Monday, June 1, 2009

Culinarily Adventurous

With the recent acquisition of a husband, I am focusing more on a few things. One of those being real meals. Prior to being wed, most of my lunches and dinners consisted of eating out. Such is the life of single-hood. But not only do I have a husband now, I have a cost-conscious husband, so the goal was made that eating out is to be reserved for the weekends or really tiring work-day evenings when I whine enough about not wanting to cook us a meal.

The other day I was making a grocery list and found that I was drawing a blank on what I needed for a typical meal. I had been eating out or making one-person meals for so long that I'd forgotten my standby meals. I get to the store without much of a list figuring I'll just wing it, which I'm actually pretty good at.

The other thing I'm good at when I get to the grocery store is overconfidence. Or rather, unrealistic expectations for what I will actually make for a meal. I read recipes or cooking articles and I get to the grocery store and see asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes and 5,000 spices and baby red potatoes and have instant visions of these spectacular meals and winning greatest domestic goddess awards. It's not that if I bought these materials I would burn the apartment down or kill Jericho, it's that they would rot in my refrigerator before I ever made anything with them. I also get this same ambition in craft stores. I am hoping that Jericho's passion for starting and finishing all of his intended projects will eventually start rubbing off on me.

Thankfully, I was given some great recipe books as wedding presents that I've been able to pull some basic meals from. I don't typically like to use recipes. They're too restrictive. Or maybe I don't trust them. Maybe it's a manifestation of some deeper rooted issue comparable to coloring outside the lines or eating cupcakes like a sandwich.

The most logical progression of this post would next call for a request for recipe ideas or sharing a winning recipe with my reader(s). As this is not that type of blog nor would my reader(s) actually send me a recipe, my conclusion will not be one of recipe swapping. My conclusion is more of happiness that I'm finally able to cook real meals. I greatly enjoy cooking and feel that it is my genes to have a natural gift for it but when you're single, there isn't much incentive to spend a lot of time cooking for one person. But now! I get to cook for the both of us and since Jericho isn't a picky eater in the least, all of my meals have been stellar.

5 comments:

  1. I started subscribing to the Kraft Foods free recipe magazine a few years back:
    http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/FoodFamilyArchive/FoodAndFamilyArchiveLanding.aspx
    they only send it out quarterly but it's got some really fun and fairly simple recipes. If you're not one of those "I LOVE getting mail" types like me you can just go to Kraftfoods.com and search through their recipes. :-)

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  2. Awesome! Thanks Ariel. I pop on the Food Network website every now and then too. I like that they have lots of reviews for their recipes.

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  3. Ok, so it's not your intent to get recipes from your readers, but... I will tell you a website I like-- besides the Food Network/Kraft food websites, which I really no longer use, since I make all my meals from this link:

    tastespotting.com

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  4. Congrats on making it through the first month of marriage. Sounds like you guys are doing awesome! BTW, want to see some picture of the hair cut. When I first got married I was all excited to cook and make gourmet meals and stuff....ya not so much anymore. I don't mind cooking but it's definitely not my passion and I hate anything that takes a lot of preparation. I absolutely love anything you can grill 'cuz it's sooooo simple. Steak, chicken, pork chops, hot dogs...whatever. Marinade em (k maybe not the hot dogs), grill em up, serve em with a salad...whabam!! Dinner!

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  5. Awesome! Thanks Rach! Yeah we LOVE grilling but are limited since we're in an apartment. I can't wait for a house! I'll try to post some pics of the hair.

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