The Proof is In the Chili

I don't cook, I defrost. That was my motto for many years. Going from being a college student living on her own to being in a relationship with a musician, I've never really had to cook. TB and I rarely sit down together for meals during the week. In fact, we never do. I'm at work for breakfast and lunch, and he's at work for dinner. So we just fend for ourselves.

I thought having a child would change this, but she has absolutely no interest in what we're eating, she lives in her own little food world. She eats great for a toddler- she likes fruit, yogurt, potatoes, cottage cheese, cereal, spaghetti- all sorts of stuff other than the usual pizza, macaroni and cheese, and fries they're supposed to like at this age. So I'm still just cooking for one.

I don't eat poorly, necessarily. Sure there are the days when I have cookies for breakfast, a South Beach Bar for lunch and a pickle sandwich for dinner. But those aren't the norm. I get my breakfasts at work, my lunches usually don't require any cooking, and dinners are usually frozen chicken, frozen veggies, and sometimes a baked sweet potato if I'm feeling adventurous. Now, one would think that with this diet I'd be completely emaciated. Don't let me fool you, there are plenty of snacks in between that also don't require cooking. And I take full advantage of those. So I get my calories in. I just don't cook.

BUT I decided I needed to start eating more wholesomely. I've been getting a lot of headaches lately, been very lethargic, my workouts have been suffering for the past year or so, and I've just had this all-around feeling of poo-ness. So I vowed to cook more, which would allow me to choose less-processed, healthier foods.

I told some people of my plan and I won't lie, I was laughed at. Apparently people don't think I can cook. Sure I might have a reputation of dropping a can of soup into a batch of brownies that were cooling in the pan. Yeah, I might have substituted peanut oil for vegetable oil once when making carrot cake. It seemed totally reasonable, how was I supposed to know it would make the carrot cake stink? I've frosted my share of cakes prematurely, burnt my share of muffins and produced banana bread that was burnt on the edges yet completely liquid in the center. SO WHAT? That was all baking. OK I'll admit, I have a bad history with baking. But I'm talking about cooking now. HUGE difference.

And just to prove that I can cook, here's what I produced last night:

Chili. With beans and onions and sauce and beef and everything. OK I'll admit this photo does not do it justice. I didn't have it for dinner last night so I just dumped it into the Tupperware container. I'm not a huge chili fan but I got the beef and I didn't really know what else to do with it, but mmmmmm, it was GOOD!

And then I made this:

Baked Italian chicken with boiled zucchini and a baked sweet potato with just a leeeetle pat of butter. Yummy. That was dinner. Yes I know the chicken looks kind of raw, but it was actually perfect. I tend to overcook my chicken so it ends up a little on the dry side, but this....this was perfect.

Tonight I have plans to go out to dinner with a friend but before that I'm going to cook up some more chicken and make some healthy chicken salad for lunches over the weekend.

See? I can cook!