Party Food Disasters.

By Amy

Well, tis the season for Holiday Parties.

This is my last party contribution.  Sorry, that's a lie.  Sigh.  Isn't it beautiful?

Which means...making food for other people.   (Oh, the terror!!!)   For us cooking-impaired, whether we're hosting a dinner party or just taking a dish to the church Christmas social, we are bound to experience some major anxiety.  I've told you before that I stink at cooking--so the thought of my inability displayed for others to see makes my stomach churn.  And to have my pathetic dish sitting in comparison to the classy dishes of all the other ladies with foodie skills?  Yikes.  I usually give up before a pot-luck and beeline it to the Oreo section of Walmart.  And I invite Papa Murphy to my dinner parties.

When my hub Patrick is there to cook, or when we can teamwork it, I do much better.  He's got cooking skillz and he usually keeps me from burning things.

But, I know I'm not the only one who dreads making food for parties.

Here are some of my sister Julie’s hilarious stories about party food fiascos.  For you that love making delicious deserts and delectable dishes, hats off to you!  Please come to my next party and bring your fabulous food with you! :)  But to my non-foodies out there, maybe my sister's experiences will bring you tidings of comfort and joy this holiday party season!  They made me feel better!  :)

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When my husband and I were first married, we moved into a new ward (local church group) in a pretty fancy area.

At our first potluck party, I wanted to impress--ya know, really make friends and influence people.  I decided to make banana pudding.  First, I made the pudding and put the whip cream on top, then nicely arranged bananas on it to make it look all Martha Stewart.  I got to the party and set the pudding down on the table full of beautiful food.  Then, like one minute later, the bananas looked brown and shrively.  And nasty.  Well, I think by the end of the night, one person tried the pudding.  Oh wait, that was probably me.  I was so embarrassed.  I took my pudding home and bawled.

Julie and her cute fam!

But, I've had more bad experiences.

My stew was burned and turned into this thick gravy stuff, instead of soup.

I burned the potato casserole, then I tried to take out the burned parts--it didn't work.

I bought rolls from the grocery store last minute and the only ones they had were super hard and crusty.  Those were not the hit of the party.

At potlucks, the pressure’s on to prove your domestic skills.  It’s almost a competition.  I'm kind of jealous of the moms who are well-known for their specialty.  Like, "Oh, I hope ____ is bringing her incredible Apple Pie!"  Those ladies are amazing!

But, I guess at the end of the day, we all have our talents.  Mine isn’t baking.  I felt better when I heard the bishops's wife (like the pastor's wife) say she couldn't cook!  Well, at least that means that I'm not the only one! :)

-By Julie

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Hahahha, thanks Julie!  It really doesn't matter if she can't cook...She is kind and fun, and a great mom and one of the most talented artists I've ever known!  So, in this holiday season of fanciness of all kinds, just remember that whatever your talents, they are worthwhile!  If you're not Betty Crocker, NBD.  There's nothing like some store-bought cookies to bring a little holiday cheer!  :)

So, how about you?  Does it stress you out to make food for other people?  Have you had any party food fiascos?  If so, please tell!  :)  (We're laughing WITH you, not AT you.)

And ladies, lets help each other out; how about we make a pact that we'll take a big scoop of any food that is barely touched at the next holiday party, huh?  :)  And if you loved Julie's stories and you can relate, please Like or Share this so others can get a laugh too! :)

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I {Almost} Acheived my Cooking Goal!

By Amy

If you read my cooking post, you'll know that I'm probably the most pathetic cook out there.  But, I decided to quite being lame, and set a goal to cook 4 meals this week, two of which had to be a new recipe.  If that doesn't sound too impressive, keep in mind that I was probably actually "cooking" one meal a week before this.  The other days, we'd have sandwiches or quesadillas, or my hub would cook.

It's time to report on my week.  I told you guys I wanted to be accountable!  I didn't quite hit 4 meals, since we did end up going out of town, but I did make three meals and two were new!  WOOP WOOP!  Biggest success of all?  DIDN'T BURN A THING.  Yeah, Baby.

Monday:  Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
I got all stressed out about what to make, I put it off, then stressed some more, and finally made a recipe I found on a cooking blog that my friend, Lori shared with me.  We had leftover rice in the fridge and two random pieces of chicken in the freezer, so this recipe was the perfect fit!  And...ya know what?  Once I got past just making the decision of WHAT to cook, and actually got to cooking, it went pretty ok!
Patrick liked them, we found out that Hayden loves black beans straight outta the can, and I got to make a relatively simple recipe which I could dump salsa over.  SO everyone was happy! :) They were pretty yum, and I will be trying them again!

