~acquiring, no more...

Do you have any addictions?  I do ~ I have an addiction to collecting recipe books and cooking gadgets!  I have mentioned before that, earlier in my life I was determined to be a Home Economist, so I am positive that is where these cooking-related addictions stem from!  I probably have about 50-ish cook books (including magazine-like publications) in my current "collection," and the gadgets overflow from the gadget drawers.  On top of the books, I might have about a gazillion loose recipes; not to mention what a person can find on the Internet with a simple Google search.  Don't even get me started on Pinterest!  I have an account, but don't do much with it, because I can see that c/would quickly become another addiction!   ;-)

Notwithstanding these addictions and the amassed resources to "feed" said addictions (pardon the pun), I had gotten quite lazy about meal planning & cooking good food.  Literally, that means I was not.at.all.  I would grocery shop, buy random stuff, and hope like heck I could find a recipe or magically whip up some delectable concoction using the ingredients I hauled home.  Sometimes it worked, a lot of times it did not.  I was on auto-pilot & was cooking the same old dishes over & over again; many of which were of the variety that simply needed warming up.  My love of cooking great food seemed to have waned, and it was VERY boring to eat like that!

In January 2011 this changed because I made a New Year's Resolution that I would actually ENGAGE in meal-planning, make better USE of my recipe books & PREPARE great food using all the wonderful gadgets that are supposed to make meal prep fun and/or easier.  I have never been one to make OR keep New Year's Resolutions, but I have done fairly well with this one.  I have not been perfect; not even close.  There are many weeks where life is just busy & I revert to the old habit of just shopping without preparing a list, but I am doing much better than I used to.  When I embarked on this journey, I also started making notes in my recipe books to indicate if a recipe was great (or not), and any changes I may have made (switching ingredients, changing amounts, etc.).  Now when I am browsing in my books, I can quickly see recipes that I have already tried, some of which will never be tried again, many of which will be prepared again!

Yes, we have been on quite the culinary journey, through these months & it has been great fun to (re)tantalize the taste buds! For example, look what we had for dinner today - Thai BBQ Chicken Breast, Stir-fry Snow Peas, and Grilled Cantaloupe & Pineapple.  I have eaten grilled pineapple a few times - actually got hooked on that at one nummy establishment in UT called Toucanos Brazillian Grill; but honestly, who knew you c/should BBQ cantalope???  It was yummy - tasted a little bit like squash, but sweet too!

 

I definitely still have my addictions, which means I need to consciously avoid the recipe book section in all stores that carry them (because the ones I have not seen or bought are still SOOOO tempting).  But, rather than simply acquiring them & putting them on a shelf; I have been doing my best to put the ones I already have to use - novel idea, I know!

Wish me luck & if you need a recipe for a certain dish, call me 'cause I probably have it!