I never enjoyed cooking. It was a chore. I didn't like it. Once I was home with my babies I had to figure out how to cook since I really had no excuse at that point. So, I did what I had to do. I was just proud of myself for evolving from the processed chicken and biscuit dinner you can buy that are pretty much already made for you.
I just get so sick of making and eating the same foods. Well, recently it seems that aliens have come to earth and replaced my hate-to-cook-self with a wow-I-can't-wait-to-try-that-recipe-self. It's weird. I just saw a recipe for homemade noodles and thought, "Oh, I can't wait to try that!"
Wait, what? I turned around to look for who else may have thought that that I just heard their thoughts.
No one is here. It's just me.
I even bake now too which baking used to be such a boring waste of time for me. Ugh.
Mostly, I was just thrilled to have people cook and bake for me. Now it's all different. I used to just pick up whatever food to eat while I was out. Now I think things like, "Oh no. I can make something else that will be even better at home." Wait, what? (You know the drill.)
So, why am I like this now? I have explored this and this is what I have found.
I discovered www.PioneerWoman.com. How can you not want to try her recipes. She takes the best pictures of the food and it is SO step by step it is hard to mess it up.
Also, I inherited some kitchen pans and supplies from Dan's grandmother. They are selling her house and we were able to pick some things we might need. Having more than one potand mixing bowl makes a difference when you want to try different recipes, and yes I did only have one pot and one mixing bowl. No wait. I did have 2 bowls, but one I kept in the laundry room for dirty rags from wiping up my babies.
I have been trying to make healthier things for my family too using more natural ingredients and trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup. Can you believe it's even in a can of kidney beans!? Crazy.
And lastly, my kids are older. I can focus a little more on cooking. This makes a huge difference. Before it would be squeezing in dinner during whatever happy occupied moments the kids had.
So, come over and enjoy some home cookin' while it lasts! I don't know when the aliens might come back and replace the new me with the old me.
I should also mention that Dan has been loving life.
5 comments:
Ok, I'm a bit freaked out. You are posting about cooking and BAKING, of all things, and Amy Hatton (who admittedly is pregnant) is posting about take-out. WHAT IS GOING ON???? :) I'm glad you're getting into the cooking though. It's fun and somewhat healthier, depending. I'm making my first Pioneer woman recipe tomorrow BTW. Chicken spaghetti. I needed something kid friendly.
I love the chicken spaghetti :) It makes a lot too so you can freeze some for later. Let me know how you like it.
It is crazy though, this whole cooking thing. I just made monkey bread again tonight for Bible Study tomorrow. It's fun to make people happy with food, and it's better to share the goodies than eat it all myself :P
PW inspired me to start a blog. I love her blog and the food! don't get me started. I am so inspired by other's ideas, I love watching the Food Network in my spare moments.
I love to cook for OTHER people. If it was just me, I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much. I love the challenge of cooking for my kids, or making good food for other people. Maybe it's just me ego-tripping on other's appreciation for MY food, but I like to think that I enjoy making others happy with the food I cook.
The biggest challenge for me in the past few years has been to keep it super healthy. It IS possible to cook healthy and taste good!! I also really want my children's "palates" to be varied and for them to appreciate all kinds of foods, not just chicken fingers, hot dogs and mac and cheese. They are really doing well being "stretched."
Anyway, I'll end this book! I'm so happy for your new "you"!!
Thanks Hannah! It has been fun to try new things and branch out a bit. I really believe a big part of it is being freed up to do things that I enjoy again since I am not tied down as a pregnant or nursing mom. I hope that doesn't sound really negative because I loved my time with my babies. It's just nice to have some independence now. (Although talk to me in the Fall when E goes to K4 :P) I'll be begging to re-attach the cord! Ha! That's gross :)
Anyway, it is fun to make people happy. There is always a bit of selfishness involved. That's part of being human and part of being a blessing to others.
So, feel free to cook for us if you ever want to go ego-tripping ;)
I hope you pick some of your favorite healthy PW recipes for the beach! I told mom I'm already starting to plan some meals in my head (although I'm still in the young kids mode so mine aren't really interesting - I just aim for healthy and edible)!
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