You know that moment when you realize that it is almost time for dinner and you haven't thought about dinner all day?  That terrible feeling when you thought the day was winding down but now you have to assess your pantry and fridge in the age old dilemma of What To Make For Dinner?  Let me tell you how it went down at our house last night. 

First of all, you need to know a little bit about my husband.  Josh is passionate about food.  He has read countless cookbooks and articles on ingredients and techniques.  I think he has seen every episode of Anthony Bourdain's  No Reservations and The Layover, and most episodes of every serious cooking show out there.  He makes incredible homemade pasta, bar-b-cues the best Tri-tip you will ever have and if you try to season something he is cooking you best leave the house.  He has been known to halt the cooking process mid-way and storm out of the kitchen because his sous chef disobeyed him.  (Yes, he assigns family members as sous chefs when making pancakes, bacon and eggs.)   He holds himself to very high standards and thinks everyone else should too.  This greatly affects our food situation.  

Now that you have a little background, let me move on to last night's episode of Dinner At The Hamel House.

I wasn't hungry but after realizing that it was time for dinner and I had nothing planned I opened the fridge to scan for possibilities.  No fresh meat and no other proteins other than egg which we had already eaten at breakfast meant moving on to the freezer section.  Josh does not approve of frozen food, especially frozen meats, but unless you want to go to the market every other day, frozen meat has to fill in the gaps sometimes.    There was no time to thaw anything other than fish or a chicken breast.  Fish it was.  

1. I threw a Basa fillet, still in it's sealed packet, under cold running water until thawed.   
   
2. Seasoned it with salt & pepper.  
   
3. Put a frying pan on the burner and turned it on high.  
   
4. Gave it a couple of minutes to heat up poured in a swig of olive oil and a dash of butter. 
   
5. When butter was bubbling in the oil I laid the fish in and got a nice golden crisp on it. 
   
6. Flipped the fish and turned the heat way down so it would finish cooking but not overcook.  

Meanwhile I had steamed some frozen brussel sprouts and heated up leftover frozen rice. 

Oh, the things my husband said while eating this dinner! Some women would have hit him over the head with the frying pan! I could not quit laughing as he ate it with a pathetic face like a 6 year old being forced to eat cold, soggy spinach.  

He said with a curled up lip, "This is a frozen dinner, isn't it?" 
He asked about the brussels sprout, "Why did you make these green water balls?" 
He said, "I gotta go and get some real food somewhere now but that was real exciting." 

At least he is honest and when he does compliment my cooking (which he does quite often since I am a good cook when I try) I know I have really put out a great meal.  Because I know my husband and I knew this was not the best meal I've ever made, I laughed. Someday, I may hit him over the head with a frying pan! I'll be laughing then too, maybe. 

I shared part of this on my personal Facebook page last night and had some friends respond with some pretty funny cooking stories of their own.  Have you ever been insulted about your cooking?  Did you take it with a grain of salt?  I would love to hear your stories!