Cookin' Up Something Good

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I love to cook!  And thank goodness for that.  Now that I am on a "fixed income" (I'm not sure why we say that only in retirement or if receiving social benefits...my work income was "fixed" as well.  If anyone has an explanation, I'd love to hear it.), I have to manage my money more carefully and eating out and take-out are money-sucking choices that I don't want to make very often.  Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate a social occasion eating in a restaurant - spending time with family or friends and having the opportunity to try foods I wouldn't likely make at home - but I really don't like to eat out that often.  At home, I have control over what goes into the food and the portion that is put onto a plate.  And with the economy the way it is lately, even though the cost of groceries has skyrocketed, it's still less expensive to eat in.  I have never liked take-out very much.  If I pick up the food, I can't handle the yummy smells in the car on the way home and if it is delivered, that time in the delivery car just takes a bit away from the quality of the food.  

I just read that over and I realize that it sounds very damning and maybe offensive to folks I have eaten out with and had take-out with.  I don't mean it that way at all, I just prefer to cook myself.  I will continue to eat out with friends and family because I do like to try new foods, I love spending time with people I care about, and there are foods I enjoy that I just can't make. What I am trying to say (badly) is that given a choice, I choose to cook at home but I will gladly join you in some take-out or at a restaurant if you invite me 😊.

Now, before you go thinking that I could hold my own on one of the many cooking shows that I don't watch but my mom and sister do, let me disabuse you of that thought right now.  I am in no way a "chef".  I can follow a recipe and make a few changes based on my personal tastes but that is it!  I can also look at the ingredients and pretty confidently know whether or not it will suit me but I have also been wrong about that on occasion.  

Picture me in my tiny kitchen, listening to an audiobook or podcast (or on rare occasions, music), chopping, measuring, mixing, sauteing, etc., and referring to the recipe about eight hundred times since my memory isn't fantastic.  I always prepare everything before the cooking part starts so that once the oven, stove or air fryer is on, all I have to do is add, mix, stir or whatever, everything that is lined up on the counter in order of use (while also again referring to the recipe eight hundred times).

Since it's just me eating this food, everything then gets packaged up in individual servings and frozen for later.  I enjoy leftovers but not the same food eight times in a row.  I think I have kept Glad in business buying their plastic food containers.  Being me, I have a list in my cupboard of what is in the basement freezer and it's usually pretty accurate.  When the freezer is full and I'm out of containers, I'm a little sad that there'll be no cooking in my near future.  I'm at that point right now.  Thawing in my fridge this morning are: taco meat to make a taco salad,  Mexican lentil soup, buffalo cauliflower wings and a lasagna spaghetti squash boat that will likely end up in the trash since it was one of the rare loser recipes I tried recently (I didn't like the sauce).

Gosh, that was a lot of talking (I had caffeine this morning), here are some photos...

Broccoli and cheddar casserole


Whoever invented the crock pot is a genius!

There is no such thing as too many bowls.

There is also no such thing as too much cheese!

Buffalo "wings", carrot fries and onion rings.

The spices of life.

Never overcook (or undercook) your chicken again.

Anyone else have a favourite spoon?  C'mon, you know you do!

It's not all fun and games...there's work to be done too.









Comments

  1. Anonymous18 January 2024 at 18:04

    As the inheritor of “the spoon” , yes I agree 🤣🤣🤣
    Great pics as usual, Shar

    ReplyDelete

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