 

Patty likes it!

Empty tray, what a miracle! (He's a picky little fella.)

Tuesday: Because I am a genius, when I set this goal, I forgot that I can't cook dinner on Tuesdays, cause I teach art classes at a local community center from  4:30-7:00.  SO.  I didn't cook dinner that night.  But when I got back, Patrick had hot Papa Murphy's Pizza waiting.  Let's be honest folks, that beat the pants off of anything I would have cooked.  Stinking delish.

Wednesday: Lasagna
You may not believe this (I am still in awe) but I made a freaking lasagna.  I have never done that before, but my friend, Shandee, told me that lasagna is actualy pretty do-able.  So I found a recipe online, and it went well!  I had a scare cause I thought I had overcooked those humongous noodles, but they turned out being ok.  Phew!  I did run out of cheese at the end, cause I didn't separate it out equal parts (um, duh, me!) so the top layer wasn't all ooey goey cheesy.  But the inside layers were nice and cheesy! :)  It tasted pretty dang good!  And, yes, our side dish was green beans out of a can, but...still, I MADE LASAGNA.  Patrick loved it, too!  He said, "This is really good." Not once, but TWICE.  {Insert victory dance}

Thursday: Tacos 
We had some ground beef left in the fridge from the lasagna, so I made tacos.  (I know, easy-peasy but, hey, it counts as a cooked meal!)  Gotta love tacos.

On Friday, we headed out of town, so, I ended my goal for the week.  Few things I learned

A.  I CAN cook, but I need to find simple, non-stressful recipes
B.  It's better to plan meals ahead so I take advantage of cooking double the meat and using it for two meals, using up left-over rice, etc.
C.  I still didn't enjoy cooking.  So the better I get at it, the faster I'll be, and the less time I'll have to spend doing it!  Win Win!  I also need to get crock-potting, cause HELLO!  Easy.

My realistic goal is now to cook 2 meals a week.  Between left-overs, sandwich nights, and Patrick taking a night or two, we should have our week covered!  Please hit me up with any more meal ideas that are yummy, easy, and nutritious...I (and my husband who is burned out on quesadillas) would appreciate it! :)

Thanks, Friends!
Amy
Ps. What is your go-to meal?  The one that is fast, easy, and the whole fam loves?

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Cooking Doesn't Have to Suck!

By Kim
Introduced by Amy (ok, I also wrote the ridiculous title, but I hope it brings you hope if you're like me and cooking makes you wanna die.)

Remember my "time to face the fear" cooking goal?  So, I am one meal down, three to go.  

I will report on Friday.  During my first meal prep, I didn't light anything on fire, I never once burst into tears, and it actually ended up tasting pretty decent!  Woop Woop!  In the spirit of cooking, I asked my "foodie" friend Kim to write a post about how she keeps cooking fun.  I'm so happy that she agreed; you'll love her too!  She is so fun to be around, so laid-back and cool...AND let me tell you--this girl can cook.  Her food is "slap-yo-momma" good.  (It's a southern expression...)  When I asked her to write a post, she invited our family over to try out a couple recipes that she planned on sharing.  I was like, "Um, yes, I can do that favor for you."  It was all SOOO delicious.  Then, after dinner...we had MUFFINS.  You guys.  After tasting one of those, I had to concentrate all all my willpower on sitting calmly instead of acting on what my brain was telling me to do: jump from the couch with a territorial warrior cry , run across the room to the platter of scrumptious muffins, and SHOVE THEM ALL INTO MY MOUTH.  (Don't judge me until you make them and taste them for yourself.  I'm for real.)  Kim "made" me take one to eat for breakfast the next day, but...yeah, I scarfed it before we drove the block to our house.  Ha!  Enjoy Kim's confectionery wisdom!
-Amy

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I love food.  I grew up in a house where it was important for everyone to be together and sit down at the table for a home cooked meal.  My mom is a fabulous cook, and I attribute my love of cooking to her.  Some of my best memories revolve around helping my mom make delicious meals for our family.  I started out helping my mom in the kitchen, setting the table and cutting up veggies, or throwing together a salad.  It wasn’t until I went away to college that I really started to learn and cook for myself.  Ramen noodles and microwave food wasn’t going to cut it for me all the time because I was used to my mom’s delicious cooking.  I had her email me some of my favorite recipes, and I started making Sunday dinners with my roommates.

