My Favorite Meal...From Someone Else
This morning I feel like I got hit by a truck. It's not fun. I got home very late last night from the Yankees game (which they lost...boo) and I'm feeling the after effects of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred workout from yesterday morning. Let's just say that if your quads are in excruciating pain when simply rolling over in bed, I don't take it as a good sign for doing other things today. Like walking down stairs. Or getting into a chair. Or basically any movement whatsoever. Sigh.
So for today's What About Me Wednesday, I'm answering one simple question. When Lauren at The Spiced Plate asked me what my favorite dinner would be for someone else to cook, the wheels started turning as I thought of all the delicious and wonderful food that I've ever enjoyed.
Although I may be a control freak in general in the kitchen, there is nothing better than someone else cooking dinner...or any meal for that matter. I'm so lucky that Shaun also likes to cook and takes the reigns every now and again to whip up something fantastic. Like this past weekend. He offered to make breakfast (I shouted hooray!) and cooked up a breakfast quesadilla and burrito for us to share.
Eggs, turkey bacon and salsa in whole wheat tortillas made this a fantastic, filinng breakfast that was the perfect fuel to get me through a 3.5 mile run a little while later.
But while I'm thrilled to eat anything that Shaun makes, I got thinking about my all-time favorite meal made by another.
My mom’s Italian dinners.
Mom, Kimberly + Me at San Gennaro Italian Festival, 2009
This includes meatballs (literally the best ever! EVER!) that are so flavorful and just melt in your mouth, crispy chicken parmesean coated in tomato sauce and bubbly cheese, lasagna filled with moist ricotta and ziti, mixed with Italian sausage.
Mamma mia, I could eat these every day of my life and be happy. This is a cheat because it’s more than one thing, but all I can say is that to me, there is simply nothing better in the entire world. Somehow I do not have any photos of her wonderful dishes and will be sure to change that the next time she makes it!
She of course makes her own sauce like any good Italian mother and I’ll fight anyone who says their Mama makes it better. Kidding. Sort of. But her wonderful food has absolutely turned me into a sauce snob and I am extremely selective about Italian restaurants. Most of them just don't measure up. Oh and I learned early on to never order meatballs at a restaurant, since I always find them disappointing compared to Mom's.
Mom making her famous gravy on Thanksgiving
So there you have it. My favorite, most comforting dinner. In my ideal situation, I'd have all of these things on one giant dinner plate and enjoy it all together, drizzled with extra sauce and parmesean cheese. Oh and some of her Grandma Mary apple pie with whipped cream for dessert. Mmmm-mmm. I'm pretty sure this would ease my sore legs and arms. Just sayin'.
So what do you think? What is your favorite meal for someone else to cook for you?
Got a question for me? For Shaun? Ask away in the comments or send me an email!
15 Comments | April 6, 2011 | Share Article | Email Article | in FAQ, What About Me Wednesday Print Article | Permalink
Reader Comments (15)
This was so fun to read, Rachel! I'm 100% italian, so I know what you mean about mom's cooking! Now that I'm gluten free and vegetarian, it makes it a little more challenging for her, or for me to adapt her recipes. My favorite meal for someone else to cook is chana masala -- my husband makes it every Saturday, and I look forward to it all week. It's just so good, so wonderfully spicy and filling. Keep it up with the shred! She's pretty hard core!
Thanks Lauren! And thanks for the inspiration :) I'd love to hear about this chana masala sometime...
I LOVE most of what my mother cooks, but she makes the BEST homemade pizza! The crust is thick and whole wheat and she makes it vegetarian for me! I had her make it for my birthday this year too!
That Jillian Michaels vid is HARDCORE! I remember when I first tried it, I thought I was going to die! haha She's a BEAST! And I love how in the background of the video, there is a water dispenser to tease us!
I really love any meal my mom makes. No one can ever beat that in my books!
Aww, your mom sounds awesome. My guy cooks rarely, but lately we've been trying to cook together more and it's been really fun.
Rachel, cooking together is such a wonderful thing!
My favorite meal is anything my mom makes me. I try and be frugal when I cook but she goes all out and man oh man does it pay off!
I am also a control freak [in the kitchen] but I really do love when my husband cooks for me! It is always good and SO nice for a change:-)
Great post! I love the pics. I feel your pain on the Jillian issue!
My fave meal for someone to make for me would be homemade pizza. Kinda boring, but totally awesome in my book...because I never make it myself!
there's nothing better than mom's cooking :)
I had the same reaction to Level 1, Day 1 of The Shred! Can your mom do a guest post please?! :)
I'm not even Italian but those foods sound GOOD to me. Some of my comfort foods are Jewish, like I am - chicken soup is a top favorite. Others are not - apple pie, roast chicken. And that breakfast burrito is looking pretty good to me too!
Susan, I LOVE that idea! I'll run it past her...
I'm so interested in your Jillian 30 Day Shred experiences! I heard from one of my good friends that it's a great thing to do before your wedding so I've been planning on starting it in a month or so. Keep the updates coming!
I'll keep you posted Madison! I did level 1 the other day and I'm still not recovered (literally, in all my years of sports, etc, I've never been this sore). I did go ahead and order the DVD so I plan to stick with it!