The Joy of Cooking—Ukarumpa Style

I don’t generally enjoy cooking—a typical week of cooking usually looks like me making a large pot of soup or a hotdish that I eat pretty much all week. Of course, that means the pickins get mighty slim by Friday…but that’s what biscuits and peanut butter are for, right?!

My dislike of cooking is compounded by the fact that there are few “convenience foods” available—and if the store does, by chance, have one of these convenience foods, it is outrageously expensive. Or, depending on when the last shipment from Australia or the States arrived, what you are looking for may simply be out of stock.

Powdered milk...looks delicious, doesn't it?!

One of the things that I’m still getting used to here is powdered milk. Sometimes when I’m baking, I go to the fridge and look for the gallon container of milk from Kwik Trip or Walmart—then I remember: oh yes, I have to make the milk first! (Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?) I haven’t made it to where I can drink the powdered milk yet, though…maybe in a couple more years.

I also like to keep a few cans of tomato-based thing on hand—tomato paste and sauce. These items are handy to have in order to make spaghetti, pizza, or enchilada sauce. Another thing I’ve discovered is that you can freeze pretty much anything. Bought more black beans at the market? No problem; just cook them up and freeze them! Need to make a double batch of enchilada sauce so you don’t waste half a can of tomato sauce? Put it in a jar and freeze it! The best thing about freezing food (at least in my opinion) is that it doesn’t mold! Even in the fridge, food molds at a fairly fast rate—I’m not sure if this is due to fewer preservatives in the food, or if it’s just sitting in the fridge longer than I think…probably a combination of both.

I recently made a new hotdish—a chicken and broccoli-type deal—it was really good, but a bit of a pain to make, as it called for tater tots and frozen broccoli. (Thanks to all of you who post delicious recipes on Facebook! J) I should have steamed the broccoli, instead of just throwing it in, thinking it would get baked. The potatoes were a wee bit crunchy, as well—I tried to fry them, but there were too many for my poor frying pan…but live and learn! Next time I’ll steam the broccoli and boil the potatoes, so everything is less crunchy. J So the next time you go to the freezer and pull out a bag of tater tots or a frozen pizza, think of me!