Confessions

I’ll just get it right out there in the open…I am NOT a good cook.

There, I said it.

I grew up in a restaurant owned by my parents, watching my father create and plate delicious comfort food—sandwiches, soups, burgers, and hearty Tex Mex dishes—-that people STILL rave about to this day. He says it himself, he is amazingly talented at what he knows, and what he knows is homestyle cooking, meatloaf with mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie, chili, etc..you get the picture.

I will go on to add that what my dad lacks, my mother makes up for. She creates the most beautifully put together, gourmet meals–pretty much the opposite of how my father cooks. She pays complete attention to detail, creating food that bloggers would die to get pictures of.

So, together, my parents are the powerhouse team of the culinary world…okay, well maybe not THE culinary world, but definitely MY culinary world.

I have never felt the need to learn to cook. It is not as though I can’t fend for myself in the kitchen–I can generally wing the process and end up sauteing vegetables with some type of protein over pasta or rice–but I am not a natural.

So, this is your invitation to come along for the ride as I attempt to broaden my kitchen skills. I can’t promise it will be a caterpillar to butterfly type experience, but I can say that I will try to improve, and learn to cook with my own two little slicing and dicing hands.

Here we go…

Tonight for dinner I was craving Chinese takeout–I really wanted some chicken with broccoli, lo mein, and sticky white rice. Unfortunately I don’t always feel the best after I devour this, so I decided to make my own version.

Shrimp and Veggie Spicy Stir Fry

I started out with what I had in the pantry:
Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Rice Wine Vinegar
Corn Starch
Garlic
Crushed Red Pepper
Dried Basil
Sugar

Then I went to Price Chopper for:
Shrimp (I decided to go with frozen pre cooked to save some time and money)
Mushrooms
Red & Green Peppers
Zucchini

  

Tagged as: Cooking