John,
As a single mom with three kids and a budget, I cook from scratch a lot. And while cooking meals is honestly not nearly as fun as whiteboarding witnesses, I do love seeing happy children when they come to the dinner table. I have a big bell, with a wooden ringer, that I clang to summon the kids downstairs. I know they heard it because I hear the thundering down the hallway.
But when I’m in Washington, I cannot cook dinner, and my first year in Congress there was a lot of complaining—even about pizza! My kids want their mom’s cooking, and they want it nearly every night, regardless of where the demands of my job require me to be.
The solution is aggressive meal planning. On the days I fly to D.C. for votes and hearings, I get up at 5:30 a.m. I quickly get ready for the plane and then prepare a dinner for the kids to enjoy that night. It’s always a slow cooker recipe or something that can sit in the fridge until the kids cook it. Favorites include pot roast, my grandma Doris’s meatballs, baked potato bar, chili, and a pepperoncini beef. (Contribute $5 or more by next Friday and I’ll send you some recipes!).
Last week, it was black bean soup, and as you see from the meal plan, I have learned to be specific. Just like with government witnesses, I sometimes have to spell out how to do the job, even if it seems obvious. “Take out bay leaves” comes from a past experience, where my kids were calling me while I was in Washington because they thought a tree leaf somehow got in their soup. And “wash the crockpot”—you guessed it, I’ve come home to it supposedly still soaking, three days later.
I know there are millions of other busy Americans juggling many responsibilities. If you’d like to make some of my favorite recipes, contribute $5 or more before Friday, March 17th, and we’ll send you some of my original recipes.
Happy meal-prepping!
Katie Porter
