meal planning reality check

Yesterday I planned a super ambitious meal for T.J. and I. I was craving king cake for a Fat Tuesday treat and decided to continue the Mardi Gras theme and also make gumbo for the first time. After work I did a big shopping trip to get all the fixings for dinner and headed home to make the dough for the cake. I had this vision in my head of T.J. coming home to a relaxed wife, clean kitchen, with gumbo simmering on the stove-top and a beautiful iced cake waiting for dessert. Instead things got away from me a bit when the cinnamon filling in the caked oozed all over the baking sheet, and the roux for the gumbo burned while I was taking the cake out of the oven, forcing me to start that over again (you can not take your eyes off a roux for even a second). Every surface in the kitchen was covered in mixing bowls and cutting boards, and it was all a bit sticky from the cinnamon sugar.

  

Recipe here.

When T.J. got home I was not ready, the rice was still cooking, I hadn't iced the cake, and it was nearly 8 o'clock. Not exactly the picture perfect meal I had envisioned. T.J. snacked on the un-iced cake while I finished up the gumbo and we were finally able to sit down together.  After dinner he moved to the couch to unwind and I set about the dishes because I can't relax when there are dishes in the sink. It's a good and bad trait. But last night it was bad because all I really wanted to do was snuggle with my husband on the couch before he passed out.

Why do I create these plans in my head that don't allow room for messes or hungry husbands? I should just leave the dishes for later. T.J. doesn't care about the presentation, he doesn't care if the cake is iced, he doesn't care if the dog is licking cinnamon sugar off the floor. Yes, of course, he likes to come home to calm, clean house, that makes him feel more relaxed after leaving the craziness of his job, but really he just wants to be with me. Isn't that what meal planning is supposed to do for me? Isn't it supposed to take away the pressure of cooking dinner every night and allow more time to just enjoy dinner together?

But I got the snapchat posted to my story, and I already had a bunch of likes on instagram....um, wait... Was I cooking dinner for T.J. because I knew he'd enjoy it after a long overnight shift or was I doing it for the blog post?

Recipe here. 

(I made the traditional cinnamon sugar filling and left out the nuts. Be sure to really seal your edges so it doesn't all ooze out while baking.)

I'm giving myself some grace and trying again. Tonight I have a slow cooker meal planned- less dishes, a lot smoother. Though last night's meal was pretty convicting, it wasn't all a wash. The food was still delicious, there's plenty of leftovers for lunches this week, and T.J. still fell asleep with his head on my shoulder... while I refreshed my Instagram feed one more time ;)