I’ve been thinking and thinking about the theme for this second giveaway. I have dedicated hours of my life to coming up with The Next Big Thing In Random Blog Giveaways. Sadly all that brain power hasn’t moved me from A to B very quickly, so I’ve just decided to make it about cooking.
I’m trying to cook more. Or to say it more positively, I’m cooking a lot more! K. is so very sweet and constantly tells me that everything is “really good, this is great Amy!” and I don’t always believe him (since I do have taste buds of my own and I do use them) but I do always appreciate his enthusiasm. Especially since I’m not really a good cook. I can turn out a passable roast chicken or some pork chops in a pinch. But I clearly do not have The Knack in the kitchen. Which isn’t to say I’m going to stop trying. There really is no stopping trying when it comes to cooking, right? Everyone has to eat. Every day. Seemingly three times, although there are days when three times seems rather excessive. Most days, honestly. But the people, their stomachs growl and then they look at me. And then I cook.
I have a good friend who frequently has dinner slumps with me. You know, the old “what are you making for dinner tonight?” “i don’t know, what are YOU making for dinner tonight?” “i have no idea” routine. She makes me feel better about my own slumps, including the slump that has seen us eat curry chicken legs once a week for the past 471 weeks. They are good, but they aren’t THAT good. That’s just the slump talking. My only answer to the slump is the many, many cookbooks that I own (I know it’s strange, seeing how I don’t like to cook, but I love cookbooks), the Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine, and Lo, the Great Internets. I will say that googling “quick easy tasty dinner with ingredients I have on hand right now” doesn’t get you very far although I clearly wish that it did. Otherwise I wouldn’t google it so much.
Back to the giveaway. It will include a cookbook to be determined by me. And some other kitchen related goodies. And hopefully something handmade if I can come up with a kitchen-y handmade thingy. The winner will be contacted by me and sent a brief questionnaire so that I do not send an inappropriate cookbook. If you hate Mexican I solemnly promise not to send you Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico, so feel free to enter. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Friday, January 30. Comment about any aspect of making dinner, recipes, cookbooks or the like, or just say hi!
Hey, I’m in a dinner slump right NOW. Even without cookbooks, I need to figure out more things that are easy to make and that my daughter will eat!
I’ve been in a dinner slump since we found out that I am having TRIPLETS! I need to find things that my husband will cook… (Fertility treatments were great and all.. but 3!!).
HI!
I love to cook, my hubby loves to cook and I am a cookbook collecting freak. Seriously.
I love your idea to just go against greed and fear and share!
Me! Me! I am a bad cook. I am trying to be a better cook. I am gardening now and trying to raise my own food (or some of it). It would be nice if I was better at preparing it for consumption. So I try, and try. I am in a bad winter slump now and we eat way too much pasta (mostly because my 5 year old wants it every night). I need to shake things up. I want to –but every night at dinner time, when I am tired and the whole family plus a few animals take over my kitchen and start begging for dinner (now!)–I lose the urge to try something new and I pull out some veggies to roast and another box of pasta. It is a little sad.
Also in a slump — think I’m almost always in a cooking slump though I am constantly printing off recipes that sound good. I actually made some chicken dish the other day in the crockpot and it tasted like tuna!!! Yikes — and I hate tuna! At least it didn’t have that obnoxious tuna smell. Anyway, throw my name in the hat too please.
I’m one of those who has a few tried and true recipes and I make them over and over again. Luckily I don’t mind eating the same thing so often. I think it may be time for me to get more adventurist so count me in on the give away. Thinking of you and wishing you the best
I’ve been in a dinner slump since I stopped eating at my parents house after college. I cook the same thing thing every single night, protein (baked or grilled, marinated in italian style dressing) carb (instant mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, buttered noodles, or plain uncle bens rice cooked in bouillion cubes) stemed vegetables (my hubby doesn’t eat vegetables, nor does the girl, boy and I rarely eat the meat) HELP US!
I am slumping big time, trying to find the energy and motivation to cook for my hub and twin toddlers. It’s easier to make the boys something (cheese stick, leftover pasta, cherry tomatoes, etc.) from the fridge & pantry then we eat sandwiches after getting them to bed. But I tried a new experiment last night, thinking that if we were eating it, they would, too. I made a big pot of pasta with veggie meatballs (oxymoron, I know), peas and black olives; they wolfed it down, picking out the last two ingredients. And we all enjoyed eating together.
Is all this TMI? Maybe, but it’s naptime.
Thanks for the giveaway – it’s fun to read all the comments.
Oh, yay…free stuff! Yep, I hate cooking, too. Every night I get “What’s for dinner?” Actually, half the time, it’s right after I’ve poured the cereal for breakfast that this question comes. I HATE this question! URGH!
Nancy
I now make menus for the week, put them up on the fridge (w/reference to cookbook pages as needed), and make a weekly shopping list, which gets me a plan for the night I need a dinner on the table within 15 minutes of getting home, the night only 2 of us are home, whatever. and it helps me remember why I decided to buy a pepper or potatoes or whatever.
Since school started again this month, though, we’ve been just winging it. Lots of refrigerator surprise, not so much protein all the time. Although tonight, I realized I could whip up some split pea soup in the pressure cooker pretty quickly.
Trix won’t let me cook.
I want to. She says no. She makes the kids say no too.
It’s sad, really.
I love to cook but have been uninspired lately. Maybe a cooking book would help me be inspired again.
I enjoy cooking— when I have time. I’ve recently found “The Tea Shop” mystery books with awsome recipes at the end of the book- kind of a two for one deal.
They can really help when I’m in that “what’s for dinner” mode.
I’ve started cooking meat (and some vegetables and rice) for the week on Sundays and then throwing meals together throughout the week. It took about 2 hours on Sunday and so far, 15 minutes each night. I could use some inspiration!
I am in a pasta slump — that is everything we have for supper revolves around pasta. I need to kickstart my cooking mo jo because normally I love the veggies. Pink