cooking is a scary word

I am blessed. Blessed with a roommate that loves to cook (and is darn good at it too). We have a non-contractual agreement that she cooks dinner and I clean up afterwards. I will pop my head into the kitchen to chat and refill my wine glass while she slaves over the stove preparing a delicious meal for us BOTH to enjoy. I am super grateful for her cooking.

Then the inevitable happened, she went on a vacation. Leaving me home alone for 4 whole days to feed myself. Lost and confused, the first night I traveled back in time to my "college cooking" and prepared a sad meal of cheese melted between a tortilla shell via the mircrowave. After 15 minutes of eating this pathetic meal, I was still hungry. Weird. I topped off my night's dining with a bowl of frosted mini wheats. The roomie would be disappointed. Night 2 was a little better, I bought a frozen California Kitchen Pizza and a bottle of wine. At least this meal had a theme. We'll call it Italian. Night 3 I skipped dinner all together. I had a big burrito from a man in a van named Jose for lunch. Don't worry, it was legit (I think).

It was brought to my attention by a loved love that this was my opportunity to rise to the occasion of cooking. Prove it to myself that I wasn't a complete loser in the kitchen and prepare an actual meal for myself, all by myself. Feeling motivated from this pep talk, on day 4 I cooked.

The decided meal for me to tackle was 2 fold. How ambitious, go big or go, uh, out of the kitchen. Boyfriend helped me pick a meal that was still in my league. Settled over an email, Breaded'n Baked Zucchini Chips and Garden Fresh Lasagna would be my dinner.

I pretended like I had gotten a killer work-out in before heading to the local QFC, meaning I took off my make-up, put on work-out clothes, and went to the store appearing to have just hit the gym. Even if it was a lie, it made all the calories I was soon to consume seem justifiable. I found my victims (groceries) which took way longer than it should have. Multiple trips down the same aisle. Bellevue housewives were judging. Whatever, I just worked out and that was my cool down lap. Finally I was homeward bound for an adventure in the kitchen.

One final text of encouragement and I was off...

Cooking meat is scary. I feel like there are so many unwritten rules when it comes to cooking meat, poltry, etc. You have to get the right temp/color/moisture. Some meats don't require cooking all the way, others it is mandatory. And god forbid the thing is frozen, I will be completely lost on where to start. Luckily, tonight's dinner called for ground beef, which I remember my mother saying, you must cook all the way. No pink. Ok, got it.

I doubt I am alone when I say that having a glass of wine while cooking is a must. It eased my nerves. Also to avoid picking at the meal while it was cooking, I enjoyed some bread dipped into evoo (*please note my trendy use of cooking terms) and balsamic. Who am I kidding, I had bread because I love carbs. The bread and oil alone could have been a satisfactory meal for "day-1-of-missing-roommate's-cooking Erin", but this wasn't the case tonight for "food-network-motivated Erin".

You see that very large knife, well I managed to use it with injuring myself. Another personal feat tonight.

I came to a conclusion during my time spent in the kitchen. I am a very "organized" cooker. I like to pre-measure everything out well before it is needed, as if I were on a cooking show or something. I spent way too much time making all my slices of zucchini, bell pepper, tomato symmetrical. The only thought getting me through this dinner was "it is just following directions, I can follow directions", oh and my stomach growling. I also found that I practice the technique of "clean as you go". Must be the years of being the cleaner-up-er in me.

Breading is a very difficult and a messy experience. That is all I am going to say.

After much work, probably more than this particular meal would require from a season pro in the kitchen (if you are one of those, please be kind to this post), it was complete.

TA DA!

To my surprise it was quite tasty. I ate the whole thing. I even have left overs (2 points for self control). It was a tough few days on the lack of roommate's cooking front, but I think this come from behind game winning meal totally redeemed myself. Who knows... maybe I will prepare a meal for my roommate in the near future.