Vacation was a change from daily rut

Have you ever held the door to the refrigerator open and stared for what seem like forever, trying to decide what to fix for supper? I have.
That was one of the things I really enjoyed about our recent trip to visit the grandkids. I didn’t have to decide what was for supper. At home we seem to choose the same things over and over. For instance, spare ribs are always paired with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes; salmon patties go with macaroni and cheese plus canned peas with peaches for dessert.
Spaghetti is sometimes paired with homemade bread; either a quick flatbread or a more time-consuming loaf of Scarborough Fair bread, named because it contains parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Friday is pizza night. We tend to order from the same place and get the same thing every week. As you can plainly see, we are in a huge rut, food wise.
We are in the same rut in the rest of our lives. We do the same things, on the same days, at the same time, day after day after day.
On vacation the timetable was tossed out the window.  We got up at about the same time as we did at home and ate the same cereal for breakfast but after that the day was spent catering to small children.
That is what I miss most - the children. They have such unique ways of looking at life. Immediate wants take priority. Potty training takes a backseat to chasing after a pet with a bubble wand. Jumping on the trampoline takes precedence over almost everything and they never had to choose what to have for lunch.
While we were there we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. Unlike our local Mexican place, which I enjoy, they had a mariachi band.
Two-year-old Jacob loves mariachi. The live music provided just enough of a difference to make the experience completely alien to what I am used to. Plus the food was similar but not alike. I just wish restaurants would offer portions that I could actually finish in one sitting. Alas, that is something I will never see as eating establishments seem to believe that all dishes served must contain enough food to provide several days worth of calories. Giving diners the option of ordering a smaller portion is akin to blasphemy.
Now we are back home and I am faced with the same dinner choices as always. It is easier to choose the same things day after day because we don’t have to think. By picking familiar foods and combinations we avoid the risk of preparing something that sounded good but turned out to taste awful. Goodness knows, we have experienced that frequently enough.
I have often been lured into trying a dish by the pretty picture in a magazine. I have never, not once, been able to duplicate the photograph.
Sometimes the food turns out great and sometimes not. I have a notebook full of recipes that we like. The problem is that few of the recipes are for two servings only.
Now all I have to do is decide what’s for dinner. Do you have any suggestions? Or should I fix the same thing I always do and hire a mariachi band to spice things up?[[In-content Ad]]