Kiss the Cook

I like to think I can cook. And honestly, I LIKE to cook. But I do not like when it doesn't come out like I imagined it would.

I am one of those people who doesn't like to cook for only myself. If I am going to invest the time, I want to be able to feed someone else. Plus, I grew up in a household where if there were going to be 6 people at dinner, you automatically made enough for 10-12. It took me forever in college to realize I did not need to buy the same quantity of food for myself as I was used to my mother buying for all of us.

I really don't use any recipes when I cook, unless it's something I have never made before. Most of the stuff I can make is something my mom made from my childhood. Needless to say, the majority of it is fattening and really not good for you. But man, does it taste good!

I've tried some of my cooking on Lewis. He claims to like it. But then again, he is a man, and they tend to eat most anything. My goal is to prepare healthy meals that not only taste good, but are healthy for you as well. I can always do healthy snacks, but meals are a bit more difficult.

On Monday, my plan was to make a white turkey chili. I keep clippings of recipes and exercises I find in health magazines and I was rummaging through them and found this one that sounded good. But it turned out that I took all my ingredients over to his parents house and his mom and I made it. I was praying it would turn out well since they were going to eat it, too. Thankfully, I was happy with the way it turned out. It kinda reminded me of a stew my mom makes.

So last night, I decide to try my luck again. But this time, I was going to cook 4 recipes because I figured I could take some with me in my foodbag on my trip and then Lewis could have some leftovers. I get tired of taking the same old stuff to eat. But you have to find stuff that's not only good for you, but that travels well.

I made 3 of the 4 recipes. They tasted yuck, yucky, and yuckier.

One was a chicken breast dish with artichokes and spicy tomatoes. Bland, bland, bland, but I think it was the most edible.

Another was a Tabbouleh. It tasted okay, but I'm hoping it tastes better cold today.

The third I had the highest hopes for. It was a Mexican Frittata. But I made the mistake of not reading the directions closely and ended up putting the mixture in a made for overn pan and it need to cook on the stove for a bit and THEN out in the oven. My mistake was not making sure I had a pan that was stove top AND oven safe. So I kinda improvised and baked it in the oven. And it still looked kinda funky, but I put shredded cheese on top and it made it look pretty good. I let it cool completely before cutting it because I wanted to be sure the eggs in it were set. It tasted kinda okay cold, but I'm hoping a nuke in the microwave helps it some.

Lewis tried all three and said he liked them all. I'm making the 4th recipe today. Veggie and cheese quesadillas. How hard can that be to mess up?

If all else fails I can make Fideo, which was my favorite thing to eat as a child. It's vermicelli pasta (toasted), with beef, tomatoes, and mexican spices. Fast, cheap, and not really THAT bad for you. Other emergency supper ideas: tacos, salad, spaghetti, all those go-to staples...or I can get one of those high sodium freezer skillet creations and pass them off as my own. *grin*

I do like to cook and experiment. I guess I should just make sure I have a backup plan.

Like cereal and milk.