A random blog entry on food

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. Less than what your average housewife or mom (of which I fall into neither category) does, but a lot more than I usually do. It's been for a multitude of reasons: to save money, because I'm doing Weight Watchers, because I'm eating less meat. But also, I like to cook. I'm not very good at it, but I enjoy it when I can. What I have trouble with is putting it all together.  I mean, I can cook a dish, but I have more trouble creating a meal. Or a menu for the week. It feels like pulling teeth. And I am so jealous of my friends who seem to be able to pull it all together and make it seem effortless. 

Growing up, both my parents did a fair amount of cooking. My father made this amazing and deliciously spicy pasta sauce (which, Papa, if you're reading this, would you email that recipe to me?). In fact, my father used to cook all kinds of amazing stuff. As a kid, I know I was a total a-hole about his food because it wasn't generic. I mean, I think I wanted what I now refer to as "middle America" food: bottled salad dressing, Mac & Cheese out of a box, hotdogs and hamburgers. I didn't grow up on that stuff. I grew up on big salads (my mom makes the most amazing salads on the planet. I can run a close second when I try, but nobody puts together salads like she does. And she always makes her own creative dressings.), very spicy food, usually with minimal meat. Or rather, meat not as the center. You know, meat and a veggie and a starch as the generic meal--ours never looked like that. Way more heavy on the veggies.  I can remember being embarrassed when friends would come over because it wasn't food like you'd see advertised on TV, like Shake and Bake or Hamburger Helper (that would be added to the repertoire at my father's house when he married his third wife. That and breaking up the spaghetti so that it could no longer be twirled--the true scandal of my youth).

When my mom and my step-dad married, suddenly there were teen and pre-teen kids living in one house. So not only were they negotiating what married life meant, but we were an instant, not-well-mixed, kinda lumpy blended family. Food was a huge issue: my step-sister drank Coke in insane quantities. My step-brother only liked canned spinach. My primarily vegetarian mother and I ate a lot of funny looking food that didn't go over terribly well with the other half of the family. Food was a source of stress. And so we began to go out a lot. I think at least 3 nights out of the week, the "family dinner table" was at the local pizza joint. So in some ways, eating out feels more like the family dinner table than anywhere else.

So now I'm trying to return to the times of my youth--when food was eaten at a table, prepared by members of the family. It sounds kinda corny here, but there's something great about peeling a butternut squash and talking about your day. I'm also in love with slow cooker recipes. I'm making this bbq tofu chili weight watchers recipe and it's insane how good it is (and I'm not even that big of a tofu fan). And if you're curious about one of my father's insanely delicious and spicy recipes, here's an easy one, fashioned for a crock pot, cook in a skillet, all together:

Picadilo:

1 pound ground beef

1 chopped green pepper

1 garlic clove, chopped       

2 onions, chopped

1 large can of tomatoes

½ cup of raisins

1 cup of olives

1 tablespoon of capers

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

 Cook it up and serve it over rice…++