When I first got married, I wasn't the greatest cook. My husband was kind enough to endure my kitchen experiments and ate more than a few things he'd rather not have eaten. Over the years however, I got better. I learned more tricks and techniques. I have never considered myself a gourmet chef by any means, but I can hold my own in the kitchen.
Over time, as I was learning to be a better cook, I grew to enjoy cooking, too. I have shelves full of cookbooks and a Pinterest board full of recipes. I even have a page with links to the recipes I've shared here on my blog. I use to look forward to watching cooking shows on television. Successfully trying a new recipe gave me a sense of achievement. I anticipated seeing the satisfaction the faces of my family when they enjoyed a new entree. It was gratifying when I took a dish to a gathering of some sort and received compliments and requests for the recipe. I used to love to cook.
But, now?? Now, cooking has lost the allure it once held for me. I have a house full of picky eaters including a meat and potatoes hubby, a vegetarian eleven year old, and a super picky six year old. Add in my eight year old and myself and the only recipe you get is one for disaster. No matter what I cook, there's always somebody who doesn't like it. On top of that, we have busy schedules that make it impossible to casually peruse recipes like I used to do. Even if I do find a recipe I want to try, finding the time to prepare it is nearly impossible. More often than not, I retreat to my standbys - the ones I know I can make quickly and that I know the "Spoons" will eat.
I suppose, if given the time and a willing audience, I would still enjoy cooking. In fact, I was just thinking earlier today that it has been while since I shared a recipe here on the blog. Sadly, though, meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking have just become another chore, ranking not much higher than doing the laundry, washing the dishes, and mopping the floors.
Perhaps, someday, when my children are older, I will again be able to channel my inner Julia Child and enjoy being in the kitchen the way I used to. Maybe, I'll take the time to find a new recipe to try next week. Or, maybe we'll just eat pasta and tacos - again!
How about you?? Do you enjoy cooking?? What are your "go-to" recipes?
This post was written as part of Finish The Sentence Friday which is hosted by the following bloggers. Please give them a visit and see all the other blogs that participate as well!
Janine at Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic
Stephanie at Mommy, for Real
Dawn at Dawn’s Disaster
Wow, I used to love to cook too, but you are so right it loses its appeal when you have a picky eater and others who wanted something else when you made a certain meal. So, yes maybe someday I too can channel that inner Julia Child, but for now I will stick with what works I suppose. Thank you for linking up with us again and honestly can truly relate!
ReplyDeleteI didn't cook much when we first got married, but since having children I have learned a lot about cooking, and, sometimes, really enjoy it. But I hear you on how hard it is to put in the time and effort for a healthy, good meal, and then have kids complain about it or not eat it. My go-to's also include taco salad, or rice/beans/cheese with chips, or quiche. All of which my kids will actually eat!
ReplyDeleteOh mama, do I feel your pain! I was commenting to my husband the other night: "This is what our family dinners look like." We were sitting on the front porch, eating BBQ chicken sandwiches that had cooked in the crockpot all day, feeding bites by hand to our busy toddler, and later made a PB&J for our oldest who was playing at a neighbor's house. Yeah, cooking is not what it used to be. (There's my cooking idea- put two chicken breasts in the crockpot with a bottle of BBQ sauce for 5-6 hours on low. Serve on tiny buns. Boom!)
ReplyDeleteLove this! My kid eats almost nothing. I used to pride myself on amazing ORIGINAL recipes and and and and. Not anymore. I'm totally cool with ordering pizza and cutting up some organic strawberries.
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed cooking when I am trying a new recipe. But the old standard staple recipes? No, not a bit. I too, feel these are just another chore.
ReplyDeleteI adore cooking. It's one of those wonderfully 'senses based' activities which (usually) soothes me. Something about bringing together the raw ingredients just so to create the flavour I'm looking for. I've been lucky in Husby, as he's bravely widened his pallate since coming from backwater 'we only know one meal' Ireland to my more cosmopolitan understanding of cuisine :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Janine! I so wish I could convince my kids to eat the "fancy stuff" but they just won't have it. It is such a frustrating dilemma! Helps to know I'm not alone! :-)
ReplyDeleteOoohhh, quiche!! That would be great, but, of course, my kids don't like eggs so it wouldn't go over very well around here! :(
ReplyDeleteThat's a great suggestion! I frequently make BBQ chicken, but I just bake the chicken breasts in the oven with BBQ over them. Putting it in the crockpot and making sandwiches would be a great way to change it up a little! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYep - that fancy schmancy stuff is just not worth the effort anymore. And putting strawberries with the pizza totally make ti healthy! :-)
ReplyDeleteI hate that it has become a chore because I really did used to enjoy it. Just another thing that becoming a parent changed!
ReplyDeleteOh, Lizzi, I hope you can continue that love! My husband is actually great about trying new things and, truthfully, has a wider palate than I do. It's these darn kids that make it so hard! :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't like it - I've never been very good at it, I think. My husband is a great cook and has the interest. Often at night, I make three different dinners for three different people. It's a bit ridiculous, actually!
ReplyDeleteOh, I can relate! In the years when I was in grad school, before I got pregnant, I discovered too a love of cooking. I found that I even liked certain cookbook authors. I'd have afternoons to choose recipes, shop, and make soups and stews that took hours and hours. I miss the peace and concentration of cooking a meal. For us, now, with a toddler, a "recipe" basically consists of a taco kit. Someday I'll open my cookbooks again!
ReplyDeleteI shall count that as a silver lining then :) I definitely aim to continue cooking.
