Confessions of an aspiring chef.

One of my unofficial resolutions for this year is to branch out in the cooking (and eating) department, and today I tried to make good on my goal. I head confidently into the meat department, found some good looking cuts on sale, then turned to the checkout counter.

And then I got home.

As I stared at the packages, the realization of what I had done quickly set in. For starters, I specifically sought out tilapia in the seafood department because that is the only type of fish that Stephen likes...the problem is, Stephen does not like tilapia. He likes haddock. And I realized this as soon as I saw that beautiful package of fish sitting in my refrigerator.

I also realized I had no idea what I on earth I was going to do with this meat. After months of trying to plan meals and then buy my supplies, I decided to throw it all out the window and take a cue from some of my fellow frugal mom bloggers who advocate buying what is on sale and planning meals around that. So I bought meat that was on sale...now what? I picked out the package I wanted to start with, and then stared at the meat for a few minutes...then I walked to my computer and did a few google searches...then I went back and stared at the meat again...I repeat this cycle several times before deciding to clean up the apartment while I "thought about it" (translation: my fight or flight response kicked in, and I chose flight).

Surprise, surprise, Stephen came home from work before I finished "thinking about it" and happily rescued me from my inner turmoil. He took over the meat (a thinly sliced top round roast, in case you were wondering...he fried it up in some butter and onions and garlic...mmmm) while I chopped and steamed some green beans and peeled potatoes. The end result was quite delicious, but sans potatoes. More about that tomorrow...In any case, all's well that end's well, right?

Stephen and I come from very different "food backgrounds". I am firmly ingrained with the idea that dinner consists of a meat, a starch, and a vegetable. When our potato plan failed, Stephen suggested replacing them with fruit. Fruit?! Fruit is what my grandma serves for dessert (of course she always has a few cookies waiting in the wings for her favorite grandchildren...:) Apparently, fruit is something that Stephen's family usually ate with dinner. My family ate a lot of venison, lots and lots of potatoes, and always a healthy serving of vegetables. His family ate a lot of chicken, pasta, and as we now know, fruit. I think it's interesting to see how our tastes and our backgrounds have melded together to form our new family's food style, especially since when I first moved to Maryland our food style was "pizza or chinese". We've come a long way, but we're not done yet! Check back for the rest of this week's dinner adventures...