Cooking Stuff

Why share recipes here?

Why Cooking Stuff? Because everyone has to eat. And things that are good for you don’t have to feel depriving!

I am not a Chef…. anymore…. I worked in many commercial kitchens in some capacity for well over 20 years. If trying hard made people famous, you would all know my name. But my heart was never in it. I wanted to love cooking professionally. I just didn’t. It took me a while to realize that I was the reason I was so unhappy. When I changed my career path, I loved cooking again. My children still reject 80% of what I cook and thats fine! They will know how to cook what they like on their own soon enough. My best advice is to try every ingredient you want, and if you don’t like it, change the recipe and try it again.

What am I going to cook?

My recipes will always lean into whats in season. I’m in Texas so our growing season for leafy greens and citrus fruit is pretty long, which is awesome IMO. I also keep an herb garden. We have moved a lot and most of my herbs have made it. Fresh herbs are always a good add, and you can flavor almost anything to your liking if you find an herb that makes you happy…

I have a few rules I will not break when it comes to cooking. Most grocery stores carry everything year round these days, thanks to industrial farming. Its fine! Buy what you want. Keep in mind – Just because it is in the store doesn’t mean it will have any flavor. So if you’re shopping in a big grocer, smell everything!! If there’s no smell, there is no flavor. If you have the means, find farms around you and support them. Stop using plastic bags. They rot produce faster than anything. Take the time to prep things and put them away. If things are already prepped, I am much more likely to use it. I’m not here to tell you how to live. But, please. For the love of the sweet Lord in Heaven, people, rinse your rice.. nobody wants the starchy goo that happens when you cook dry rice right out of the bag.

What stuff makes good food?

There’s not a tool in the world that will make something better. Knowing how to choose and combine ingredients, read cookbooks, and learn techniques. I can tell you that I use a few things everyday and love them. Dumb little gadgets that I’m never going to stop using like my rice cooker. I like the one thats a little more expensive because it has higher quality cooking surfaces. But I had this one for $20 all through college and into my first grown up job. I never had any issues with it other than the bowl scratched really easily when I took crappy care of it. I also use silicone ended tongs every time I cook anything. My husband got me a beautiful set of copper cookware a few years ago and I will not let a hard or plated utensil near them. Lastly, anyone who has ever worked in commercial production knows – Kitchen towels. They have to be a reasonable weight and size to use for everything, so any kitchen towel won’t do. There is not a cook in any business anywhere that works without a towel in one hand and tongs in the other. It’s basic and it is forever engrained in me.

Why does the food I eat make a difference?

We live in a very busy society. We wear our business as a badge of honor. I schedule rest into my life and I still wake up and hit the ground running to get everything done. Taking the time to eat food that was made carefully takes planning, and I don’t always have the plan in place. Restaurants and fast food are the go to, when we get to the point that we have to eat something. This life often throws us curve balls and when that happens once in a week, it’s more likely to happen a couple of times. Then I find myself to be “fluffy” and grumpy. I don’t have the patience to practice and if I do, I have no focus. Thats the beginning of the spiral. If a person relates to that kind of behavior, and were to enroll in my course, learning to listen to your body is quickly an important topic. You’ll know how certain foods make you feel. Not only “junk food”, but foods that cause your body to swell or ache. Thats the goal at least….