Cooking

I used to really like to cook. I know that when we got married I wasn't great, but I've been honing my skills and can whip up some pretty good stuff. Seems like the last few months I've lost my cooking mojo. We've been eating a lot of frozen stuff and really quick things that don't involve actual cooking, but just boiling water (tortellini, I'm looking at you).

Sunday I tried to turn that trend around. I'd seen a recipe for macaroni and cheese with roasted butternut squash in the latest issue of Parents magazine and was feeling inspired. I thought it sounded yummy and I've started looking for more ways to get Matt, and Cadence, to eat veggies. So after I made lunch (marinated salmon and brown rice) and they went down for naps, I got cooking. I roasted the butternut squash. Which, by the way, is great on it's own, but also very good in mac and cheese.

Then I chopped veggies for lentil and tomato soup, which was really easy in the crockpot. I'm a fan of recipes that just involved dumping everything in a pot.

So, at the end of the cooking session, I had two meals that have been feeding us for days. (Well, I'm the only one eating the soup. I think Matt and Cadie are not into lentils.) It was a really great feeling to be in the quiet kitchen, just accomplishing something that filled up our bellies. I had time to think about discussions from church that morning. It turned out to be rather meditative. I've got to do this again sometime...