July 25, 2013

Cooking...How I Dread Thee.

-By Amy

So, here's the deal.  I stink at cooking.  When I try to cook, I end up scraping burnt toast, spilling frozen peas all over the floor (happened last week), undercooking or overcooking meat, and digging egg shells out of batter.  When I make brownies, there's like 6 gouges in the top from me checking it complusively, scared that I'll overcook them.  When I'm cooking chicken in a pan, I cut open like every piece to know if it's done, letting out the juices and causing my best-known recipe: "Chicken Jerky".

My dislike for cooking started young.  My mom tried to get me to take my turn every week cooking dinner, and even tried to teach me...but, I was a brat and resisted any effort on her part to teach me any "homemaking" skills.  Whenever it was my turn, I made spaghetti.  My mom wisely chose her battles and let me cook my spaghetti.  In college, I realized that cooking caused me to spend 30 minutes making something that I wolfed down in 3.  UGH!  Also, the dishes left over after a nice meal made me want to just go chuck all my pots and pans in my apartment complex's dumpster.  Consequently, I ate a lot of sandwiches, spaghetti, and microwaved quesadillas.  (On paper plates of course.) 

I felt fancy when I made this: chicken salad sandwiches with fruit salad and a cheese stick...I'm so gourmet! :)
My husband, on the other hand, likes to cook.  He worked in restaurants for years, and is experienced enough that he can just throw in ingredients without measuring.  He can improvise and substitute ingredients, and his food always turns out!  Mingling flavors and using subtle spices make his little cooking heart glow.  (I'm like, "There's such thing as WHITE pepper?  And...what the crap is paprika?"  My palette is not so sophisticated.  Don't get me wrong, I love good food, but also love to dump salsa or barbeque sauce on everything, which makes my poor husband cringe.

I admire his skill, and I've always been happy to let him cook.  I mean, it's not like I lounge on the couch, eating bon-bons and watching soaps while my husband slaves away over a hot stove--no, we've always cooked together.  Well, mostly I just follow his directions: "Measure this, chop this, stir this," etc.  Which I like.  Nowadays, I'm usually feeding Hayden his dinner at his high chair and occasionally chopping this and that.  So, my husband continues to cook most nights.  And I continue to be a a lame-o non-cooking human.

Here's the deal, though.  Some days he can't cook.  He gets home from classes too late, or he's got other stuff going on.  And in the future, when he's done with school, he will have a grown-up job where you don't get home at 4 everyday--more like 6.  I will need to make dinner, or at least start dinner everyday if our kids are going to have food before bedtime!

"Amy, you pansy, what's the big deal?"...you may ask.  "It's just food!"

Well, undercooked chicken can kill my whole family.  How's that for pressure?  And, it's intimidating to cook for a foodie, like my husband.  I mean, he's never rude when I cook and he always thanks me, I just know how much he loves good food and the care he puts into cooking, so I get nervous that my food will taste lame and flavorless.  Plus, there's so much to keep track of when cooking--all the ingredients, the temps, the times, and that's just for one dish!  If you have a main dish and two sides... I'm toast.  Man, the timing kills me!  Starting everything at the right time for all the food to be warm and ready to go at dinner time?  Yikes.  When I cook, we usually have dinner after 7:30, cause I don't even think about it till 6, then it takes me 30 minutes to agonize over what to make, then an hour of chaos and crying, (my son usually, but occasionally me...ha).  Plus, I get confused...like when a recipe says, "Saute in oil."  I'm like, "Ok, I know what saute means, but what kind of oil?  Vegetable oil?  Canola oil?  Olive oil?  WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL ME WHAT KIND OF OIL!?"  Or, "Salt and pepper to taste."  And I'm pulling my hair out thinking, "SO--I'm supposed to just pop some of this raw meat into my mouth to see if I put enough salt in it?" 

When I'm trying to cook, things just go wrong.  While I'm checking the noodles, the garlic bread broils to a crisp.  Or I totally forget to start the rice before making the sweet and sour sauce, and then we're waiting 20 minutes after the sauce is done for any rice to put it on.  Whenever I cook, my A.D.D mind starts freaking out, and next thing I know I'm burning food, forgetting ingredients, mis-counting the teaspoons... then throwing my hands up and pulling out a frozen pizza instead. 

Grilled cheese sandwhiches.  I had to take a picture, because I actually managed to burn not one, but BOTH SIDES!  OY.

You know what?  Enough is enough.  I need to push myself to cook.  I don't want to forever be anxious about cooking.  I don't want my kids embarassed when they have a friend over for dinner.  The time has come.

My goal is to make 4 meals next week.  And two of those four need to be something new I've never made before.  (Baby steps!)

Will you please help me? 

What meal(s) does your family love that are pretty easy, don't take too long, and are relatively healthy?  I'm trying to stay away from "cheesy peperoni tater-tots covered in sour cream, bacon, swimming in butter" kind of stuff.  As yummy as that sounds, I don't have the metabolism I used to have, people! 

