There are two areas in my life where I am attempting to really "mature," as much and as quickly as I can--Food and Finances. I have been on such a slow path in these two areas, as I have been slow to grow in the past. I decided to turn them into a weekly theme and share the details...hoping to help myself with personal accountability.
Let's start with food. Until recently, I have joked about my inability to cook. I stunk at cooking. My Mom taught me how to operate a stove and oven, and a microwave. She taught me how to measure ingredients, and follow a recipe. I am really good at baking. I enjoy baking. But, I never made the connection to cooking.
Back in my scientist days, I joked about my lack of cooking skills in a conversation at lunch. A colleague looked at me quite puzzled and reminded me that I followed recipes and "cooked" in the lab all day long--all kinds of broths, chemical mixtures, salt solutions, and culture medias. Hmmm. She a had a point.
After that I "experimented" at home, and came to the conclusion that I had a problem with timing. I am easily distracted....toddlers make a great distraction....so I was burning and destroying dinner regularly.
I've discovered 2 tools that have improved my kitchen abilities tremendously--a timer on the stove, and the crockpot! A timer brings me back to the kitchen before the food starts smoking. A crockpot lets me put all the ingredients together in the morning, and forget about it until evening!
After I developed a little more cooking confidence with crockpot dinners, I started branching out to other meals on occasion. My family is thrilled to get edible meals regularly!
I spent all that time talking about my new-found cooking skills, only to share that my favorite meal is cheeseburgers! (Not much skill needed there). I was so proud of myself this week because I made mini cheeseburgers for the kids, using dinner rolls for buns. They were kid-size, and so cute. My kids thought I was losing my mind when they saw me pull out the camera and take a picture of my creation before serving it to them....
Let's start with food. Until recently, I have joked about my inability to cook. I stunk at cooking. My Mom taught me how to operate a stove and oven, and a microwave. She taught me how to measure ingredients, and follow a recipe. I am really good at baking. I enjoy baking. But, I never made the connection to cooking.
Back in my scientist days, I joked about my lack of cooking skills in a conversation at lunch. A colleague looked at me quite puzzled and reminded me that I followed recipes and "cooked" in the lab all day long--all kinds of broths, chemical mixtures, salt solutions, and culture medias. Hmmm. She a had a point.
After that I "experimented" at home, and came to the conclusion that I had a problem with timing. I am easily distracted....toddlers make a great distraction....so I was burning and destroying dinner regularly.
I've discovered 2 tools that have improved my kitchen abilities tremendously--a timer on the stove, and the crockpot! A timer brings me back to the kitchen before the food starts smoking. A crockpot lets me put all the ingredients together in the morning, and forget about it until evening!
After I developed a little more cooking confidence with crockpot dinners, I started branching out to other meals on occasion. My family is thrilled to get edible meals regularly!
I spent all that time talking about my new-found cooking skills, only to share that my favorite meal is cheeseburgers! (Not much skill needed there). I was so proud of myself this week because I made mini cheeseburgers for the kids, using dinner rolls for buns. They were kid-size, and so cute. My kids thought I was losing my mind when they saw me pull out the camera and take a picture of my creation before serving it to them....
Jersey #2 said, "You are taking a picture of FOOD? That's weird!"
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