Dinner

Cooking dinner may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me it often becomes a huge source of stress. (Baking on the other hand, is a stress reliever!!!) Despite the mounds of cookbooks and recipes on my shelf, it all just seems so daunting to me. I have about 8 or 10 recipes that I can cook alright, but when it comes to trying something new, I freeze up! And it doesn't matter how much encouragement Matt or other family members give me, my confidence still is awful with cooking dinner. If I could just make breakfast or desserts all day, I'd be set! However I don't think Matt, Dylan, and Parker's doctor (and dentist) would appreciate that too much. :)

So, one of my goals for this year is to try and feel a little more comfortable in the kitchen with regards to making dinner. And it started yesterday... I made out my grocery list and dinner list for the week (this is another goal for our family -- to plan meals about a week in advance so there's not the last-minute "what's for dinner" rushing around at 6pm). My mom and brother, Kyle, were coming for dinner and I didn't want to just do the "standard" meals that I normally make. So I decided on a recipe I had seen on Rachel Ray's TV show a while back. I don't watch much television, and hardly ever watch her show, but it must have been a sign -- because this recipe was relatively simple to make and didn't require anything too exotic: Almondine Crumb Chicken and Rice Pilaf. Most of you could probably make this meal eyes closed with one hand behind your back since its pretty much just chicken cutlets on the stove, but I needed to start with little baby steps. And this is where it began! :) I followed everything as directed, except I left the almonds out -- I'm not a huge fan of anything resembling the smell of peanut butter. And amazingly, it turned out great! Kyle's exact comment was "this actually tastes good!" Haha!! As you can see, I'm not known for my good cooking. :) The only "failure" of the night was the broccoli. I left it to steam just a bit too long... I guess that's what happens with two munchkins running around :) BUT -- this wasn't a complete failure... because Dylan ate it!!!! Dylan hasn't eaten broccoli in probably a year for us, but with it being more soggy, he gulped it right down asking for more! So the one failure of the night was turned into a HUGE SUCCESS!!! :)

Dessert was apple cinnamon spice cake with cool whip topping. Over half of it is already gone! And my brother Paul hasn't even been over yet. Haha! :)

Anyhow, I wish I had taken pictures of my first cooking success story of 2011, but completely forgot about it until everything was gone. Here's a resemblance of it though. We'll see how the upcoming weeks and months go with the cooking. Thankfully I have a wonderfully supportive husband who will eat almost anything :)