ReplyDeleteI love to cook and bake, but it helps when you have family and/or friends around. I'm back to living on my own, so I don't have any guinea pigs to experiment on right now. Heck, I haven't even seen a neighbor in my apartment building, let alone had a chance to invite one over to taste test. Maybe you could try just one new thing a month. That way, there isn't the pressure to come up with something new all the time, but you still get to play - lots of time to plan for that one meal/item. Here are a few of my go-tos ...
ReplyDeleteTaco Meatloaf: http://hyethymecafe.blogspot.com/2011/11/does-anyone-else-do-this-when-i-get.html
Lentil Soup: http://hyethymecafe.blogspot.com/2012/10/lentil-soup-with-ham.html
Chicken and Corn Chowder: http://hyethymecafe.blogspot.com/2011/03/chicken-corn-chowder.html
Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork: http://hyethymecafe.blogspot.com/2012/01/root-beer-pulled-pork-for-new-yorkers.html
Southwest Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Veggies: http://hyethymecafe.blogspot.com/2010/10/southwestern-pork-tenderloin-with.html
Thai Chicken Salad: http://hyethymecafe.blogspot.com/2011/05/thai-chicken-salad.html
That's what I try to avoid, so I take the approach of "This is what I made so you can eat or be hungry." Otherwise I would be making 5 different meals! It is still deflating, however, when I make soemething and they turn up their noses!
ReplyDeleteYep - I do a taco kit about once a week! :-)
ReplyDeleteOooh! Thanks, Chris! These recipes sound good! I like the idea of trying something new just once or twice a month - that way we all get to try some new things, but it's not overwhelming for any of us! :-)
ReplyDeleteyes, so true. Sometimes I enjoy it, other times I just want it to be all over..just eat and shut up, LOL
ReplyDeleteI like to "cheat" when I can by starting a lot of recipes with a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. For some reason, they're usually cheaper than buying and cooking your own chicken, and they're very tender and tasty! :)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm currently in the same slump right now. Too much to do and so many picky eaters that since no one is happy, momma isn't happy!
ReplyDeleteI really related to this post. I feel like a short-order cook around here. My husband is on Atkins, I'm a vegetarian and, well, my daughter is a toddler. We make a habit of eating together, but it's rarely the same thing. I find it bizarre, but it is what it is!
ReplyDeleteYes - just shut up and eat! Amen! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes! Hopefully, the slump will end when the kids are back in school and I have a little more time to find recipes and plan meals!
ReplyDeleteI think eating together is very important and we do it almost every evening. Perhaps that's why it is so frustrating - I want those time to be quality family times. Not times of stress and whining. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to cave and do several different meals, but I won't give up just yet! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great tip! I do have a chicken pie recipe I make and I always use a rotisserie chicken for it. It is super yummy, but takes a while to prepare!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.the-golden-spoons.com/2012/01/chicken-pot-pie.html
I'm so with you! I never loved to cook, but I hate it now. And it's because I cook for a bunch of horrible eaters. I hope to learn to enjoy it when I am an empty nester. Sadly, my go-to recipes are french toast and cereal.
ReplyDeleteWe are living parallel lives!! I was an awful cook when I got married. I never improved until I had my first child. I then got to work figuring out how to cook. For several years I would say I enjoyed it at least a little bit. Then my second came along and it's totally lost its luster for me. It's just like you said, someone is ALWAYS unhappy with any meal. (except my husband who will happily eat absolutely anything). I am lucky because my husband actually likes cooking, so he does the majority of it now. Yay!! --Lisa
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with French Toast - When my hubby is out of town, I frequently make pancakes and call it dinner!
ReplyDeleteFortunately, my hubby will eat almost anything, too, but he only cooks on the grill.
ReplyDeleteI honestly used to enjoy cooking (and more so, baking) until I got pregnant....It was really hard for me to be on my feet so long because I had really bad back issues when I was pregnant. Now that I'm the feeder of our baby (thank you boobies!), hubby takes over most of the cooking. And he's so dang good at it!! I am lucky
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a baker. Lucky you - mu hubs only cooks if it involves a grill! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love to cook, and create new recipes. Sometimes they're awesome, sometime they're horrible, but it's normally a blast either way. Thanks so much for linking up with the tattler Thursday blog hop.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I have this too. I love to cook, but I like very flavorful foods, as does my daughter, but one of my sons would prefer grilled chicken or other meats with absolutely no sauce whatsoever, and the other one falls in between. My husband will eat anything. So my Indian recipes are no more (I love Indian food) and spicy Mexican is out too. Usually I make whatever the rest of us are having plain for him...I refuse to make a totally different meal because that creates an even bigger issue. So no sauce for him but same meal. I'm making this sound worse than it really is, because he really is a good eater. He's grown up on Italian and Arabic food and will eat and loves things like hummus, spinach pies, and kibbe. (My mother in law is Italian and father in law Lebanese...and we live next door). He used to eat everything, so I'm hoping he will become more adventurous again once he heads off to college in a couple years.
ReplyDeleteThanks Danie'!
ReplyDeleteI don't make separate meals either - though I do try to make sure there is something everyone will eat. I do the same for my vegetarian - usually the same meal, just make hers without the meat. I wish mine would all eat things like hummus and spinach - that's great! Oh, and my in-laws are my neighbors, too! :-)
ReplyDeleteI used to love to cook before we had kids. Kids will cure you of that. Fortunately for all of us, I found a love of baking. Everyone's happy again.
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy it more if my family liked most of what I cook. ;) Lasagna & Cashew Chicken are go-to's we have at least once a month because the family likes them. :) Thanks for linking up to Super Sunday Sync!
ReplyDeleteThis struck fear into my heart. My littles will still eat anything because, well, I don't give them a choice. I'm sure things will be different once they get a little older. I wonder how Julia Child's cooking (and many other chefs) would have been different if they had to cater to kids.
ReplyDelete