Cooking is a skill like anything else, and I didn’t start out great at it.  I remember calling my mom frequently asking questions like, “Mom, how do I know the chicken is done?” and things like that.  My wonderful, patient mom would answer my questions as best she could over the phone, and eventually she sent me the 75th anniversary edition of the Joy of Cooking.  For anyone who is learning how to cook, I highly recommend this book.  It is a cookbook with tons of good, tested recipes, but it also has explanations like how to roast a chicken or what basting is, so if you don’t have that knowledge it is a great resource.

My brother ended up joining me at BYU-I after I had been there 2 semesters, when he got home from serving a two year church mission.  I decided that I would make Sunday Dinner for him and my roommates.  This grew to be a great tradition and I really grew to love cooking; but it wasn't just the cooking that I love, it was making a meal for other people--that I truly enjoyed.

Now, I use cooking as my creative outlet.  I love finding and trying new recipes, and then making them my own.  I’m not saying that I have fabulous meals every single night of the week, and even I sometimes have 4:00 roll around and decide to order pizza or go out because I don’t feel like cooking, but I do try to be creative and have fun cooking for my family.  My husband also loves food, and so he is always willing to try a new recipe for me.  I like to have friends over for dinner because it gives me an excuse to go all out and cook a big meal and do a dessert too, and then my husband and I aren’t stuck eating a whole bunch of left overs by ourselves.

Kim, enjoying her yummy creation.

I am a Pinterest lover and I do get quite a bit of recipes from Pinterest.  I find something that looks good, and then I like to read through the comments to see how it turned out for other people, or what they did different to make it better.  I like to start with a recipe and then tweak it a little bit to fit our tastes.  For example I grew up in Texas so I like quite a bit of flavor, especially in Mexican food, so I will usually change things like add red pepper flakes, or peppers to fit our tastes.  Sometimes I try a recipe that isn’t the best, and I just move on and know that it isn’t our favorite.   A lot of cooking is just trial and error.

I had Amy and her cute families over for dinner a while ago and here are the recipes for what we had.

First, the fajitas: It was a big hit, especially with Jason and Patrick. 

Flank Streak Fajita Marinade
1 1/3 cup pineapple juice
½ cup soy sauce juice and
zest of 4 fresh limes
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 fresh jalapeno chopped
1/3 cup chopped onions
dash of cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a big zip lock bag and place flank steak inside, at least 4 hours, but overnight is best. Heat up your bbq grill and cook until it reaches desired “doneness”. We like our steak medium to medium rare, which is pink through the middle. The time will vary depending on how hot your grill is and how thick the piece of meat you have it. It is fine to cut into the meat as it will be cut into small strips for fajitas to eat to make sure you have it as done as you would like. Cut into small strips and serve on top of warm tortillas with your favorite toppings. We had shredded jack cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, shredded lettuce, and chopped tomatoes. It is also yummy to sauté some sliced bell peppers and onions to put in your fajita.

Sorry, I'm no food photographer...this pic doesn't do them justice!

Banana Bread Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup butter (the real thing, no substitutes)
2 cups sugar
 4 eggs
½ tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup yogurt (plain, or vanilla)
1 cup mashed ripe banana ( about 3 bananas)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
 4 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add ruM extract, vanilla, yogurt and banana and mix well. In a small bowl combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder, then add to banana mixture. Put paper or foil muffin liners into a muffin tin and fill about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant.

I don't blame you for gazing longingly....

Cream Cheese Frosting
3 oz cream cheese
2 TBSP butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla
enough milk to make it smooth and spreadable (add 1 TBSP at a time and then check consistency) Add all ingredients together and beat with either a stand up mixer or hand mixer. Add milk I TBSP at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Let the muffins cool completely and then frost them.
 
Thanks!
-Kim

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Well, there you have it!  Kim's wisdom and some yummy recipes.  The fajitas were scrumptious, but beware: the muffins and frosting were borderline addictive.

Your turn! :)  What do you do to make cooking more enjoyable, rather than a major drag day in and day out?  I have a hard time finding the "joy of cooking" so I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)
-Amy

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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.

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