…na mana’o ulu wale…

when we were younger, we had to cook dinner once a week. we had to do everything–buy the food, prepare it, and then clean up afterwards. my night was wednesday because that was the only night i didn’t have hula or anything. it was torture trying to think of something to cook that was within budget. i sympathized with my mom who would always ask us when we’re younger what we’d want for dinner, and we’d answer “i don’t know.” i had that same frustration!!!

1. spaghetti. my mom taught me this when i was younger. i didn’t use spaghetti sauce, either. i made it with tomato sauce, paste, tomatoes, spices, and sugar. i remember once i put in too much sugar, and that night both my sisters’ boyfriends were over, so they ate, too, and i think i had forgotten that i had already put in sugar, and i put in more, and it was way tooooooo sweet. so my sister’s boyfriend, in disgust, went around and took orders from everyone for mcdonalds and went out and got mcdonalds. i sat there with my bowl of spaghetti all sad. i ended up throwing the whole thing out. both my sisters’ boyfriends never came to dinner on a wednesday night again.
2. lasagna. same thing as the spaghetti, we made our own sauce. this was fun to make, though, and it always came out pretty good.
3. macaroni (see a pattern?). again, made our own sauce. it was cheap and easy to make.
4. grunge. again, easy and cheap. my sisters didn’t care for it, but my dad liked it. now, though, both my sisters like it and will make it every so often. my son still turns up his nose at it, though.
5. shepherd’s pie. i looooved this whenever we had it at school. this is the yummiest thing! my mom had purchased a school cookbook and this recipe was in it!!! so i made this often. again, cheap and easy to make, so a big plus! my sisters didn’t like it, but now, my little sister makes this all the time.
6. munchskins. yummy! again, cheap! ground beef, taco seasoning, and potatoes! oh, and cheese. yummmmmm.
7. chowder. i only made this when i had a little bit more money to spend! this was a bit more expensive, but everyone loves chowder, especially on a cold, rainy day.
8. Portuguese bean soup/tripe stew. i did this too when i had more money to spend. it was expensive getting all the ingredients together. i would wait until hamhocks got on sale, usually. towards the end, i would always add tripe in there, yum!
9. chili. another easy dish. but i think i only made it if beans were on sale. now i just do it the easy way–boil those packets from zippys! their chili is much better, anyway.
10. drumsticks. very easy to make, but you had to wait until the drummettes came on sale. but just sprinkle the garlic salt and pepper on it, bake it, and it’s done! yum!