Simplistic Dinners

photo credit:simplemost.com

The purpose of a family dinner is to bring people, who happen, too be related,together.   I was blessed with probably close to five full months of meals provided for our family, during the acute stages of my recovery. The meals were fantastic! They blessed us and nurtured our hearts and souls as we gave thanks to God for friends and family who sacrificially gave up their time and money to sign up and bring us a meal.


After the meals waned, for a few weeks, I gave birth to Ezekiel birth.. then they started up again :) God bless those who love to make enchiladas and lasagna !!!

The meals tapered and Krista, my sister in love, assumed that full time role, grocery shopping, meal prepping, preparing, the works. She went from making dinner for one to seven hungry humans.  I resented every ounce of her role in that interim.. but she had no choice... we had to eat! I resented her in that position because not was a daily reminder of what I could no longer do, and it hurt.

After eight months post stroke I was given permission, under supervision, to make my first meal of spaghetti and meatballs. Because I could no longer multi task. The meal looked like this:
1. Boil water
....sit and wait
2. Ask for help to drain the water
...sit and wait
3. Ask for help to open spaghetti jars
...sit and wait for help
4. mix sauce, ask for help to hold the pot , so it did not slide all over the stove top
5. Ask for help to open meatball package ( I had no flexible thinking which stopped me from problem solving anything).
6. preheat oven
sit and wait
7. put meatballs in oven
sit and wait
8. mix meatballs in pot, again ask for help
9. mix in Cesear Salad into a bowl
10. eat- the kitchen had an explosion in it- why was I trying to do this again?


For months , I attempted one meal a week. Eat and every time it was a painstaking issue.

Almost two years post stroke, I moved up to four meals a week they were planned with the assistance of my speed therapist. I was improving! My occupational therapist oversaw my grocery shopping ventures.. my frugal ways never let me....Ha! I knew a good sale when I saw it, pre stoke and post stroke!!!!


By, June 2014..I transitioned from 4 meals to seven meals AND  independent grocery shopping. I would wheel my faithful double stroller to the grocery store and feel giddy knowing I was all alone , shopping for non other than FRUIT, MEAT, VEGGIES, AND TOILETRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Due to the days being filled with therapy. I would trot off to Frys with the stroller at  night, park it, shop, push my stroller home and unload happy as a clam to once again reclaim an area they didn't know if I would ever regain. Thank you Jesus!

Krista painstakingly researched and adopted countless recipes for me to use, i.e.: Frys and Walmart, in their freezer section have cut up onions!!!!!!  If the recipe called for chicken, we would use canned chicken.   have the most amazing can opener and lid openers and adaptive  cutting boards! I have come so far, my kitchen is so orderly and clean now and I can multi task now :)

We eat dinner nightly together, we are thankful not because I am a master chef (because Lord knows I am not. ) Most nights our meals are loud, things spill,the dog begs for food, and they are chaotic. The point is, we take the time to "family"... and we  do it together with no help! Chrish the small, seemingly unimportant moments... because when they are taken from  you, your heart will obsess about those simple times you had.