Tuesday, May 22, 2007

I'm the best cook ever!

Ok, if you know me, you know that I'm a horrible cook. I inherited my creativity from my mom, but I also inherited a disinterest in cooking from her. she says she fells like cooking is a waste of time because you can spend ages cooking and at the end of the night you have nothing to show for it but a pile of dirty dishes. I just don't really know how to cook so there are very few recipes that I know how to make and the few times I've come across a new recipe and gone out to get all of the ingredients I've been so disappointed when the meal wasn't even very good and i tried so hard. I've pretty much given up but now that I'm staying home and now that we have a little one to think about things have to change.

Larry and I have decided to try to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables (we're really good at buying them, but then we let them go bad in the fridge) and to branch out and try to cook some actual meals once in awhile. Before we went to the grocery store on Saturday night (what a glamorous life we lead when heading to the grocery store is the most exciting part of our Saturday) we each had to pick a new recipe to try. We decided to start with recipes from the Kraft Foods magazine since they're so easy and we're not exactly chefs (do you get this magazine? It's full of really simple recipes and the best part is that it's completely free. Click here to subscribe). I picked the quick and easy Porkchop Simmer and made it last night and it actually turned out edible! I grilled some asparagus. I had no idea how to cook it, but I came across directions on the Restaurant Widow's blog. If you live in Columbus, you have to check out this blog. I forgot about it for awhile until my friend Nikki reminded me about it by sending me a link to a review of a restaurant, and it's full of helpful info.

Anyway, I was so proud of my dinner that I took a picture to remember it by (yes, I know that's lame!)

And as long as I'm talking about recipes, I thought I would share a recipe for some cookies that I made on Sunday. It only has a few ingredients so it's incredibly easy (just my style of cooking!)

Oreo Cookies (from my friend Melinda's mom)

1 box of devil's food cake mix

3/4 cup of shortening

2 eggs

Mix ingredients together and bake 7 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees (I usually end up cooking them a little bit longer until the tops begin to crack)

Put cream cheese frosting between two cookies.


So yummy!

4 comments:

Reba said...

Your dinner looks so pretty! I'm glad you took a picture so you have something to remember as well as all the dirty dishes.

lisa h. said...

way to go steph! cooking can be sooo frustrating and stressful - but it's great when you make a good (edible) meal every so often...we had a pretty bad dinner last night when i tried out a new chicken recipe - we went with donatos tonight!

Heather said...

Can I just say I love your square dishes? So cool. Hope to see you soon!

Cassie L. said...

I LOVE the Kraft Foods magazine - it is one of the biggest treasures that comes to my mailbox. Here is my favorite dinner from the magazine thus far. Super easy, incredible taste, and pretty healthy too. It is called Quick and Easy Pork Chop Skillet. Oh..and we use the boneless chops instead.
http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe/knet_recipe_display&Rpage=3&u1=keyword&u2=pork%20skillet&u3=**58*213&wf=9&recipe_id=75561