For five months, I was fortunate to have my MIL around to cook meals for myself and my family while she was looking after the two kids. I would come home from work and dinner would be ready on the table. After dinner, she would insist that I play with the kids while she did the dishes. After all, I had been away from the kids, working hard. She wanted me to have some downtime. Despite my MIL's annoying habits quirks, I do admit that I was spoiled during the time she was with us. So when she left to go back to Korea, the duties of housewifery fell back to me. Luckily, after working for most of my children's lives, I was ready to stop working and experience life as a SAHM.
After I quit my job, I went a little crazy with the domestic duties of a SAHM. I cooked tons of meals, cleaned every corner of my house, rearranged the pantry, dusted the pictures, etc. However, now that I am in the third trimester of my pregnancy, I am starting to feel the adverse effects of coming out of the gates running. The pantry has gone back to its usual disarray, sometimes the toys don't get put back in the correct place and I am now too tired to cook dinner most nights.
Thank goodness for the ease of Korean food. My MIL used to always say that Koreans are fine as long as they have rice and kimchi. Now that she is gone and no longer stinking up my kitchen with a myriad of odd smells and flavors, I have to agree. It is a good idea to always have the basics around, especially when you have 2 hungry, whiny children waiting at the table, spoons and chopsticks in hand. A few weeks ago, my parents came and whipped up about 5 types of banchan, or side dishes, for me to keep in my refridgerator in the garage. They also bought me a jar of kimchi, some toasted seaweed and a bag of bean sprouts. I was able to make most of the food last for quite a while and it was such a breeze to just pull out a few premade dishes for dinner rather than dirty every pot and pan trying to make one meal.
One particular favorite quick meal of mine is the instant Japanese curry they sell at asian markets. I can even find some brands in some of the nicer local grocery store. My favorite brand is S&B Curry Mix. It's a package of curry "blocks" that dissolve in a boiling pot of veggies and meat. It only needs to simmer for about 5 minutes and then it's ready to eat served over steaming hot white rice. I like to add carrots, potatoes and stew meat to mine but I've also made it with only vegetables as well as with chicken and shrimp. It's best served with ripe kimchi. I drool just thinking about it. I prefer the HOT version as do my children but my husband only likes the medium spice level. Wimp.
I have a feeling I'll be whipping up a few pots of this curry as my due date looms near. I know it's hot outside and curry isn't necessarily a summertime favorite, but it's an easy dish to prepare and store in the fridge for leftovers.
- Linda