Meals on Wheels

Yesterday I did a cook-a-thon for 6 hours and then loaded up everything to deliver to Joe's parents in Louisville.  His Mom is recovering from some major heart issues and his Dad has been dealing with his own major health issues for the past 3 years and neither of them are able to take care of each other, much less themselves.  So that is the reason for the meals on wheels run to Louisville yesterday.

I forgot how much I enjoy just cooking and cooking and cooking all day like that because of Joe's hectic travel schedule these past several months and I haven't needed to cook with no one being home for dinner.  It's just no fun to cook all day and have no one to eat the fruits of my labor, and I'm not a big eater, especially at night, so no need to cook big for myself, when a bag of popcorn serves me well for dinner!

I made a roast with huge whole mushrooms and this amazing sauce/gravy..... very rich, but perfect in flavor profile.  To go with the roast, I made roasted poatoes, roasted veggies (carrots, celery, onion, broccoli), a tossed salad, mixed fresh cut up fruit, fresh bread (the kind from Kroger that you warm up in the oven), blueberry muffins (made from fresh blueberries).... and then I also made a pasta salad for his Mom who loves it so she would have something fresh and light to nibble on for lunches.  The roast was pure perfection and the aroma of the roast with the gravy set the whole house to drool as I warmed it up.  I was trying to make it tasty and healthy, so even tho we are having hot weather, I knew the roasted veggies would be healthier and go perfectly with the roast.  Ok...... so the sauce/gravy isn't what you would consider the healthiest choice, it was quite rich..... but it put the flavor of the roast over the top of deliciousness!  I usually make several batches of soup for my meals on wheels deliveries..... but I thought a good old fashioned roastbeef meal would make his Mom feel much better.

While the roast was cooking, an appliance repairman came to the house to fix my broken washer.... which took all of 15 minutes to repair, and then I was doing the mountain load of laundry that had piled up while it was broken.  My daughter Jessica had the day off so she came over and we sat outside and visited for a bit, then I loaded up the car with all the delectable goodies and with my convertible top down, I drove to Louisville with the beautiful sun shining down on my face.  It was such a fun drive with the wind blowing, my radio blasting and me singing the whole way totally off key and not caring!

I ate dinner with Joe's parents and enjoyed a very nice visit with them.  I ran a couple of errands for his Mom and then headed over to my Mom's house to get in a quickie visit with my ailing Grandmother and my Mom, and then back on the road to home at 10:00pm (it is an hour and half drive home)..... but.... once again I had the radio blasting and singing off key all the way home.

It was one of those days that I accomplished soooo much, yet..... it was a fun day, spent with several family members..... I hit the bed completely exhausted, yet smiling from ear to ear.  Today..... jetlag has decided to return and I'm slugging my way thru the day, but still managing to continue to check off things on my 'to do' list.  I went and picked up my baskets of flowers to plant in my pots, picked up some new herb plants for my herb garden and am about to go meet with the florist for my daughters wedding flowers.  The day is gorgeous... the sun is shining, the temperature is HOT.... just the way I love it and I finally feel like summertime has arrived!  WOO HOO!!!!

It just feels soooo good to be soooo exhausted from doing good things for others.  I have experienced my fair share of needing others to care give for me a year ago, and while it was wonderful that soooo many family and friends stepped up to help me out when I needed it...... I MUCH prefer being the care giver instead of the care needer.

Love and Hugs from the "Soup Lady"!