3 weeks in, and I’m still at it!
So far, I’ve been sticking to my initial plan: Cooking my two Blue Apron meals every week. I’ve made Fettuccine and Tuscan-Spiced Cod, chicken and curry. I even cooked one dish that wasn’t a Blue Apron meal, prepping a pot roast in a slow cooker on Memorial Day!
Overall, I’m happy with how things are working so far. I’m getting more used to just coming into the kitchen and cooking – I’m getting more used to what I need, and the skills I can use.
I was thankful to a friend who was staying with us over the recent long weekend for helping me out with a pot roast recipe: it was fun cooking with a second person in the kitchen, as he helped me find some of the ingredients I needed, walked me through his approach to chopping garlic, and more.
But so far, I’m most proud of the most recent meal I cooked, the Fresh Basil Fettuccine. After a long day at work focused on some complex discussions, I came home exhausted. I arrived late – and I had planned to cook, so I had not only myself to feed, but also a hungry daughter, so I couldn’t just back out. In the past, this would have definitely been a night I would have called in for delivery, but instead I buckled down and got to work.
Setting aside my video gear in the name of expedience, I made it my goal to get through the meal as quickly as possible. Thankfully, this recipe had a short prep time even by Blue Apron standards – their expected time was only 20 minutes – and I was able to move through as quickly as they expected. Water, pasta, chop up the zucchini and brown it, chop up the garlic, add the tomatoes, mix it all together, season, and serve: From in the door to food on the table in 24 minutes.
Having a better sense for what tools to use, what ingredients I have, and even a better sense for when I needed more seasoning made this the dish that I was most proud to cook. There’s plenty more I need to learn, but for once, I felt confident in the kitchen, ready to take on the task at hand, and happy with the result.
I’m feeling like maybe this whole “learning to cook” thing will actually work for me!
