A Significant part of “Adulting” is that, in addition to all the domestic & outdoor chores, taking care of kids, pets, and animals around the house presents the proverbial everyday dilemma: “What’s For Dinner?” The three words that strike fear in my stomach: “Nothing, let’s rummage!” Rummage means that we look at the over-packed refrigerator to find an inventive dinner out of often nothing that is intended for dinner. Then the questions begin like some kind of “Match” game. “Do you want a tuna melt?” “Grilled cheese?” “Salad?” “Oh, wait, we are out of lettuce.” “PBJ?” “Cereal?” I respond, “Grilled Cheese!”
Some families establish a weekly menu that is pre-determined by the day. Growing up in my house, Sunday was fried chicken day. My mom would slave over the deep fryer, cooking multiple breaded chicken parts from 4 chickens. Everyone loved it! Sometimes, if there was a lot of chicken left over, we would have a piece of cold chicken on Sunday night. I still love the smell of crispy chicken frying up in the deep fryer. Monday night would be hot dogs or hamburgers cooked inside or out! Mom would try to duplicate a popular burger from a fast-food place, which was never quite right, and often heat up some chili for Coney dogs. Tuesday dinner would be soup or sale dinner! Soup from the crockpot or whatever was on sale at the butcher shop, often liver with onions! To this day, I have a tough time consuming that combination. Wednesday, the ever-popular spaghetti diner! Sometimes with meatballs, always with homemade garlic bread! Everyone loved it and consumed multiple plates of spaghetti. Thursday was often leftover night; whatever did not get consumed Monday to Wednesday showed up on Thursday night! Spaghetti with hot dog pieces, Goulash that definitely was a bit Ghoulish on occasion.
Friday night was pizza from a local pizzeria; breadsticks were often included. I always looked forward to cold pizza and milk for breakfast on Saturday mornings while watching cartoons. On Saturday nights, we usually went out to eat: Susie Q’s for fish, Peppi’s for a burger, or a local restaurant where we could order what we wanted from the kids’ menu, or mom would cook a meatloaf! And back to Sunday’s Fried Chicken. Often our meals would include a special guest, “Spotty,” our dog. When it came to vegetables, my brother Larry would sneak food he did not like under the table, where it would mysteriously disappear. Liver, squash, and broccoli would disappear so fast and quietly unless “Spotty” nipped my brother’s finger a little too hard.
The single most popular dinner, especially with youngsters in the house, is hamburgers, followed by pizza and breadsticks. We didn’t have DoorDash or Grubhub back then, so if you wanted a carryout, you had to get into your car, drive to get it, and bring it home. TV dinners from the freezer were an occasional thing, not my favorite. I enjoyed when the entire family would sit down for dinner; there were no cell phones in those days, so you just had to talk. Most talks included scheduling rides home for after-school activities. I usually just walked home, 5 miles, uphill both ways.
In today’s busy life, only about one-third of the families plan the weekly menu in advance. We plan for one or two days at a time, and then often change the plan based on what needs to be eaten before it goes out of date or turns bad. Tonight, we are having homemade beef barley vegetable soup and acorn squash. Nice combination in the cooler weather. Then it will be time for a nap!
“Remember, every day is a gift! Some are just a little more fun to open than others. – Joel, Author of “The Guinea Pig In The Freezer”. [email protected] © Joel M. Vernier October 21,2025
