When appliances break down

Sometimes we stop appreciating the tools that generally make our lives easier such as our laundry machines, dishwasher, oven, and refrigerator. Each day these are used and sometimes abused and only when they fail do we realize how much more work we would have to do without them in our lives. However, sometimes, it can be a blessing in disguise to have at least one fail, just for the sake of seeing what we would do.

This past Thursday I noticed that, although my electric, glass-top, two year-old stove was still telling time and lighting up, no heat was being produced. I called Sears and they promised a quick turnaround, after all "you purchase the protection plan." This, however, meant 3-4 days. Ouch! That's just unacceptable. I called my husband at work and his first reaction was "what about dinner, what will we do." Well, let me first clarify that WE never do anything about dinner since it is I who plans and prepares them unless of course I happen to be sick or out of town in which case it is our eldest boy who cooks (he actually enjoys the art of cooking so that's never an issue.) Anyway, since I can't cook anything on the stove or the oven until Monday afternoon, I get to plan either Crockpot, grilled or cold meals.

What a revelation that has been. I made our favorite comfort food, Macaroni and Cheese in the crock pot. That was a great Tropical Storm Hanna meal-kids loved it! We also grilled chicken, burgers, and veggies and we threw together a huge salad to eat with each meal or as a meal itself. It is amazing how creative we can be when we are forced into a situation. The leftover meats were awesome as salad toppings or in a cold sandwich, the grilled veggies were a nice addition to a chicken wrap, and lets not forget the fruit we added to our breakfast, more so than usual.

We probably saved a bundle since we have not used the stove in four days. I think I deserve a new exercise outfit and workout shoes just for that...don't you? Anyway, the moral to my story is that we should work a little harder to step outside the box and try to plan meals that do not need to be cooked or meals that use other methods of preparation. I have done all this before without the aid of a broken stove, I even do dishes without my dishwasher falling apart, however, sometimes we get into our little routines and just forget to stop and smell the burning coal.

Be creative and enjoy the natural flavors in food that is not over cooked or over boiled. Certainly steaming, grilling and simply washing before eating are excellent alternatives to preparing a meals. Even though we expect to have a fully functional stove/oven in time for dinner on Monday, I am planning to make individual pizza on the grill. I supposed I will return to share the recipe and the reviews after.

Live long,
Terie

photo by squidly