Merchant ship anyone?

She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.  Proverbs 31:14 (NIV)

Lately, I've been studying the Proverbs 31 woman.  Wow, does she set the mark high or what?  Everyone needs a goal, right?  Haha.  So as I go through this study, I realize my number one frustration at home is food and meals, which I know to many may seem ridiculous or minor.  (And I know most who follow my blog would probably think my number one frustration is animals and pets, but it isn't.)

I was/am a picky eater.  My kids are pretty picky eaters, and I can't fault them necessarily...but it seems like no matter what I try, they want to eat something else.  I realize part of this could be a control factor, I get that.  And I know, I know, either they eat what we're having or they go to bed hungry.  Right, I got it.   But as an eater, I just can't imagine doing that because I know I would get the shakes and have a bad headache, etc...and that I'd be the one up in the middle of the night because someone has a stomach ache, only it's really that they're starving because they refused to eat what was on the menu.

Because of this frustration, we eat out or on-the-go a lot.  I really wish I was that Proverbs 31 who made every meal from scratch in her kitchen...but I am not and I doubt I ever will be.  I know that we, as a family, need to eat better and could save a ton of money eating at home, but I just can't seem to get there.  We are blessed to have a freezer full of meat so there is just no way we can use the excuse that there's nothing at home to eat.  Not true.

Every now and then I get all organized and focused and I'll cook up a couple meals and freeze them or have them ready to bake and in the fridge.  Last night I made a quick supper and then prepared one for tonight that I just have to warm up and add a vegetable to.  I feel so much better knowing there is a plan for supper at home...because if I don't, and it happens to be a Tuesday, The Greathouse of Pizza in Casey has a special, Two for Tuesdays...and you can get two pizzas for like $13.  It's way too much pizza for us at this point, but how can you turn away a free pizza?  If it's not Tuesday, they have a family special that is only $21 and also plenty of food.

So let's say I do have supper prepared and it's ready to go, I get a call and someone tells me that they're going to stay in town and do this or that instead of coming home before the game or before whatever...of course you are because I have supper ready tonight, which makes me think, "Why do I even bother?" Ahh, they're makin' me crazy.  Or I make something and I can tell by the way someone is pushing it around on their plate that they don't like it.  Arrh!  I have told my family time and time again, please tell me what you want me to make and please feel free to join in on the cooking ANY TIME.  I usually don't get a response.  It is so frustrating.  (I better say this to be fair...Jay will grill things if I ask.)

I used to think I was a bad cook.  I'm not.  I'm a decent cook.  Some things I cook better than others, but I can cook.  I was amazed a few months ago when Madolyn came home from a horse club meeting and when I asked her what she had for supper, she told me a grilled cheese (which Lane & I love and she refuses to eat) and guacamole with crackers (WHAT?  I have NEVER ever seen or heard of her eating any part of an avocado EVER).  I looked at her and said, "Serious?"  Oh, yeah, she loved it, it was the BEST grilled cheese ever.  She went on and on.  Good grief.  I'm glad she ate what was placed before her by another and I'm glad she tried it and likes it, but honestly, I cannot tell you how many times she has refused a grilled cheese sandwich.

When I read the verse above, I just cracked up.  Sometimes I feel like a merchant ship bringing food from afar and then my family looks at it like, "Where on earth did you find this?"  What I really want is for that merchant ship to come sailing into my kitchen bringing the magic food that my family will eat because whatever I seem to load onto it, might as well slip off into the ocean. 

If anyone has any really great tips on meals, let me know.  I have a few trusty dishes but we eat them over and over again...I would like a little bit of a variety!  My merchant ship needs loaded and set to sail :)