15 minute dinner

Despite all the times that I have moved over the years, I still forget how long it takes to get truly settled in a new place. I've unpacked the main parts of the house, but the basement and the attic remain full of taped-up boxes that really need to be unpacked or repacked. I've been methodically working through these boxes over the last couple of weeks, but I reached the point where I needed some help from my husband, so we spent the weekend digging through all the crap boxes of precious memories and lost treasures. We were so busy that it soon was six o'clock on Sunday night and we were both starving.

In Charlotte, six o'clock and starving meant that I'd cook the Dream Dinners entree I had defrosting in the refrigerator, and we'd be eating in 20 minutes. In Milwaukee, not so much. No Dream Dinners. No meal prep places anywhere I can find. No dinner help.

Excuse me while I get a tissue.

I'm starting my new job in a couple of weeks (yay!), but I'm going to have an even longer commute than I had in Charlotte (boo!). I know I'm going to be exhausted when I get home, especially in the first few weeks, and getting dinner on the table is going to be a challenge. And while I find cooking relaxing, I find grocery shopping stressful and I find clean up even more stressful, and that's not what I want after coming home from a long day at a new job.

So how am I going to make dinner every night? Yes, I understand I can cook in advance. Yes, I will use my crockpot. Yes, I understand I can get takeout on the really busy nights. Yes, we can go out to dinner. But all of those options either cost more than they should, aren't as healthy as home preparation, take too much time or energy, and/or will make my house messy.

Back to Sunday night. We were starving and I needed to get something on the table quickly, but after our pizza on Friday and another trip to Kopp's on Saturday, I also wanted something light and somewhat healthy. We had leftovers, but neither of us was in the mood for leftovers. That's when I remembered our go-to quick and healthy dinner: tortellini salad.

Tortellini salad is just a regular salad with cheese tortellini on top, and it's one of our favorite meals. It's also one of the meals that I can get on the table in fifteen minutes, and I almost always have the ingredients on hand because there isn't a specific recipe. I buy tortellini (or ravioli works too) when it's on sale and throw it in the freezer, and we usually have various salad ingredients in the house. My tortellini salad usually consists of romaine lettuce or spring mix, grape tomatoes or chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, gorgonzola, and whole wheat three cheese tortellini, and tossed with balsamic vinegar and EVOO. If we have leftover chicken, I'll throw that in too, but it's not necessary. Tortellini cooks incredibly fast and yet I can still chop all the vegetables and make the dressing in the time it takes to cook those little pasta nuggets.

I very easily could have thrown a frozen pizza in the oven or made a turkey sandwich with baby carrots - and we do eat those things- but tortellini salad felt more fulfilling and more dinner-like. Even though it's a salad, it still feels like a real meal because there's pasta, and pasta and a salad feels like dinner. Plus it has gorgonzola cheese, and that makes it fancy. Because I said so.

These are the types of dinners I need to have in my arsenal for my return to work - meals made with ingredients I have on hand (or I can easily stock up on in advance), that have some nutritional value, and that I can have on the table in 15-20 minutes. And really, doesn't every housewife need a list of 15 minute meals for those days when the kids have soccer practice or the end of day meeting ran late or you're just plain ol' exhausted from a day of cleaning and shopping and running errands and unpacking boxes of junk that never should've been moved? I know I do.

What are your 15 minute dinner ideas?

It's not you, it's me

Charlotte, I'm breaking up with you. But it's not you, it's me.

You've been a great home for the last year and a half. You've taught me a lot about myself and about my interests and goals. We definitely had a lot of fun - I loved the Whitewater Center and the Lazy 5 Ranch and all the awesome restaurants. I loved my country club, my tennis lessons, and my water aerobics classes. I love that it's 75 degrees in the middle of February. You made me very, very happy.

But I miss my family and I miss my friends, and so it's time for me to move back to Wisconsin. I'm sure the first time I am forced to shovel, I'll be longing for a southern snowstorm instead, but the weather isn't enough of a reason for me to stay.

Hopefully we can stay friends and I can visit you again, and maybe someday you'll be my home again. I'll miss you, and you'll always have a special place in my heart.

Love,
The Real Housewife of Charlotte Milwaukee

Put my money where my mouth is

On my one-year anniversary of moving to Charlotte, I reflected on how I'd changed during my year of being a housewife in Charlotte. In that post, I noted that my priorities had shifted and that I didn't think I'd ever move again to benefit my career unless I was certain my husband would benefit as well. I've told my husband something similar many times, and have also told him that if an amazing career opportunity presents itself to him and we have to move again, I will support him 100% and follow him wherever he goes.

Well, it may be time to put my money where my mouth is.

I have not been offered a job anywhere else, but I did just start a job in Charlotte. My husband, on the other hand, was offered a job in Wisconsin where we used to live. It's an exciting opportunity for him, and one that seems to be a natural fit for his skills and experience and personality. I couldn't be happier for him or more proud of him.

It couldn't be worse timing for me.

As I mentioned before, my job isn't my dream job, or even especially challenging. It is a job, however, and I like what I'm doing. And I'm very good at it. The thought of leaving my job after just a few weeks, of starting the job hunting process over again, of potentially being a housewife again ... it's a little overwhelming. I'm not sure that I want to do it again.

And I hate snow. It was 60 degrees here on Wednesday. I doubt that will happen in January in Wisconsin.

My husband is not happy in his job here, and I don't blame him. He's taken quite a few hits and he's frankly outgrown his job. He deserves better and he's earned the opportunity that he's been offered in Wisconsin. Even if we decide to stay in Charlotte, I doubt he'll stay at his company. I don't want him to stay there. But that opens up a door of even more unknowns because we don't know when he'll find something new and if he'll even like it if he does.

But I just started my job.

But we would be closer to family and friends which is very appealing.

But I love Charlotte. There I said it. I love Charlotte. Charlotte has been good for me. Granted, this may all change now that I'm not strictly a housewife, but thus far, I'm still enjoying my life in Charlotte.

I don't know what it will be like in Wisconsin this time around. I don't know if I'll have a job, or if I'll be satisfied being a housewife in Wisconsin until I can find a job. I know I won't have my country club, but I will have other things that I don't have here, like my family and friend's houses to go visit instead.

My husband and I have a lot to think about and talk about this weekend.