Dream Dinners

December 2012 was the worst.  My baby who had been sleeping pretty well started getting up 3-4 times per night. This was right after I agreed to be the Primary president in our ward with a zillion details to take care of before the new year started. (I was to oversee the teaching of all kids in the congregation ages 18 months-12 years if you are confused).  And the Sundays--oh, the Sundays!  I've never felt so frazzled in my life trying to run Primary, nurse my baby, follow up with 7 people on 12 different things, hurry and feel inspired about people to call to x position, pack and haul multiple bags of toys, snacks, diapers, visuals for my lessons, etc. all with a sleep-deprived muddle brain.  It's the closest I've come to a breakdown, but instead of crying to let it out - I sometimes wish I was more of a crier! - I would get super resentful and fantasize about leaving the Church.  I started telling my husband he needed to let 24 hours pass before he asked how things went; my rantings had usually calmed to a less disturbing level by Monday. Also, I might never recover from the distaste I developed for Christmas last year--must make season magical!

Dream Dinners helped take the edge off my problems.  I thought I might enjoy cooking more when I had a bigger kitchen with more conveniences, but no.  So I started going in once/month to pack up 8-9 meals I could keep in my fridge and freezer. (Cost is around $200 each time).  I realized it wasn't the cooking I disliked as much as the "what should we have for dinner?" question that was always looming, and the crappy feeling I'd have when I defaulted to frozen pizza. I still fill in with my own cooking, but I have options and don't have to plan so much. The food has been really good, and we've been eating a better variety of dishes and going to the grocery store less.  Sometimes I'll think "I could make (x dish) for less," but whatever.  It's better than eating out or having lots of processed convenience foods, and I don't know what price to put on the mental break it's given me; so worth it!  Dream Dinners has locations throughout the U.S.  I highly suggest checking them out.