Recently I've started binge cooking again. It feels good - really good actually. I've probably been making my Facebook friends crazy and I can imagine them yelling at me through their computer screens to stop posting pictures of, and talking about, food! I can't help it though. I love to cook, but I don't always feel like I have the time. Unfortunately, I definitely don't have the money to be taking the girls out to eat all the time [at all.] So I cook. And I cook. And I cook.
I'll let you in on a little secret though. Growing up, my mom didn't cook much. By much, I mean she cooked dinner on Tuesday night and on Sunday night because my dad was home for dinner - that's assuming he didn't grill or we didn't go out. The other nights (and sometimes days) we ate out. That's right, I grew up eating in restaurants - sometimes three meals a day were enjoyed in a restaurant. (Remember Baker's Square? I once ate there for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner! It was my mom's favorite restaurant.) As a result, when I first moved out of the house and got married, the only things I knew how to make were reservations and catering arrangements! Unless it came from a box. I could make Hamburger Helper and blue box mac & cheese like a pro.
Fast forward 15 years and I can now cook. As in cook cook. The things I make don't always turn out the way I'd hoped that they would, but I try. I'd like my girls to be more comfortable with cooking when they move out someday than I was initially. I also like being able to eat well and my girls are bottomless pits! I swear they could live on fruits, veggies, cheese and yogurt if only I'd let them. On occasion, you'll see my kids eating donuts for breakfast (nobody is perfect) or pizza for breakfast (well, Brooke Lynne anyway lol) and even more rarely you'll see them have a small glass of chocolate milk, but for the most part we do pretty good. Brooke Lynne doesn't like cereal and she won't eat turkey unless you tell her it's chicken (but she won't eat chicken nuggets.) She also won't take a sandwich to school. I can pack it, but it will come right back home in her lunch box! As a result, I've resorted to bento-style lunches for her on the days that I pack them. Amelia wants to eat all day, every day. I don't know how, at almost 3 years old, she only weighs 25 pounds because she's always eating something! I actually have to pack her a lunch box of snacks to supplement what she's given at daycare. Her lunch box usually has organic yogurt, a couple pieces of organic fresh fruit and/or veggies, a kid-sized organic granola bar, cheese and maybe pretzels or crackers. It comes home close to, or completely, empty every day.
So as I start to post recipes from this weekend, please don't be intimidated or think that you can't make this stuff too. I don't cook fancy. I don't use crazy ingredients. I haven't always been able to cook and the things I make don't always look and/or taste the way I'd like them too. I'm busy, my kids both have crazy schedules and there are days I'd like to lock myself in the bathroom just to get 5 minutes to myself. I'm perfectly imperfect and I'm fine with that. That being said, enjoy the recipes to come. Let me know if you try them and what your family thinks of them. Above all, relax and enjoy trying something new :-D
Peace & Love,
Mel
