Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I Don't Cook

Frequently, our suppers consist of 'throw-together' type of meals. Quick, easy, painless and very little actual cooking involved. I don't mean pre-packaged food. I just mean the type that comes from the fridge, most likely and is perhaps chopped, maybe warmed, but not really cooked.
In the morning we usually have either eggs and toast or oatmeal and about once a week I make some really yummy muffins using this recipe (great with any fruit). That's cooking... Lunch is generally cold or perhaps left over's if I have indeed cooked the night before.
It's not that I don't know how to cook, I do. I'm a pretty decent cook, I think. And when I'm in the process of cooking I kind of enjoy it. It's just the thought of it, I can't get past it and so I say I hate to cook and rarely do. Isn't that silly?
So, I'm trying, I really am. I picked out a vegan cookbook from the library. We're vegetarian, not vegan. But Kaiya is allergic to dairy so I find it's easier to use vegan recipes. For lunch I made Crispy Sweet Potato Cakes. Fun fact about me; I spent most of my life hating sweet potatoes and only grew a fondness for them just a few short years ago. I would try them ever so often, hating them always, and then one day I tried them again and was hooked! Funny thing...
Anyway, I made these cakes this afternoon and they were really, really good. The girls gobbled them up and would have eaten more if I had made them. Next time I will double the recipe. I used some purple basil from my herb garden, instead of regular basil. I hadn't used it before (as I don't cook...) but I loved it!
I made another recipe from the book for supper tonight, but I really didn't like it all. As far as the book goes, I probably won't try too many more of the recipes just because they rely heavily on pre-packaged, 'meat alternative' foods. Not what I'm looking for. But I'm cooking!
Ignore the burns. Really, I don't know why the recipe said to turn the burner on high to begin with. Should've used my better judgment on that one.class="gl_link" Nasturtium leaves and flowers and cucumbers from the garden round out our meal.
I want to make this a new habit, cooking. Because I do enjoy it and without cooking meals tend to get boring. So, forgive me if I begin to bore you with my forays into cooking, because you will probably (hopefully) be seeing a lot more of it.

PS I've added a new button to the side bar, so if you haven't entered the weekly Meltdown Monday Giveaway, there it is for easy access.