Spaghetti & Meatballs

Well...I'm hoping this tastes a little better tomorrow. And I didn't like the whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I REALLY enjoy the whole wheat spiral pasta from Trader Joes, I think that's what this needs. And maybe putting it all in a 9x13 casserole and baking it with some cheese on top...I think I'll try that tomorrow night.

I Cooked Again!

WOW! I feel FANTASTIC! I read a list of recipes and Daniel chose this one.

What is it?

Chicken breast lightly fried and baked with a coating of pringles instead of cornflakes and mashed potatoes with broccoli (half & half and parmesan reggiano!) 

The recipes are outstanding!

First off, I had everything I needed to cook tonight's dinner because John shopped for this meal on Sunday. It was quite tasty!  Perfect for what I'm looking for...not junk food and not 'List B' food, I could tell the food was healthy, but it wasn't bulgar and raw carrots healthy. It was delicious and edible!

I didn't make a big deal about it...the kids knew I was cooking. Daniel crunched up the Pringles for me (I know, they qualify as junk food, but we got the reduced fat!) The recipe was very easy to follow and next time I make it I'll be much faster.

I was expecting flat out rejection and "I'm not going to eat that" (which may happen tomorrow when I serve the chili) so I was pleasantly surprised when I started eating, so did they! Here's how it went with my picky eaters...

Before we sat down, Daniel was saying, "can I eat yet? hurry up"

then

"Mmmmmm"

and

more "mmm"

and

later

"I kinda like the chicken"  (VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Sarah started with "ummmmmmmmm" and then decided she didn't like the chicken or the meal. And she's the one who likes broccoli! Sticking to my guns, I told her she could make herself a pb&j.

BUT

the very BEST part was that when Carole came over, I had good food to offer her (knowing she probably had not yet eaten dinner)!!!!!! THIS was very rewarding and a satisfying feeling! She said "mmm", too!

It is so great eating REAL food!

How Often Do You Grocery Shop?

Do you have any difficulty shopping for an entire week's groceries in one trip? Our goal has always been "once a week to the grocery store". Ironically, we end up going 4 times per week BECAUSE I DON'T PLAN AHEAD. But we still have had this belief that "a good shopper only goes to the store once a week".

When I checked out the cookbook from the library, I took out my blank weekly plan sheet and started plugging in a few meals I wanted to try...then a HUGE AH-HA!

We now (miraculously) quite recently started eating dinner together on Tuesday and Wednesday night before family activities. So I realized that if I could focus on just creating dinners on those nights, well, that would be a start.

Then it occurred to me that John (who selflessly has done ALL the grocery shopping for the past 3 1/2 years) likes to go to the store on Sunday nights after the kids go to bed. He is UBER efficient and can estimate the total cost of grocs down to about 10 cents. Seriously. He's THAT good!

So here is what came out of this...if I plan two dinners on Tuesday and Wednesday, John could shop for those meals on Sunday night. I also want to be sure and have something planned for Saturday and Sunday night (so we don't have to get pizza!)...and by golly, since he doesn't mind stopping at the store on the way home from work on Thursday nights, he could easily shop for Sat/Sun meals then!

What this means for me is this:
Tuesday Chicken
Wednesday Beef
These meals get shopped for on Sunday.

Saturday Chicken
Sunday Beef
These meals get shopped for on Thursday.

I think I can do this!

This is a revolutionary way of looking at grocery shopping for us!

photo credit:
Image: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hopeful Chef - Capable Cook

Ever since I got married (20+ years ago), I have spent my time D R E A D I N G the daily task of planning and preparing meals.  I have tried (at least 99 times) to properly plan meals for my family with no lasting success. I spent the early years of my marriage "grilling" (ha ha) everyone about how they went about feeding their families.  In the past, I've signed up for numerous meal plan email subscriptions, purchased a few cookbooks, recipes, kitchen gadgets, calendars and planners in hopes of finding the system or method that might work for me. NOTHING has had any kind of lasting impact. I recently resigned myself to boxed macaroni & cheese, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, hot dogs and cheese toast believing I was inept and forever hopeless at feeding my family properly.

In my opinion, there are 3 "food lists":
The 'A List'-food that is commonly accepted as healthful...steamed and raw vegetables, whole grain bread, brown rice, lean meats, low-fat dairy and healthy fish (fresh, raw & minimal processing)
The 'B List'-foods made with sour cream, cheese, tortillas, butter, oil & anything with lots of carbs
The 'C List'-C is for Chips, Cheesy, Chocolate and Carbohydrate-junk food! (you know who you are!)

