I was just pondering the other day.....I don't think I tell y'all near enough about my prowess in the kitchen.  I mean I don't like to brag, but I turn out some pretty average dinners on a regular basis around here.  My repertoire is fairly predictable.  I'm a meat, potatoes, vegetables, and casserole kind of cook.  I don't cook things that I can't pronounce, foods that require any sort of French accent marks in their spelling, or dishes that call for ingredients that can't be found in your typical Mississippi grocery store......and there's probably nothing in my lineup that would be appropriate if, say, the Queen came home with us after church for Sunday lunch.  I'm just your basic kind of southern cook.

I'm sure you can all relate to the unending pressure of being the only thing standing between your family and starvation.  Every. Single. Day. They. Want. To. Eat. They get up in the morning wanting to know what we're having for supper.  They go to bed wanting to know what we're having the next night for supper.  And I think they've grown far too dependent on me for their next meal.  I mean if I am out of town or out for the evening and not around to cook, Davis will call or text me, "What are we supposed to eat?"   What does that mean......what are we supposed to eat?  I suppose it's like feeding the bears.....they just start coming around expecting it from you when they get hungry and eventually lose their ability to fend for themselves.      

Planning weekly menus and doing all the grocery shopping, well, that's hard work.  I was doing so good before school let out for summer break.  Before I would leave for the grocery store, I'd scour my recipe box, my cookbooks, and my Pinterest boards and decide which recipes I was going to prepare that week and I'd make out my list accordingly.  I'd head to the store with my list in hand and found that I spent less money that way and we ate out less because I'd planned ahead.  I was so together. 

But....then summer came around and the wheels fell right off of that bus.  Lately, I've been running in the store and grabbing a few packs of chicken and beef and then your basic cheeses, sour cream, pasta, cream of something soups, Ro-Tel tomatoes, rice, some frozen veggies, and a pack or two of onion soup mix for good measure.  No clue what I was going to do with all of that, but I figured any good southern cook could make something out of those staples and I'd just figure it out on a night to night basis.  That never works out well.  I'd come home from work and stare at the frozen chicken breasts that were as hard as the driveway, some pork chops that may or may not be defrosted by next Thursday if I had laid them out right then, and a couple of frozen roasts that could've served as bookends for a set of World Book Encyclopedias.  So......we'd end up taking the logical next step, "Ok, everybody in the car.....there's nothing to eat here."          
           
One night recently, I ran in the grocery store after work to grab something that I could make quickly for supper because we had to be somewhere in an hour.  I was tired of take out, so I was determined to find something that I could cook in a hurry.  Hmmm.  I had one hour to drive home, cook, eat, and get to where we were going.  I scanned the aisles and there it was.....something I never, ever stop to consider......the Hamburger Helper section.  Mind you, I have not cooked Hamburger Helper since I was a novice newlywed, but, on this particular day, it spoke to me, you know, like the stuff at Pier One does.  Maybe it was time to revisit this convenience food.    

It was almost like the Hamburger Helper was catching the light shining through the front windows of the small grocery store and that smiley faced white glove glistened and took on an almost angelic glow about it.  "Oh", I thought....."look at all of these flavors to choose from....4 shelves crammed full of mouth watering varieties".   I knew time was limited, so I couldn't go with any of the flavors that called for mixing the luscious cheese powder with milk and then pouring it over the finished product......too many steps.  No, I needed one that just required you to pour it all in the skillet and simmer, so I went with the Cheesy Italian Shells. Mmmmm.  The picture on the box did look scrumptious and I was feeling pretty cocky about my dinner idea all the way home as I'd also grabbed some garlic bread and salad.       

I browned my pound of ground beef and added the water, pasta, and all of the powdery goodness and waited.  Just like the box said, it was ready after simmering for just 20 minutes and I called everyone to the table.  We blessed the food and with our hour ticking down, we dug in.  I looked at my plate and that beautiful, rich, red, thick, tomato-ey sauce pictured on the glowing box in the store had taken on more the color and consistency of a Yoo-Hoo.  Mine didn't look near as tomato-ey as the box ......I mean, you know, being brown and all.  Definitely not a contender if the Queen scenario ever comes up.