Sometimes, pork tenderloin changes things

Who would have thought a pork tenderloin could lead to this? But here I am blogging for the first time ever, while the faint scent of a cranberry glazed pork tenderloin wafts around my kitchen, playing to the edges of the room like a tease. The crock pot has been cleaned, dishwasher run, kids tucked in, but the smell of the tenderloin lingers. I would know. I made it.
I have long lamented, even scorned and begrudged, the fact that our family of five-me, my husband, and three super kids-rarely eat a home-cooked meal. We have a chronic eating out problem. We employ restaurants, drive-thrus, delis, take-outs, and deliveries. We spend way too much on little nutrition and have developed a difficult habit to break. But that all changes with the tenderloin. It was our first home cooked meal since Thanksgiving, a meal that I, sans one dish, did not prepare. I made it in the crock pot and served it with a vegetable and rice. We used real plates and, for a grand total of about eight minutes were all sitting around the same table.
Now, lest anyone be saddened by the thought of us never sitting down to dinner together, be assured that we eat together everyday. It's just that we usually do so in a small booth where the kids get crayons to use and we throw peanuts on the floor. The kids are asking, "Where are we eating dinner?" My husband, who has never suggested even the slightest expectation that I have dinner ready and is as bad as I am with the eating out, does seem quite grateful for any meal I have troubled to prepare.
And so it goes that the Walker family in 2010 will attempt to eat out less. Way less. I'm talking only twice a month, a significant reduction in what we are accustomed to. We will cook at home. We will try new things. I understand this means regular planning and shopping. I am still unclear on all the details. But the kitchen table will be used for more than a catch-all, a laundry table or an art desk.
Join us, won't you, for an adventure in food and self discovery?