u/BrontosaurusNeckTie

Aloha!

After perfecting my favorite home Mai Tai (pictured) I think I want to try making my ultimate home Navy Grog next. I'm making my way through the Smuggler's Cove book, and even though the SC Navy Grog Is pretty good, I think it could be better. I'm also kind of tandem reading Tropical Standard. Their Navy Grog seems a bit complicated, but the rum specs are interesting (and way different from SC!). I *love* the Morgan's Cove Navy Grog, which is also way different than SC, but seems to be a bit less fussy than TS. According to some preliminary research, it seems like Smith & Cross is a must? Probitas is an interesting option for the light rum portion, as well as Hamilton 86 and/or Appleton 12 for the dark rum. So I'm just curious about your personal favorite specs and rum combos, for y'know, very important research purposes. I appreciate your input!

I'm a SAHM and my husband works two jobs, so the bulk of the domestic tasks are on me (which includes cooking). My husband had some pretty scary blood work come back from the doctor about a month ago so he's had to radically change his diet. I try to eat pretty heathy and take care of myself because I'm approaching 40 and I want to feel/look good, my 4 yo is on the autism spectrum and has mild ARFID, and my 13 yo has a normal diet, but I don't want to subject him to the super pared down, bland meals that their dad eats. Occasionally he'll eat what I eat, but for the most part, he has different preferences than myself, so I end up making a separate meal for everyone. It's so incredibly annoying that I end up just eating unsatisfying and boring chicken breast and broccoli because after I've made everyone else's meals I'm so sick of cooking that I make the quickest easiest thing for myself.

Last night my husband had leftovers from a previous meal and grabbed a cheese pizza for the kids (one of the only foods they agree on lol) which meant I had the time and energy to prepare a delicious meal that I actually wanted. I cut up some peaches and put them under the broiler to make them a little charred/caramelized, toasted up some pecans, seared a chicken breast, grabbed a small handful of crumbled gorgonzola cheese, and put it all on a bed of spinach and kale with my scratch made blueberry lemon balsamic vinaigrette dressing. 🤌🏼

I'm actually a pretty good cook, and I wish I had more time to make stuff like this.

EDITING TO ADD:

Wow this got way more engagement than I was expecting! There are a lot of great suggestions in the comments to help alleviate my kitchen workload, thanks for that! So, a few things:

1. My husband does help me meal prep! Admittedly I do most of it because he works two jobs. He also makes all of his own meals during the day, so it's just dinner that I'm making for him (that he eats when he gets home late from job #2). He's a wonderful parent and husband who contributes meaningfully to our household, on top of working from 8am-11pm Monday-Friday (and occasionally on a weekend day too)

2. I recently started baking with my 13 yo and he's been loving it. The 4 yo gets involved too, but she mostly just likes to stir things and try to steal the spatula (autism moms: iykyk). I think cooking actual meals with me in the kitchen is a great next step for us, I'm sure he'd love learning how to make something. I sense fresh pasta in our future (his favorite)

3. A lot of people are asking for the vinaigrette recipe, so here it is! I pretty much eyeball it, but it's about a cup of fresh blueberries, about a third a cup of balsamic vinegar, quarter cup-ish of evoo, 2 ish tsps of fresh lemon juice and a pinch of the zest, and a small pinch of salt. Put everything in a blender, and there ya go! If it tastes too tart, I'll add a tablespoon of honey, but I personally don't like an overly sweet salad dressing and the blueberries are typically sweet enough for me. Sometimes I'll add a lil Dijon mustard and maybe fresh basil, but the basil can be a tad overwhelming, so I usually stick to the base recipe. Also, this salad is awesome with pears as well! They get nice and caramelized under the broiler too, and it goes well with the gorgonzola. You can sub feta too if you wish, but I like a funky cheese.

Editing to add one more thing: Y'all, it's a stainless steel mixing bowl, it's pretty standard kitchenware that comes in a set with a bunch of sizes. It's not a dog bowl. We don't even have a dog lol.