My Love/Hate Relationship with Cooking

When Jeff and I first got married, I had these visions and aspirations of being Martha Stewart. I was going to have a delicious, healthy, home-cooked meal on the table every night, the house was always going to be clean, and we were going to be the epitome of "Mr and Mrs. All American."

Then reality set in. I can't stand the look and feel of raw meat, really despise cleaning, would much rather sleep (or read; see previous post) than do anything house-related, and my thinking was, "Why cook when Chick-Fil-A (El Porton, Chili's, or just about any other quick meal) is right down the street?" I was in grad school 2-3 nights a week, Jeff was taking classes towards his degree, and we were both working. Once I finished school and just working, the excuse became, "It's too much to cook for just 2 people. We get sick of the leftovers!"

Once Cooper came along, I knew something had to change. By the time I got pregnant, Jeff was grilling out for us a lot and I was holding my own with side dishes like oven baked fries, salad, and when I got particularly ambitious, Paula Deen's corn casserole. Remember, I can turn on an oven like a champ, it's everything that comes after that becomes an issue.

I thought I found my saving grace in a great little place called Curbside Casseroles. This lady cooks a variety of entrees for 2, 4 or 8 people, you go through the drive-thru window for the frozen meal, and pop it in the oven. Voila! But it's pricey and even though we could get 2 dinners out of it, we just couldn't justify it all the time. Oh, how I wish, though...

Part of my New Year's Resolution was to cook more. Cooper can't live on our previous diet of "whatever's in the house" and I was obviously going to need to practice for a good year before he started "enjoying" Mommy's cooking. As much as it still grosses me out, I've mastered chicken in the crock pot, which has led to chicken enchiladas, chicken pot pie, and poppy seed chicken. I've browned ground beef for spaghetti and hope to attempt lasagna soon. Jeff loves to grill out, so we have hamburgers, grilled chicken, and steak quite a bit, especially in the summer.

I need new recipes, though. We're looking for healthy options and we eat just about anything but fish. What are some of your family's favorite dishes?