I’ve been cooking for our little family for a little over 8 months. Quickly, I realized Josh is a delightful person to cook for. He never complains (even if there is a long list of foods he does not prefer), he doesn’t get sick of eating leftovers, he doesn’t compare my cooking to anyone else’s… and he brags to other people about what I make. (Not going to lie, it’s nice to be bragged about.)
I’ve also learned a lot about myself. I get bored. I like to make new things. I am frustrated that I only know how to make things with chicken, ground beef, tilapia and sausage… that’s it. I need a challenge in my life!
Here’s the thing. I’m afraid of meat.
1) What if I under cook it and give us food poisoning and then we will never be able to eat it again in our lives? That would really stink.
2) What if it’s completely disgusting and we have to throw it away and go to Wendy’s? (This is our disaster plan. It has been implemented on one occasion: Brie Soup. Aka weird colored water with spices and blobs of un-melted cheese bobbing like apples. Even THAT Josh tried to eat without complaining. I spit it out.)
3) What if I waste our money? (I cook on a really tight budget. I’m afraid of it getting blown up by one bad meal that was supposed to last for a couple of days.)
In a moment of confidence reading the Aldi ad, I decided to buy a pot roast kit. I’ve never made it before, so I thought what the heck. It comes in a kit, it’s on sale, the least I can do is try, right? So today I’m venturing out to purchase it. Not a big deal to all of you, maybe, but to me it’s huge. (This could be an $8 mistake, or a $8 meal of sweet victory. Time will tell.)
On another note, tonight is date night. We’re having a friend over tomorrow night so I’m doing some meal prep- we’ve having spaghetti so it’s nothing crazy, but I’m making peanut butter cheesecake bars, and I’ve never done that… need to whip those up tonight. (Josh makes the crust and I make the filling- we’re a great cheesecake making team!) Also we decided to make pancakes for dinner. We’ve learned how to be more of a team, cooking together. It’s pretty fun.
Also on a super random note, a goose just did a crash landing right outside of my window, had one foot tucked up by his body, hopped 3 times on one foot before doing a weird-looking face plant into the concrete. He sat there for a couple of minutes, doing a weird flap with his wings, stood on the one leg and did the most awkward take off ever. That goose just made me feel extremely graceful.
Josh,
When I told you I wanted to go to Aldi on Wednesday to get the pot roast, you said “I feel like we’ve hit a milestone! Planning to go to the store on a specific day for a specific thing! WOW!”
I’m glad you let me try new things, and that you don’t get upset when they’re not as awesome as I hoped (cough BRIE SOUP cough). The way you talk about my cooking makes me so happy, and I’m so glad I have successfully kept you well fed on such a small budget.
If this meal is a total bust, tell me not to worry about it.
Love, Mrs. Cornelissen
deborahlovesjosh.wordpress.com 
This is so great! 😀 I literally laughed out loud at work while reading the goose story!
And yeah, meat is a kicker on a tight budget, not only is it easy to mess up, but its so darn expensive!
Most weeks, okay, every week, I just get a bag of chicken breasts from Aldi and cook them up on the crock pot for 4-5 hours and then just use that meat throughout the week for sandwhiches, on top of pasta meals, in rice meals, etc!
Crock pot meat cooking is kind of a lazy life saver when it comes to meat at our house 😀 but we gotta get that protein somehow!
Haha I’m glad!
What do you cook the chicken in? I haven’t discovered how to make un-flavored chicken that I like.
Oh I don’t know how we would eat without the crock pot… not with me working full time and Josh being a full time student!