Laura

For most of my life, my cooking/baking experience has been limited to meals that come in a box.  On occasion I’ve had to add an egg or preheat an oven, but that’s been about it.  

Until now.

Derek and I have recently begun an adventure in learning how to cook.  We both like Italian food (or at least Americanized Italian food), so we figured we’d start there.  

We started out taking baby steps - boxed pasta dinners from Macaroni Grill involved a pot, but I pretty much just had to boil some water for the pasta and the sauce was just mixing a packet of pre-prepped herbs and spices into milk.  Nice and simple.

Last week we made Lasagna, also with the help of of pre-packaged sauce.  But this time we had to brown some ground beef, season to taste, layer and bake.  And Derek had to learn the difference between Saran Wrap and aluminum foil.  Oops.

Yesterday I had to learn all sorts of fun new skills while making Chicken Parmesan, like how to butterfly a chicken breast and the proper way to get the breading crispy without frying.  

Ok, so we’re not to the point of making a souffle or even our own marinara sauce.  But I have caught the cooking bug.  At what’s more, I’m appreciating the food I make and eat and thinking about what’s going into my body.  That’s not to say that I’ve turned into a health nut or banned all processed/prepared foods or fat or sugar or anything else from diet, but I am thinking more about food quality, preparation/preservation styles, and portions.

And now I can’t wait until I have an apartment with a full-size refrigerator, spice rack, and some pantry space.  Because let’s face it, cooking in the dorm is a nightmare.

I’m also developing quite the cooking wish list.  A few of the things I’d be more than happy to get for my next birthday:

• a mixer
• a whisk
• a crockpot
• a couple of casserole dishes
• a nicer quality skillet and pot