The Tentative Chef

My Mission

So I need to … make more use of the kitchen as more than a place to eat. (To learn why, see How It All Started)

And I’ve decided to share with you, my dear readers, my exploits as I become more comfortable in that scary space.

The goal: cook three dinners a week and share the experience with you. That may not sound like much to most of you, but for me, that would be a huge accomplishment. Now, I’m not going to cook a new recipe every time – I will repeat. And anyway, this isn’t a recipe blog – although I welcome your recipe suggestions and will link to mine where possible (and permitted by copyright holders).

Picky Eaters

There are criteria, though: Everything I cook has to be healthy, relatively low-fat; I’m going to try to include as many vegetables, fruits and whole grains as possible.

Adding to the fun, we’ve got a bunch of food allergies to deal with in our house. I am allergic to fish, can’t even cook it in the house (shellfish are safe and welcomed, though). Same goes for onions – they can’t be anywhere in a dish, even dried. Onion powder, inexplicably, is fine.

What you can expect

I’m not a real big fan of beef, so you probably won’t see much of that. Protein sources I favor: chicken, shrimp, other shellfish, legumes and cheese. I don’t grow anything. I live in an apartment and I have a small kitchen, and – with no full-time job – I’m also on a bit of a budget. Now, this isn’t going to be chef on a shoestring, but some simple delicacies, such as steamed crab claws, may be out for now. And I will be looking for bargains and ways to stretch out my dollar.

The other thing to know: we love leftovers in our house. As I mentioned, I’m only planning to cook dinner three times a week. Well, that means a lot of lunches and a lot of dinners that I don’t plan to cook. And with our budget, those are not going to be eating out. And with the food allergies and general pickiness, it’s not too likely to be prepared foods, either. So I’ll also be looking for recipes that refrigerate or freeze and reheat well, and I’ll report back on my experiences on all of them.

Oh, and I’m a picky eater, too. Figures.