...On Learning to Cook {& Tasty Tuesday!}.

 
Prior to getting married, I could barely boil water.  Growing up, I never cooked.  My mom is an amazing cook and I had a sister that loved to cook, too, so I got pretty good at taste-testing the food.

In college, I ate a lot of burritos, deli sandwiches, and grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Comfort food at its best!

After college, I worked at camp.  I ate camp food. all. the. time.

Then husband and I got married.  And I married a man that loooooves food.

It wasn't automatically my job to do the cooking, but I really wanted to learn.  I wanted to be the wife with the husband that couldn't wait to eat her meals.   I wanted to be the mom who is the best cook according to her kids.  I wanted to conquer my fear of cooking and be able to at least try anything.

So I began the journey.  One of the first things I made was my mom's lasagna and it was a success.  It's always encouraging to start off with a little success.  I also had a husband that encouraged me to try everything and would eat pretty much anything.  He kept me going and always complimented what I did well.

This past year, I've learned a whole lot when it comes to cooking.  After a million phone calls to my mom and sister and almost burning the house down trying to make pie crusts from scratch, I've grown.

+  I no longer need to follow every recipe exactly (which is a huge step for me) and I can almost-sorta-kinda make things up.
+  I've learned what a pastry cutter is and how to improvise without one.
+  I've learned how to make some quick and easy meals that are much healthier than mac n cheese (although I'm still not above some good ol' mac n cheese!)
+  I've learned how to cook vegetables to the perfect crisp.
+  I've experimented with different types of flour (did you know there are over 30 different types of flour?)
+  I can cook fish (for some reason, fish scared me).
+  I can make a pie crust successfully.

Booyah!

And so much more; I just can't think of it right now.  Thanks to Tasty Tuesdays for helping keep me accountable to experimenting in the kitchen, I feel so much better about cooking.  I know I am still totally novice, but I have time to learn and grow and maybe one day be the mom who is the best cook!  For now, I'll stick to being a wife that is getting better at cooking.

Speaking of Tasty Tuesdays...here's a really quick and easy meal that is BOMB.  I'm telling you, when husband and I had a busy week, we ate it like 4 nights in a row.  I'm not even kidding.

Huevos Rancheros Spaghetti

12 oz Spaghetti
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
4 eggs
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups salsa, plus more for garnish
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onion

In a large pot, cook spaghetti according to package instructions.  In the last 3 minutes of cooking, add corn and black beans.

Meanwhile, fry eggs in a nonstick pan. Season with salt and pepper.

When spaghetti is finished cooking, reserve a cup of the pasta water.  Drain spaghetti, beans, and corn, and return the mixture to the pot. Add salsa and 3/4 cup pasta water, and toss to coat.  Divide pasta onto 4 serving plates and place a hot fried egg and Cheddar cheese on each. Garnish with additional salsa and green onion.

This is day 2 of the series "31 Days on becoming a new wife."  I hope you'll journey with me as I reflect on my first year as a Mrs!  Click on the button to see a list of the rest of the posts.

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