If it's Monday....we're having pot roast

Winchester

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When Rick was a child, he said he knew what his mom would be making for dinner simply by what day of the week it was. If it was Monday, they would have pot roast for dinner. Tuesday was usually fried chicken, and so on. In fairness to his mother, she worked full time and she was always very busy keeping up the house and such. She loved to cook, but didn't have a lot of time.

When we first got married and I made my first pot roast, I was so proud. It was all perfectly prepared, cooked perfectly, it even looked perfect on the platter. I remember Rick came home from work and when he looked at my beautifully prepared platter, his face fell and he said, "Oh. Pot roast." I was devastated. Here I had worked all day (and it was pretty much all afternoon because I was such a novice cook) to make a good dinner and he didn't want it. And that's when he told me that, "If it's Monday, we're having pot roast." He said he really never wanted to see a pot roast again.

My mother was not an adventurous cook, nor was my father an adventurous eater. She had a few meals that she rotated, but I don't ever remember thinking that if it was Monday, then we would be having "whatever" for supper that night. I do remember eating nothing but rice and milk with cinnamon sometimes or potatoes with bacon and eggs; my parents didn't have a lot of money, but we never starved. Mom and Dad made sure we had something. Dad was such a meat-and-potatoes man; my mother never made lasagna or tuna and noodles. We hardly ever even had spaghetti. I never had a slice of pizza until after I got married (and that was when Rick's mom made a Chef Boy ar Dee Pizza mix one night). It was always some kind of meat with potatoes and a side dish. Dessert was usually some kind of cake or drop cookies; Mom made the best hot milk sponge cake ever and it was a favorite in our house. It kept Dad happy and Mom didn't have time for much more than that as she worked full time, too. She didn't want us in the kitchen because we would make a mess. So I never cooked a thing until after we got married. Needless to say, learning to cook was a long process for me!

How did your mom cook? Did she have her standard meals or did she have a good variety of main dishes that she used. Did she try new recipes? Did you know that, if it was Monday, you would have pot roast for dinner?
 

larussa

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The only thing we knew for sure is that if it was Sunday, we were eating pasta with meat balls and sausage.  Whether it was spaghetti or ziti or ravioli, we were eating some kind of pasta.  My mom never followed recipes, she was Italian  and cooked pretty darn good.  Another fav of mine that she made was her chicken and rice and her homemade pizza was out of this world.  I have never tasted meatballs better than she made and I probably never will.

Mom wasn't a fancy cook but whatever she made was delicious.
 

sivyaleah

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Sundays for us guaranteed mom was not cooking. Under any circumstances.  Usually, it was take out night; Chinese or pizza for the most part.

My dad sometimes would become the evening chef. He collected NY Times recipes and was a more experimental cook than my mother ever was.  

Other times, it was breakfast-for-dinner night; pancakes, bacon, the works.  But my mom had nothing to do with it - she put her foot down to one night's rest.
 

denice

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My mother didn't have a lot of dishes that she cooked but we didn't have a specific thing on a specific day of the week.  My ex mother-in-law was not a good cook and she had a set thing that she made each night.  I never met her but my ex's grandmother lived with them until the youngest one was in high school and she passed away.  My ex said she was the good cook, big home cooked meals and she would go for a long time without repeating a meal.  My mother-in-law worked full time and her mother took care of the house and cooking.  That is probably why my mother-in-law wasn't a very good cook.
 

artiemom

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We had pizza for Saturday suppers. Sunday mid day was a bit meal. For supper we usually had kielbasa sandwiches or fried bologna sandwiches!! or just sandwich in general....

My mom was a gret cook and baker. She cooked everyday....and baked almost as much as cooking. 

Week-end nights were a time off for her....
 

MoochNNoodles

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When I was a younger child my mother was single and working full time.  She was always a good cook; but back in those days we were on a tighter budget and she was busy, so meals were simple.  We ate things like Hamburger Helper fairly regularly.  We ate a lot of chicken because it was the cheaper meat.  I'm not too fond of those things and I rarely buy Hamburger Helper.  I'm working on cutting out any processed things like that.  Even side dishes.  So our everyday meals were pretty routine; but on weekends or if she was home sick; Mom would cook different things.  She liked trying new things; it just depended on time and budget.  Sauce was reserved for weekends and sometimes roasts.  We had dinner at my Gram's every Sunday; so that was definitely the fanciest meal.  Gram was an amazing cook.  I remember eating a variety of things; Gram was Polish and Greek, Grandpa is Italian; so over the years Gram learned to cook a lot of traditional dishes from both cultures.  Both were immigrants children so things were truly more authentic for them.  

As I got older and after Mom remarried; our dinners changed.  Mom had a little more time and a bit easier budget (although at times it was 7 mouths to feed instead of 2!).  She got more adventurous still after I was married and out of the house.  Cooking is pretty much a hobby for her now.  My Step-father is Puerto Rican and he taught her some of their traditional meals too.  So those became regulars.  I really need her to teach me some of those recipes because they aren't written down and i miss eating them!  
  One of my step-aunts is Cuban and it's the same thing; no written recipes, just amazing food.  
  After Mom remarried we started eating a lot more rice based dishes.  And my Step-dad and step-siblings got a lot more pasta based things .  

Mom has always been a good cook.  Even if her budget didn't allow "fancy."  Really; there are no bad cooks in our family.  Even my male cousins spent time in the kitchen as kids.  (And us girls spent time in Grandpa's woodshop too.)  I've seen them whip up delicious meals from almost nothing
 

denice

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When I went through a medical billing and coding course it was set up in modules.  At the end of each module we would bring in food for a pot luck.  One of the women in the course would bring in a Puerto Rican dish each time and they were always really good.  I think many of us who have not lived in an area with a large Hispanic community tend to always think of Tex-Mex as being all Hispanic food.  She made a rice that was really good.  One of the other women in the class would talk her into bringing some in every once in while that she could take home.

She gave us her Sofrito recipe but I have lost track of it.  From what I understand it is basic to a lot of dishes but many families have their own little twist to Sofrito.
 

AbbysMom

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My mother is not a good cook. At all. When I was a kid she specialized in bland and boring and often out of a box or can. :cringe:
 

Kat0121

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My mom doesn't like to cook. Never did, never will. Dad did most of the cooking except for holidays when she would do a lot of it (he helped). Dad worked odd hours so when he wasn't home, we usually ate leftovers (I HATE most leftovers). Mom went back to work full time when my younger brother started first grade. I was 12. That's when I took over a lot of the cooking when dad was at work. I have been baking from scratch since I was 10, full meals from 12. My parents aren't adventurous eaters (Dad is WAY worse than mom). Mom will try anything at a restaurant or at someone's home but not at our house. She did make some good things but some of the stuff was atrocious. All vegetables were cooked to death (usually boiled). Ugh. Then when we got a microwave in the early 80's ( I believe) it got worse, she'd take some poor, helpless veggie like asparagus or broccoli, dump the parmesan cheese from the green can on it, cover it with Saran Wrap and nuke it to death. 
 
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