the week of the worst dinners

I meal plan. It's one of those Pinterest-mom, life skill things that I'm actually really good at. Sunday nights I pull out my cookbooks, open Evernote, and plan the week's food. It's one of my favorite parts of the week, because it's full of lists and planning. Last week, however, did not go according to plan.

After Monday's and Tuesday's dinners flopped, Wednesday I decided to go with a family favorite: chicken and dumplings. It did not turn out well. Think smoke furling out of the pot, setting off the smoke alarm, and stinking up the entire house. The entire house. Think really angry, ugly crying on my part. It was a complete disaster. It took several hours of a baking-soda soak and some serious elbow grease to clean the pot. It was the kind of devastation that had me calling my mom in heaving tears and resorting to pumpkin bread for dinner. And to top it off I spent $20 at the local grocer for a stove-top potpourri concoction I found on Pinterest. Good hell doesn't even begin to cover the evening.

Thursday I made meatloaf, because if I ever mess up meatloaf then I will vow to give up dinners forever. The meatloaf turned out. Thankfully.