Cooking as a life skill

Cooking isn’t that exciting, I guess, but having been in a place of… I don’t know, subservience for a while, the idea that I can cook for myself, and it’s more than grill a steak or heat up a frozen dinner is liberating. I’m not super far into that journey yet, but even with the little things I’m already doing, I can see the joy that it will bring, and the sense of accomplishment.

Tonight I cooked a tuna steak, really just seared it, with a little salt. Nothing fancy, but it felt good. Tomorrow I’ll be meal planning for the rest of the week, and I’ve got a goal of one “new” meal a week. While that may not be very ambitious, it feels about right to me right now. Technically, my tuna steak is new, since I haven’t cooked something like that in years, and I’m thinking “new” means new since the divorce. But going forward I want to make it fancier. Marinades and more complicated preparations.

I also want to work on getting the food on the table at the same time, especially when the kids are here. Last night, it was a simple mac & cheese from a box and steamed broccoli, and because I only have one pot at the moment, I steamed the broccoli, then stuck it on a plate in the closed microwave to keep warm and cooked the mac. That’s a limitation I can’t get around without buying more pots, which I’m sure I’ll do eventually.

I also bought myself an Instant Pot. I realize that’s almost the opposite of what I’m talking about with cooking, but it will give me some interesting flexibility, with the added advantage of not making the house smell so good I want to break my diet. My wife had a habit of setting a pork roast in the slow cooker on days I was working from home, then taking the kids somewhere all day. So I’d be stuck smelling it all day. They’re lucky there was any left when they got home, though now that I think about it, I probably volunteered to pull the pork (and eat a bunch) more than I normally would have, so maybe it was a ploy that worked.

Yesterday, I took that Instant Pot for a spin. Nothing fancy, again. I made beef stock. A few weeks ago I bought about 3 pounds of beef stew bones from our local Amish farmer, and I shoved those in the pot with a carrot and onion, and let it do its thing. It claims to only take two hours, and while I didn’t pull it out immediately, but instead left it in “keep warm” mode until I was done putting the kids to bed, the stock looks and tastes wonderful. And bonus, the stew bones had a ton of meat on them, so rather than simple stock, I’ve now got the very basics of a true stew. Just thicken it with a roux, throw in some vegetables, and I’ve got a meal.

Next, I’ll have to get my All American canner from the Ex and, after making stock from the chicken bones I have taking up space in my all-too-small freezer, I can put away both chicken and beef stock that will be shelf-stable. That’s a win for sure.

So, there’s my thought for today. Regardless of where you are in life, if you enjoy cooking at all, or want to stretch your horizons, consider trying to learn to cook. And check back regularly as we figure out together just what I’m capable of, and what adventures lie ahead.

• Cooking
• Introduction