I've never quite hit upon my "ultimate goal" of finding the right balance of healthy (but not burdensome and over-priced), easy to prepare (but not super-processed ingredients) and YUMMY recipes. If I found a cookbook I thought was inspirational, then it only promoted B List foods or the recipes were mostly A List foods, but items we really didn't enjoy or were hard-to-find or expensive. Or the kids didn't like anything I cooked (GREAT, go to all that trouble and expense and no one is chewing!) And of course, C List foods are just downright super-convenient-we've eaten A LOT of those.

In recent years, I haven't put any effort into the task (and responsibility) of cooking so everyday I experience the burden of not planning ahead. HOW DRAINING!

When we began homeschooling several months ago, I realized I would need to prepare ALL MEALS AT HOME FOR MY KIDS. There were no school lunches to fall back on and the reality that they would each eat 21 meals per week at home (not including snacks) made me realize I needed to put some kind of plan together.

I decided to simply have a plan for breakfasts...and we've been doing that. My daughter Sarah (7) enjoys having an egg puff most mornings and Daniel (10) prefers to start the day with cold cereal. That's mostly what we do right now, though I'm looking forward to offering a little more variety as I increase my expertise as a cook.

Lunches have mostly been soup & sandwiches, mac n cheese, hamburger helper or grilled cheese sandwiches with fruit. Dinners range from hot dogs to mac n cheese to breakfast for dinner.  Mom gets about a C- grade for nutrition and enjoyment. Sigh.

BUT

today was

D I F F E R E N T and that's what inspired me to start this blog.

It took me several hours to name this blog...which has kept me up entirely too late past my bedtime.

I really like "Capable Cook" because capable implies HOPE of accomplishing,  I am certainly ABLE to cook and plan, but I'm not skilled at it (yet!)

I also had several other names:
my cooking adventure
extreme-cuisine
kitchen courageous
croutons for breakfast
black belt breakfast
my non-stick life
daring household
domestic mom
rookie cook
desperate chef
misfit chef
chef in training
inept chef (adept chef!)
mom can I have a piece of candy
I'm still hungry

These were a few choices of blog titles, but My Cooking Journal is really what I want to represent here...my JOURNEY into being able to do this thing right (or at all). So I will JOURNAL my JOURNEY. I am only just beginning so this is really a step of faith to document as of it because as of right now, nothing really positive exists! I'm excited to see what unfolds!

Since John went grocery shopping last Thursday, I had what I needed to make chili and banana bread on Sunday (today). Though not everyone appreciated the walnuts and chocolate chips, I created some serious interest in this loaf! AND it is cooked inside...in the past when I've made it, the bread is mushy inside and dark brown and hard on the outside (yuck)...this tastes WONDERFUL and I LOVE the whole wheat flour...hearty. I made that!!!

The Back Story - First Post

I have a LONG history of being miserable in the kitchen. IF cooking happens, it usually involves a lot of cheese, meat and carbs. I've always struggled with this area in my life...all the domestic stuff...cooking, cleaning, planning. In the past, I've been a dismal failure at all three.

We recently started attending a parenting group on Tuesday nights. It was determined on Tuesday (the 11th) that I don't have any methods or systems in place for grocery shopping or cooking. (I had to take a brief test to bring this information to light!) And I was encouraged to spend some time each day on this issue in the coming weeks. This is what Lifestyle of Learning calls "self-education". Thanks Barbie!

It just so happens that last week, before this was uncovered, I acquired a new cookbook and I spent several hours with it OPEN.

Here's the story...

At our local library, when searching the stacks, one must walk past the COOKING section in order to reach the COMIC BOOK section. My kids love Garfield and Foxtrot! Since we found some inappropriate comics in the comic section, I no longer let them look alone-I now go with them when they browse the shelves. So on the way back from the comic book section, a cookbook JUMPED out at me and while still walking, I reached out my hand and snatched it off the shelf and checked it out. I DO NOT READ COOKBOOKS. I have NO interest in cooking. I HATE even the THOUGHT of cooking. But this cookbook came home with me.

And I read it.

And...I laughed!

The authors seemed to relate to my desperate plight (the desire to feed my kids nutritious, healthy, hearty meals without breaking the bank or shopping at specialty stores) all the while having THEM LIKE IT!

I got inspired!

I found some recipes that, well, hot dang, I just might try. And I did. Tonight.

John REALLY REALLY likes this recipe. It is the first one from this cookbook and it took me all day. It is CHILI and I was going to serve it tonight with cornbread. But it didn't finish cooking until 6:30pm and that didn't leave time to cook the cornbread and "everyone knows" that chili is best after it sits for at least a day. So we've had a few small bowls and if it gets better after 24 hours, watch out!

I MADE THIS!