The unique Chrissy talks about her lack of kitchen prowess. Meatloaf in a microwave? Yeeeeech! Actually, she does do a better job on some things, but it takes a special set of ideas to walk in from a day’s work and throw together a hot meal.
I admit to making it though many an evening with a bowl of noodles. I have a stock of instant stuff like ramen and various other oriental packages that will put a tasty something in my stomach. I also tend to make a big batch of whatever I cook on weekends and freeze some. That means that while a pot of rice is cooking, some frozen red beans are thawing, or leftover pot roast, or a little tub of gumbo.
Plus, I learned that there ARE a bunch of things you can do that are half an hour from thought to table, things like pasta alla puttanesca or pasta alla carbonara. That, though, comes with attitude that there HAS to be something good to eat somewhere in the house. Besides, I’m cheap. You pay a premium for somebody else’s cooking, and most of them don’t do as good as me…
I have learned to cook because I am cheap and also because I was raised by people that could and did cook excellent eats. . We never eat out… its overpriced and generally not that good. Seems like the more you pay for it the more disappointing it is. There are exceptions, I can’t make a muffy like at the Central Grocery, best just go buy that!
Pasta, rice, and beans can stretch any meal to fit just about any budget. As you may have guessed, we eat a lot of all three around here. And thankfully, we have several fresh produce places close by so that I can add veggies and fruit to our plates for relatively little.
Quite frankly, the reason I learned to cook is nicely summed up at the start of your next post. “Another memorable moment in history precipitated by the ongoing pursuit of the Great Bearded Clam.” The ladies like good fancy cooking.