Forced DIY

So what happens when you move to the middle of the middle of nowhere and you can no longer buy things like fresh bagels, coffee ice cream, fresh mozzarella, or even decent fresh produce? What do you do when 'going out to eat' means either the local Mc Donald's or a church 'spaghetti feed'? Well, you only have two choices: you can either drink the proverbial cool aid and make a lot of meals whose main ingredient is cream of-something-or-other soup; or, you can fight, fight, fight. Do not go gentle into the night but go kicking and screaming and as you do, try to learn how to make all that wonderful food you miss so much, yourself.

Thus, I became very interested in cooking. I am not a gourmet by any means. I will not be making food with 'essence' of anything or with a side of foam. I use measuring cups and spoons (gasp!) and the majority of the time use a recipe. However, the more I cook the more I learn, and try to improve upon what has already been done before. This in itself is a challenge, but the real test comes in trying to make these non-completely boxed, canned or frozen meals while tending to my 18 month old son as I cook. Now THAT is something I'd like to see on iron chef. Sure those guys can cook, but how would they do if you set loose a few toddlers in their kitchen? Can you still manage to cook 20 different dishes using pumpkin as the secret ingredient with a hungry 1 year old climbing up your leg yelling "CHEESE! CHEESE! JUICE!!!"? How would they do running back and forth tending to their creations if they had to watch out for the minefield of toys, pots, pans, and plastic containers laid out on the floor by said toddler? Yah, I'm still waiting to see that challenge take place.

So, this will be my place to document my quest to find recipes that are not only good, but have a good effort/taste ratio. My time is limited and precious; a recipe that is time consuming better have the taste to back it up, or it goes in the garbage never to be tried again.