Comfort, Convenience

I haven't been much in the mood to cook exciting new things, and I haven't got much money to spend on updating my Halloween and fall-inspired decorations.  This means I've been cooking more staple foods--dishes I've made since I started cooking (which was very young) and that I remember my mother and grandmother making.  During times when I'm low energy or busy, falling back on those dishes is easier and reassuring, because I don't have to worry about researching items for the grocery list or plotting elaborate multi-day cooking processes.  I tend to think of these things late at night at work.  For example, last week I was sitting in our office's recliner (yes, I'm lucky) and fretting over the minimal amount of home cooking I had been doing lately.  Less cooking at home equals more junk food equals bad, bad, bad and more low energy and all that fun stuff.  I knew I didn't have the energy or time to cook anything new, so I made a brief list of the things I know I can cook from memory.  I highly recommend keeping a list like this on your fridge if you are the sort of person who needs prompting when figuring out weekly menu--and life--logistics.  My plan worked well, and I actually cooked three different meals in the space of a few days.  I started with beef stew, which was nice given the cooler fall weather.  I made enough for leftovers, which are now sitting in my chest freezer as back up for the next time the blues hit and I just want something easy and satisfying!  I also made turkey meatloaf and yesterday, chicken fajitas.  Chicken fajitas are the easiest thing ever, and they're every bit as tasty as you'd find in a run-of-the-mill Tex-Mex restaurant.  I'll post recipes for all three in the next couple of days!