I don't like to cook. But I love food. I just love it more when someone else makes it for me.
Am I alone?
Times I have stepped out of my box recently:
-I brought tacquitos to a gathering. (I know. Not that challenging, but totally outside the box for me--typically I just stop at a store on the way; not actually plan, prep and cook.)
-I made homemade pizza instead of ordering it from Pizza Luce (or, worse, making a frozen one).
-I signed up for a freezer meal workshop.
I had talked to my friend, Carina, who is a rep for Wildtree about hosting a freezer meal workshop but was not getting a lot of feedback from people who were interested. I decided to quit delaying and join one of her self-hosted "parties." I had wanted to go for several reasons but two in particular.
My son and daughter.
It's not like we eat horribly. Or eat out all the time. We actually don't eat out a lot. (Because ordering Pizza Luce and getting Noodles and Company doesn't count as eating out, right?)
But we are in a rut. We have just a few basic meals that we eat. We make them (and by "we" I mean my husband) because they are quick, easy and the kids like them. Which is becoming a problem.
They only want those few meals. Luckily my kids love veggies and fruit so we never have issues with those things, but as far as the protein or the main part of our meal, we only have a few that they really like and eat with no issues. Turkey burgers. BBQ chicken sandwiches. Macaroni and cheese. Pasta. Turkey melts. Turkey burgers. They really love turkey burgers.
They have become the pickiest eaters if we try to stray outside of those few meals. Sure, we have the parenting philosophy of "If you don't want to eat what we've made for dinner, fine. But, you need to try it. And if you don't eat it, there's nothing else coming your way--including dessert."
And that's all fine and dandy but when I find that we just tend to put off having that fight by making what we know they'll eat, then we really aren't helping the problem.
Enter the freezer meal workshop. I wanted to do this because I figured, worst case scenario, that I'd come up with a couple of meals that my husband would add to our dinner rotation and the kids would gradually accept. And best case scenario? That I would find some confidence in the kitchen and want to cook and my kids would love all of them and we would live happily ever after with the most refined palates ever.
I said that was "best case scenario."
But I really did hope that this workshop would give me some tools to make the kitchen a little more welcoming.
I wish I could say I have some big reason I don't like to cook. But my unwillingness to use my kitchen as a room for more than just refilling my coffee cup is a simple one.
Cooking is hard. The planning. The grocery shopping. All the ingredients. The planning.
I can't tell you how many times I've gone to cook and I'm missing something I need. Or I want to make something but it's already 6pm and I've got a couple hungry kids that need to eat NOW. Or I'm shopping at the grocery store and get completely overwhelmed in the spice aisle. I now just skip that aisle all together.
Well, to be honest, my wonderful husband technically does the majority of the grocery shopping. But that really helps me in my goal of avoiding the spice aisle.
But probably the biggest reason that I dislike cooking so much is because I've just spent all day with my kids, including breakfast and lunch, and I want a break and for my husband to handle dinner.
Which is pretty selfish--he just worked all day, too, and doesn't get home (on a good night) until 5:30 but usually closer to 6. It's a lot to expect him to walk in and whip up something good for the family. And to enjoy doing so, of course.
But my husband is awesome and for the past 4+ years he's done that.
Well, maybe more like the past 10+ years he's done that. Before him I ate ramen or mac-n-cheese for dinner more nights than I care to admit.
How did I get so lucky? Regardless, the time has come. I needed to help him. I needed to gain confidence in the kitchen. I needed to feed my kids a more diverse dinner offering. But where to start.
I wanted some recipes that were easy to shop for, prepare and cook. Oh, and something tasty would be nice. But I didn't want it to overwhelm me--I needed something easy.
Which brings us back to the Freezer Meal Workshop. The whole point of the workshop is to get 10 meals (or more with leftovers or splitting meals into smaller serving sizes) ready so you can throw them into your freezer and then use them as desired in the coming weeks. Carina was so helpful and wonderful--she sent me the list of recipes and mentioned to tell her if I had any dietary concerns or wanted to swap anything. I was willing to try everything on the list, except the meatloaf recipe. I'm just not a meatloaf person, which is odd since I like everything that is meatloaf. I think it's just a texture thing. Regardless, I asked if there was anything we could sub that for and she quickly came up with a solution.
How it works: a week or two prior to the workshop Carina sends all the participants a grocery list and instructions for prep work. It is up to the individuals to shop for the food and do the initial prep. Then, on the day of the workshop, you pack up your pre-prepped (is that a word? we'll just go with it) meals in a cooler and head over to the destination. Once there you finish the prep with the Wildtree spices and other ingredients, get the recipes and go home with 10 meals ready for your freezer.
I'm not going to lie, I was completely overwhelmed.
But once I rolled up my sleeves and jumped in I started to feel more comfortable. With some help, of course.
I chopped more veggies in the span of an hour than I probably have in my entire life. E found it amusing.
Prep before (meats and veggies) and the after, 10 meals in bags ready for the final part of prep in the morning.
What I came home with after the workshop--10 meals for my freezer. Directions attached and ready to go!
Prior to the writing of this post I've cooked 5 of my 10 meals. The first meal (lemon rosemary pork tenderloin) provided dinner for two nights and a little sandwich for me for lunch on the third day. It was delicious and was a winner for my daughter, but not so much my son. But if 3/4 of my family is eating, we are winning.
The second meal I cooked--crock pot shredded beef burritos (that I made a last minute change to enchiladas, because you can do that when you're a pro)--provided dinner for my family for two evenings with a little extra that I had for lunch one day. This whole cooking thing has really improved my lunches. Oddly, this was a meal I thought the kids would love, but neither was very impressed. I think they were just in denial because it was seriously the best thing I have ever made. Ever. My first bite almost made me cry. In the end I was ok with the kids not wanting to eat it because it just meant more for me.
The third meal I cooked, roasted chicken, was a success on multiple levels. It was super easy, incredibly tasty and the kids actually ate it. However, I failed at the most important element of this meal. A picture. I think I was in shock that the kids were eating.
The fourth meal was jambalaya. I had absolutely no expectation that the kids would eat this. It is a flavor profile I don't eat a lot of and figured the kids would find it a little too...flavorful. My daughter shocked me by not just tasting it, but eating her whole bowl (granted there wasn't a lot in there, but still). She really wanted dessert that day.
The fifth meal I cooked was oven roasted lemon rosemary salmon. I made this for just my husband and I as we were able to have a little meal to ourselves since grandma and grandpa took the kids for a night. My husband loved it so much that when he got back from his gig that night (at about 3am) he ate the leftovers. I wasn't too upset in the morning.
There you have it. I have to say, I'm loving my kitchen. I'm loving the variety of foods we are eating. I'm loving taking the stress off of my husband. I'm loving exposing my kids to new flavors and slowly seeing them come around.
But sometimes you gotta go back to basics.
I'm loving homemade pizza instead of frozen. And so are my kids because they help me make them. It's not just me conquering the kitchen, so are my kids.
xo Sara
{P.S. If you like when I write about food, here's my recent trip to taste pho for the first time. This whole post has made me so hungry right now.}