The Tentative Chef

Dear readers (I hope there are a few of you) – I am sorry to have abandoned you. Due to a PDA-related tragedy, the last two weeks of blog posts have been irretrievably lost. I promise more posts about future cooking attempts.

After a panic about using the about-to-be-bad vegetables, I searched the Web and found a recipe for Quick Minestrone Soup.

And then I remembered something else about to go bad: a delicious bottle of Vida Organica Malbec wine. So I poured myself a glass. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen when a bad chef starts cooking and drinking? …

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.

I am a picky eater, and a picky cook. 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.

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.

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.