Adventures in Cooking

This weekend we did something strange....instead of eating out, I attempted to cook a few meals. This is strange because I can't really cook. Something always goes wrong. Imagine the strangest thing you could do wrong and that is what I do wrong. I don't usually burn food, I usually just mess it up. There was the time I forgot to put flour in cupcakes or the time I forgot to buy cupcake mix to make cupcakes. I am THAT person. 

But for whatever reason recently, I decided to set a few food related goals:

• Figure out how to use my crockpot. 
• Figure out how to make one staple casserole. 
• Figure out how to cook at least one other vegetable besides asparagus. (Sidenote: I have really mastered roasting asparagus. I have also really mastered frozen broccoli. You see my cooking dilemmas.)  

This weekend I tackled all three. Here is how it turned out:

The Crockpot

Pre-Crockpot Thoughts: 

My main hangup with the crockpot is this underlying concern that instead of slow cooking my food it will be slow cooking my house to the ground while I am not here. I also don't understand how you know if your chicken is done. In the oven you just cut in and make sure it is not pink. Everything online involving the crockpot says when it shreds easily, it is done. Great. This creates an entirely new issue I hadn't even thought of- how do you shred the chicken in the crockpot? One of those things every recipe assumes you understand, but I don't. 

Dish Tackled: Chicken and Dumplings

Post-Crockpot Thoughts: 

The crockpot is legit. It was very simple to just stick everything in and walk away for a few hours. The entire time I wasn't even sure it was cooking but sure enough, it was warm and cooking. The dumplings recipe I used didn't work out so well. I think it had too much dough/dumplings. It also called for too much pepper for my taste. But those minor issues are not reflections of my skills. I will say that shredding the chicken was kind of awkward. I used a knife and fork to hold the chicken in place in the crockpot and shred, shred, shred while steam from the dish blasted in my face. Maybe there are better techniques? Overall though, I think I will use it again for chicken. Maybe I will just use it for chicken. Something about the crockpot made it really tender and delish. 

The Casserole

Pre-Casserole Thoughts:

Everyone I know is having babies right now. I recently explained to Gregg that when people have babies you need to go see the baby and you need to take dinner (He thought I was insane). Women who are "with it" and know how to cook refer to this as "dropping off a casserole." Confession: The phrase "drop off a casserole" terrifies me. Again though, the casserole is one of those things that everyone says is not that hard, will provide meals for days, etc, etc. 

Dish Tackled: Spinach artichoke tortellini casserole 

Post-Casserole Thoughts:

This casserole called for something called a "roux." This word alone nearly sent me running in the other direction but I decided to face my fears and "roux it up." Literally though as I was "roux-ing" I was freaking out I was doing it wrong so I had my computer on the counter and was googling "what does a roux look like" with one hand while whisking with the other. I was panicked I was screwing it up while I was "roux-ing." Unfortunately I was too far in without any other options so I just went with it. In the end though I guess I did my roux "okay" because my casserole tasted pretty good.  The recipe also called for chopped garlic which I attempted from whole garlic cloves and when I couldn't figure out how to smash them I decided to forget it and leave it out. I made a game time decision that if this recipe gets messed up it will be for something much bigger than no garlic. Overall, I think I could've cooked the tortellini a little longer but the dish actually turned out edible and tasty. If I try this a few more times it may become my official "you had a baby casserole dish." Or I may still be too afraid of poisoning new parents and order them some delicious "take out." Time will tell. Have a baby and find out for yourself :) 

Vegetable Time

Pre-Vegetable: I am new to brussel sprouts. I tried them at a restaurant in Austin as an appetizer and really liked them. I have tried them since and enjoyed them too. I figured hmm..I wonder if I could make these at home and add them into my official "vegetable rotation." I was scared to buy them because I didn't know where to even find them at the grocery store. Luckily Kristina already tackled this for me a few weeks ago. She told me don't be scared- they are going to be in a bag somewhere in the vegetables section. After circling the vegetables a few times (I felt like a shark) and thinking maybe my grocery store just doesn't carry them, I decided to just ask someone for help. Turns out I was right next to them.

Vegetable Tackled: Brussel Sprouts

Post-Vegetable Thoughts: I did it. I roasted brussel sprouts. It said 5-7 minutes. I just put them in for 7 without really thinking. Turns out I should've gone 5. When I pulled them out they smelled slightly burned but I wasn't really sure. Then two seconds later our fire alarm comes on and I am thinking okay okay okay world! I get it! I can't cook. Thank you for the reminder. Turns out though they weren't burned. A few may have gotten a "little" more cooked but overall they were edible and I will be cooking them again. 

Overall, I give myself a solid B. Did I poison us with my efforts? No. Did I burn down the house? No- Even though the fire alarm went off, I did not burn anything down. 

Here's the thing about cooking and me- will this ever be a cooking blog? Absolutely not. But if you take what you see on a cooking show and imagine the exact opposite, it is safe to say that is what happens anytime I am in the kitchen. Yet I always believe next time will be different and so I continue to try, try again. So here's to next time!