Thursday, August 31, 2006

If You Don't Like the Food...

... Get out of the kitchen. The problem is, I've always been a pretty bad cook, so I can't blame anyone for wanting to bitch about it.

But I'm on a roll these days. Once/week I'm reorganizing something so I can actually find it. Or it's edible. In some cases, both. Such as today's big feat? A 3 tiered hanging fruit basket. Of course after I adjusted the screws and hung it from our cabinets it resembled some sort of leaning Italian architecture, but it keeps my fruit from bruising.

For the big purchase, I spent about two hours in the kitchen store, Pip and Stink jumping on the fake beds much to the irritation of the cashiers, deciding on chrome vs. cream. Then I thought of Rex who would remind me that our kitchen is such a piece of ca-ca that anything is better than what we have "which is a big fat ZERO" so just plunk down the 9.99 and call it a day.

And so I did.

And so I hung it.

And in the process I inherited a brand new cooking surface when the moldy ceramic dish (the previous home for fruit) was cleaned up and put in the dining room cabinet for its intended use as a mexican casserole dish. I'll need to buy some beans to go with my three billion cans of chile. I also discovered, as part of my inventory sweep, that I own 28 cans of tuna but no mayonaise... 30 cans of sauce but no noodles... a whole box of pancake mix but no syrup... And why exactly do I have two blenders but only one lid? And are you supposed to have to clean your pots every time you want to use them, making you never want to use them?

Armed with the spiritual approach that I'm going to feed my soul, as well as the practical approach that my once a week Taco Tuesdays does not constitute as satisfying meal fare, I am using one pan, one boiler and one chopping block. With Stink at my side (who usually separates the frozen veggies while standing on the metal folding chair) I will dice, I will slice, I will boil and bake.

Tonite's meal? Lasagna, recipe courtesy of Topanga T (will use all of yours from previous posts, too... thanks. Of course, more are welcome!) I thought Rex would do a double flip after eagerly asking for seconds. But truthfully, he's probably so thrilled I followed a recipe rather than my usual crank on high, burn a bit, dust off and serve, that he'd ask for thirds if it encouraged me.

I am going to meal plan more.

I am going to shop more.

I am going to listen to music as I cook.

But tomorrow, I'm going out for dinner.

I'm starting slow.

4 comments:

Teri M. said...

You go, girl!

Erin said...

I think I would love to cook if it was the relaxing experience the cookbooks describe. Instead it's juggling the ingredients, keeping the fingers away from the stove, breaking up the rumble brewing in the front room, all to the desperate accompaniment of Dora the Explorer. Let me know if you stumble across anything quick and delicious!

meno said...

Best not to rush into these things.
I don't know why, but the organizing of a kitchen is a great feeling. As Teri says, you go girl.

Mandy Klevenski said...

Too funny! If you ever find out what motivates people to cook ... let me know. I loathe the entire process of finding recipes, planning meals, preparing and truthfully even eating it. I guess the key would be to have a certain amount of passion about eating to be a good cook. Since I'm lacking there, it's probably hopeless. Ah well. I do make some excellent chicken enchiladas that all my friends love and want me to write them up a recipe, but since I'm recipe-inept I just tell them, "well, you throw some chicken together with some salsa and I'm really not sure of any measurements ..." LOL. Anyway, good for you for committing to plan and cook. This may inspire me too! ;)