Recipe ideas, advice, tips--I want it all!  Thank you in advance.  My son and future children depend on you!  And, please tell me I'm not alone.  Do you struggle with cooking?  Or did you before, then learned to love it?  I'd love to hear.  :) 
-Amy

Ps. I'm counting on you guys too hold me accountable!  Hopefully knowing that you all know my goal might keep me from pulling out the Freshetta!

Pss.  I'm sure you have other momma friends who are amazing in the kitchen.  Please SHARE this post with them so they can share their wisdom and advice!  I'd SO appreciate it.

20 comments:

  1. http://jamiecooksitup.net/2010/07/sesame-noodles/
    Is one of our new favorite recipes! Seriously it is so good! (And my husband isn't a big Asian fan). I do red pepper flakes instead of the paste because I don't have it, it worked great!
    http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/04/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos/
    Is another favorite-I do a triple batch and throw them in the freezer!
    And last:
    http://www.the-taste-tester.com/2012/02/mini-corn-dogs_18.html
    They turned out so good! It also makes a bunch so we froze them and they've been great!
    All 3 sites are great resources and I've used a lot of other recipes from them too! Good Luck!

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    1. I love "Our Best Bites" because they explain every step so clearly! I actually made those taquitos, (It took me a while, casue I'm a slow cook, but it wasn't too complicated) and they were freakin delicious. I haven't heard of the other two sites, so I will def be checking them out! Thanks, Kara!

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  2. Ha! I used paper plates my whole first year of college to warm up my frozen burritos (with Taco Bell sauce packets) and "english muffin-sandwich meat-cheese" breakfast sandwiches. :) Best.decision.ever!

    Whenever there were roommate conflicts about unwashed dishes, I just smiled and went about my biz. They weren't mine! :D

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    1. Haha...smart! Billy always ate frozen burritos, too! Oh I don't miss the roomate dishes spats...ha!

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  3. Crockpot meals and salads sound like your thing. I have boards devoted to both these things. A few easy things in the crockpot:
    chicken tacos-- a few chicken breasts and a bottle of pace picante sauce. Cook on low all day and shred. Serve with tortillas and taco toppings (lettuce, tomato, sour cream, hot sauce, etc)
    "Mississippi roast" aka the best roast in the world. 1 cheap beef roast, ranch dressing mix packet, au jus gravy mix packet, peppercinis (optional if you don't like kick, it gives you only a little) 1 stick butter, potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered depending on size. Place roast and potatoes in crockpot. Sprinkle packets over roast, place butter stick and pepper on roast. Cook on low all day.
    Salads are easy. You get any type of salad toppings and dressing and put them together. An easy way to have chicken to put on it is to buy rotisserie chicken and shred it. Or you can take a chicken breast and boil it for 30-45 minutes (45 if its frozen). Easy fully cooked chicken!!

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    1. Kayla, Yes. I need to learn the world of croc-potting. I haven't really done much, cause I stink at planning ahead and they usually take a couple hours, but I want to start making a meal plan for the week.
      Both those recipes sound good! I LOVE salsa, so that recipes' gotta be a winner! Thanks! :)

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  4. My dad always made breakfasts on the weekends. He loved to make scrambled eggs/omelettes. And he would get so frustrated when as soon as he placed his masterpiece of flavor before me, I would say, Ketchup please! One day when Rob and I were married, we spent the weekend at my parents' and my Dad went all out on his scrambled eggs. There was the usual, chopped ham, cheese, onions, green and red peppers,etc ....and then there was the not so usual, hickima, and radishes. I did my best to ignore the hickima, but the radishes? Not possible to ignore! KETCHUP PLEASE!!!!! btw...Something my boys love to eat is hot dog rollups. put shredded cheese and a hotdog on a tortilla, then leaving it flat melt the cheese in the microwave, the hotdog will heat up also. no more than one minute on high. or else the tortilla will harden. Then add ketchup, and mustard and relish or whatever the kids like. Then roll the tortilla up around the hot dog. And there you have a hot dog rollup. My boys love them. Good Luck!

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  5. Amy, one of my favorite cooking blogs is Mels Kitchen Cafe. She's a mom of 5 (or 6?). I've liked pretty much everything I've tried on it and loved a good 75% (like it's become part of my dinner routine good). Her recipes are yummy and usually practical (no crazy ingredients and generally doesn't take too long). She also tends to cook kind of whole food style (no cream o' whatever soups). So I've become pretty good at making things from scratch...not as hard as you'd think and SO much yummier. http://www.melskitchencafe.com/

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    1. Lori, thanks! I looked up Mel's blog and it is soooo pretty. And, the food looks good too! :) I need to spend some time on the "30 minute meal" tab. Thanks again!

