I’m operating under the assumption that knowing how to cook, much like puberty, is something that just happens to you overnight at a certain age. I hope I am right about this, and I hope it happens to me soon, because I am getting a little tired of having cereal and personal-sized bags of microwave popcorn for dinner.
Not only would it be nice to eat real meals, but I’d also like to feel like a real adult. Growing up is so much more ambiguous than it used to be. Being an adult is not about reaching a certain age; it is more a state of being. Sometimes, I do feel pretty adult, like when I am deciding how much money to allocate to my 401k. But other times, like when I am making a bowl of instant pudding for dinner, I feel like I’m erasing some of my progress. So if I can learn how to cook, I can tip the scale back toward adulthood just enough to feel respectable.
I think the first step is getting excited about food. And I am there. There are hundreds of recipes on Pinterest that I’d love to try making, but they all involve cheese, biscuits, or bacon. Despite what I said about the bags of popcorn and bowls of pudding, eating healthy is important to me. So while I would be very excited to make a bowl of cheese soup, I won’t let myself. Things that usually catch my eye, like ‘Caprese Dip’ or ‘Pepperoni Casserole,’ are out of the picture. So I am left with recipes that involve more fresh and healthful ingredients, like broccoli slaw or cauliflower mashed potatoes, and no offense to the broccoli family, but those recipes are a little harder to get excited about.
Even if I am able to get pumped for produce, there is the issue of expiration. Produce tends to spoil at a much faster rate than I can eat it. Partially because I buy it thinking, Ha, now you’ll be forced to eat this! but get home and think, But I don’t wanna eat that! and reach for another bag of popcorn. But even when I am on board, it’s hard to beat the clock. If I buy a bag of spinach, I have to eat it for three days straight to finish it before it goes bad. This issue is often multiplied when I am ambitious enough to make something with multiple ingredients. Now I have seven perishable items per meal sitting in my fridge quickly expiring and it’s a race against time to eat them all.
Since I don’t enjoy buying food only to throw it away days later, I try to stick to meals with very few ingredients (a bag of popcorn only has one!), and I diligently consume those ingredients by eating the same meal every day. When I get ham at Costco, it’s Ham and Eggs Week. When Harris Teeter has a BOGO sale on Progresso, it’s Can of Soup Week. When I buy that bag of spinach and need to get rid of it, it’s Green Smoothie Week. When I haven’t gone to the grocery store in a while and I’m feeling lazy, it’s Cereal Week. So technically I am eating a well-balanced diet…it’s just over the course of an entire month. But week-to-week it’s more all or nothing; protein one week, grains another, fruits the next, and for Can of Soup Week, a healthy focus on sodium. I’m no expert, but I don’t think this Food Group of the Week approach is ideal. So I think I might need a new strategy for properly sustaining myself while I’m waiting for my cooking gene to kick in.
Is Everyone an Idiot but Me? 
This is just so..so..bad ass. I am there with you about excitement for food but I cashed out and married a chef.
(Turns out you can just hire one you don’t have to marry one)
Hahaha, that is genius!
Nope, sorry, impossible. I have been cooking for several years now and still my meals are just barely edible. Good luck though.
Haha, way to burst my bubble! I had a feeling it didn’t work that way though…
Haha, at least you have good instincts. Try to employ them in the cooking and hopefully it will be good!
Thanks!
I feel the exact same way! My parents want me to learn how to cook, but it’s so much effort and you’ve got to have this ‘cook feeling’ you know. I just don’t have it, and spaghetti with sauce I didn’t make myself seems like a very good meal to me…
Perhaps one day I’ll see the beauty of cooking. Until then I’ll just stick with spaghetti and soup.
Haha, same here! Spaghetti and sauce out of a jar is one of my “real meals” that I make. I’ve set the bar low.
You’re a kindred spirit! Check out my post “The Kitchen” from February 2013.
Dear Lord, please bless…oh never mind, even You wouldn’t bless this slop! Hahahahaha!!
Hey now, a bowl of delicious cereal is far from slop. With the little cooking skill I have, I am able to get milk and cereal right.
Sorry… I was joking. Enjoy your meal. And a recipe: To make your meal in a box taste better, tweak the logo, rather than the ingredients. Have a great day!!!
Yes, I can totally relate! I thought getting married and forcing myself to cook would change that. Nope, I’m still bad and we have totally different tastes in food. And I have a bag of baby spinach sitting in my fridge going bad as we speak…b/c even making a salad was too much work this. And don’t even get me started about my Pinterest pins…
Uh oh – I keep telling myself that when I get married and have someone to cook for (and have nice cookware from my registry) that I will be motivated to cook…maybe not! Yeah there is nothing like picking through a bag of baby spinach, arugula, etc. sorting out the good pieces from the wet wilted ones. And yes, Pinterest should have a warning label: Contains graphic images of delicious looking food that will probably give you a heart attack.
Exactly! But it’s like a car wreck..I just can’t look away… lol
Ha, so funny that you mention the “feel like a real adult” aspect of things…earlier, I was asking Mike what percentage of “real adult” we qualify as. We decided that we’re somewhere around the 35-40% mark. On a related note, I ate spinach dip for lunch.
Haha. There is a whole chapter in my book about signs you are an adult and how we slowly get there by increasing our percentage -I’m glad you guys are on the same page! Next time you have spinach dip for lunch call me – I’m probably having Cheez-Its for lunch and we can combine forces.