Cooking for Dummies = Written For Me

I have a newfound hobby: COOKING (believe it or not)! Now that I have more time on my hands, being done with school and situating myself in my new home, I have developed a love for cooking (or LEARNING how to cook is more like it). So far, Matt is in LOVE with my food. He credits me in the fact that I am systematic and follow a recipe (to an extent) and then tweak it as I see fit. He says I have a natural eye for cooking and it turns out better than what following the recipe word for word would have produced. I'll take that compliment!!  I may have mentioned it before, but when we were at the bookstore he saw the book "Cooking for Dummies" and held it up to me (I think to tease me) and I said I must have it!! I could never make moist, juicy chicken. It always turned out very close to jerky (no exaggeration!). So, he bought it for me and I think it is the most used and helpful gift he has gotten me to date.

I decided to focus on one food item at a time, perfecting it, getting used to making it without looking back at the recipe to remind myself how long it needs to cook and how high the temp should be, and then move on to the next. Lately I have been working with skilleted chicken. It's quick, simple, and yummy! To compliment the chicken I chop up garlic and onions and throw them in the pan that I cooked the chicken in, eventually add tarragon, basil, and then either chicken stock or white wine (whichever I have available), I reduce the liquid and voi la! There is your chicken topping!(I also sometimes add diced tomatoes, but sometimes I just dont care for tomatoes..I'm a picky eater).  Along side of that I will make homemade mashed potatoes (yummm) and then quickly fry up a few pieces of bacon. One or two of the pieces I will use to crumble over the creamed potatoes when plated, the others I chop up and fry it up as chopped, add in green beans and minced garlic, a little garlic salt and some pepper. There ya have it! (Oh, and did I mention that the chicken, it's topping, and the creamed/mashed potatoes and greenbeans are all under 500 calories!?  The bacon adds a few more, but it's a preference, not a necessity to have).

Now it's time for me to move on...to the BIG MEAT! I'm thinking of cooking up some steak tonight with cracked peppercorn and sauteed onions and garlic (again with the garlic..gotta have it!). Since Matt is giving me the "USMC Workout" we might not get home til late, which gives me the idea to try to make homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese with muenster and american. The book says it takes 15 mins to prep and 15 mins to cook so, sounds quick to me. And comforting. Gotta love comfort food.

So, go me and my cooking self! I feel so accomplished when Matt tells me he would prefer MY homemade spaghetti sauce over the high-end pasta sauce we get at the store for when I am lazy (and I even add my own onions and garlic and peppers and seasoning to it). So to me, that says a lot :)  Thank you "Cooking for Dummies, ei Lauren"