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  6. Lol. I've been there. The first time I ever made a meal for my husband he complained so I stopped cooking for a long time. Luckily, he loves to cook which is good as we are both full time workers plus I add 2 hours to my day commuting. But when I was laid off from my job at 5 months pregnant, I took my role as a SAHW and then SAHM seriously, keeping the house picked up, cleaning as best I could and meal planning and cooking. I've found what works best is planning our meals for the next week, grocery shopping as a family over the weekend and keeping the meals short and simple. Some of our favorite recipes come from the South Beach Diet Quick Meals and Super Quick Meal cookbooks. Otherwise, check out Everyday Food Recipes from Martha Stewart. You can count on most recipes to be healthy with limited ingredients and all recipes are meant to be fast. The more you cook, the better you will get. I used to not be able to adjust a recipe to meet our needs and tastes, which is partly why I hated cooking - its not like baking that is more exact. But as you cook more you will learn how to adjust and you will learn how your pots and pans, stove and oven work best and how to adjust timing to account for such. I can make lasagna now without measuring out spices! And most days I enjoy making a healthy dinner for my family - of course there are days where I am just overly tired. Another good source for healthy meals is skinnytaste.com though those recipes can be more time consuming. With kids, you want to make it quick. Read the recipe when deciding if you are going to try it to make sure you don't need to marinate in advance. And to hold you accountable, why not post the meal plan for the week here on your blog? Good luck!

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    1. SO I just looked at the Martha Stewart Everday stuff...beautiful photos, and there's a section called main dishes in 15 minutes!!! I'm in heaven! Thank you! I will be perusing this more. And, yes, I plan on posting my menu for the week tomorrow, if I can stop feeling overwhelmed and just do it. :) Thanks Sarah!

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  7. Sometimes I wonder how I survived when I was going through college. Before I got married, I NEVER cooked for myself. Well, I fixed food to eat, but it basically consisted of a piece of lunch meat thrown in between two slices of toasted bread. I would throw some BBQ sauce in for some flavor. I was always so busy and didn't have time to cook, plus, I didn't consider myself a good cook anyway. However, after getting married and realizing that another person depended on me to cook once in a while, I did some shaping up. My secret to cooking is never inventing things and always following recipes to a T. Yes, Pinterest and Allrecipes are my friends. The only problem is that sometimes the recipes can be wrong (OK it only went REALLY bad one time). I had a chili recipe call for 4 tablespoons of salt. 4 TABLESPOONS! Why I didn't see that as a problem, I do not know. I've never used that much salt in ANYTHING in my entire life. Needless to say, I had to through the whole pot of chili out. So now, I only make new recipes that have 4 stars or higher on Allresipes.com.

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    1. Hahaha...I love your secret: never invent anything. I also need to follow that rule. It turns out badly!

      Oh man, the salty chilli....

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  8. I dread cooking too, but find it easier when I plan ahead. I've come up with a meal planning system that works for us and when I follow it I have what I need to cook and know what I'm cooking. There is less stress/dread over cooking and I just do it and we have well balanced dinners. But there are times, months even, when I get out of this habit and cereal makes a good dinner. Check out my blog to see what I mean about how I meal plan. http://controllingcraziness.blogspot.com/2012/03/meal-planning.html
    I'm also following you via FB and Google +

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    1. Wow, that is a cool system you have going on there! Yes, I need to plan ahead. I sat down to write out a week menu tonight but got all anxious and overwhelmed and didn't do it! Ha! How lame! :) I like your clothespins!

      And, welcome! We're glad to have you! :)

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  9. I have no suggestions for you. I just want to say, we are one in the same. You're not alone.

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    1. Bahahah...well, at least you have a great excuse: a newborn! :)

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  10. Great Post! You'll catch on! Give yourself a break :)

    One of the easiest recipes on my blog is my crockpot cube steak
    here's the link... I promise you won't screw it up ;)

    http://www.maybeiwill.com/2013/01/crock-pot-cube-steak.html

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  11. love this post!

    We love salsa and chicken. seriously thats it. Put 3-5 chicken breasts in your crockpot, pour a bottle of salsa over it and cook it on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken and serve on tortillas or over salad. It is soo easy and soo good! It makes a ton too!! I make this with the leftover sauce and chicken:

    http://randrworkshop.blogspot.com/2013/03/chicken-cilantro-soup.html

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  12. I love this post! I haven't found anyone else who feels the same way as I do about cooking- until now! Thanks for sharing, that really helps. I also feel an obligation/desire to be good at cooking and so I feel the need to push myself too! Most of the time, I don't even know what I want to eat or what sounds good- even when I eat out, I have to have my husband order for me! I was hoping that with this pregnancy I would get some cravings, but no such luck. Let me know how your adventure with cooking goes. Maybe I should watch Julie and Julia for some inspiration. haha..

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