said...

I think it's nice when everyone helps out with both the cooking and the cleanup and doesn't leave it to all one person. I think it was smart of you to tell them no more cooking. Sorry you didn't get to eat a good dinner though.
Enjoy your pie. :-)

Jamie said...

You know, I loved this post, and now I learned never to buy one of those meals, too. I had often thought about it. However, I would have traded my day with yours. I'll tell you about it sometime. Hope your weekend is awesome. Hugs, lot of them...good friend. :)

Lena said...

I guess we were lucky. We did go with the prepared meal and it was good enough. Nothing compares to my own home cooking though, and at every bite, I would imagine what it would taste like if I had cooked it. LoL.

In your case, it sure was a good lesson for your family and sounds like your daughter is motivated to take over for you. That is wonderful!

Joy Des Jardins said...

Well, I guess everyone learned a valuable lesson here Val. Unfortunately, it kind of ruined everyone's Thanksgiving dinner; but now they know that YOU are not able to do every dinner...and they shouldn't count on your great ccoking every time.

It's a good lesson...even if it hurt. Your daughter will step up now and learn what you've been trying to teach her for years; so something good came out of it.

I'm sorry your arthritis was so bad for the holiday Val...I hope it eases off along with your bad knee problem. I was a little achy myself for T-day. Maybe it was the weather...it was kinda cold and gloomy here. We were actually half expecting it to rain...possibly snow, but it didn't. Feel better soon sweetie. Love, Joy

SOUL said...

hey charlotte--
yeh those prepared meals do leave much to be desired don't they?
we did that too-- and it will never be attempted -- or even thought about again.

can we say GAG?

i too am a good cook.. and that does make a difference i spose when 'someone elses' food hits the table at holiday time. everyone knows what they missed. and like your family-- everyone -- even tho, they all helped this time-- next time-- they will be more than willing to cook -- or help with it. in fact, that has already been established.

anyhow-- good for you to put your foot down. i hope you are treated like a queen at Christmas dinner-- with no more than passing out instructions.. get those recipe cards ready -- queen mama :))

big ole hugz --
and a happy saturday to ya

Anonymous said...

That's cool. Hopefully everyone will have learned their lesson well! I too am not a good cook, so perhaps I too can learn something for this. But the good part is that Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here...so we could skip that part altogether! Ha ha.
So...what's going to happen for Christmas dinner???
I can understand how those "instant" meals can mess up mash potatoes and stuff, especially the sauces. I imagine it must be the same kind of stuff they give astronauts up in space! Oooh...yum...NOT!
Anyways, wishing you a belated Happy Thanksgiving!