Preparing Sunday Lunch

I make a priority of having a nice meal on Sunday after church.  It does take some planning as we are gone to church from 10:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m.  This means that I have to spend time Saturday night preparing some of the food in advance. 

My oldest son and his wife attend church with us and they have lunch with us on Sundays.  It's becoming a tradition and I love it.  I don't prepare big menus for Sunday but I try very hard to make sure there is a dessert.  Tomorrow's meal is simple - spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, italian bread and ice cream for dessert.  Tonight I browned the hamburger, allowed it to cool and put it in the fridge.  When I get up tomorrow morning I will put the meat and two jars of spaghetti sauce in the crockpot to simmer.  I just finished cooking the spaghetti noodles and have cooled them and put them in a tupperware container.  Lastly I chopped up cucumber, carrots, fresh basil and chives for the salad.

When we get home from church tomorrow, someone will set the table while I warm up the spaghetti noodles, slice the bread and add lettuce to the chopped vegetables I prepared tonight.  And that is that.  A simple meal for us to enjoy after church.  The best part is that I won't have a lot to clean up as I have done the majority of the cooking tonight. 

Other menus that I have prepared on past Sundays:  any simple meat on the grill such as pork loin chops, hamburgers and hot dogs, chicken breasts and small steaks.  I have put a spiral ham in the oven before we leave for church and I have also put a chuck roast in the crockpot.  I make salads the day before such as pasta, potato and broccoli.  I try to put any side dishes such as hash brown casserole and baked beans in the crockpot.  I make a dessert the day before and it could be something as simple as brownies to something more complex such as pie. 

Keep it simple.  Take some canned fruit such as fruit cocktail and add some chopped apples or take those chopped apples, add some chopped celery and raisins.  Stir in a little Miracle Whip thinned with milk and sweetened with a little sugar and you have a quick Waldorf Salad or as I have come to call it - apple salad.

It is very feasible to have a meal on the table in a reasonable amount of time after church on Sunday.  There is something wonderful about attending church with your family and then going home and sharing a meal with them.  What a great way to start the week.