Cooking for Two

If cooking for two were a class in school, I would fail miserably. I’ve adjusted quite well to this phase in my life except when it comes to cooking for myself and Tom. I just don’t do it. We have been reduced to frozen microwave dinners and lots and lots of eggs.

As we head to the grocery store I think to myself “I have nothing planned for dinners this week!” And then I think, “That’s ok. Tom doesn’t mind his frozen dinners, and he can eat whenever he wants.” But it isn’t OK with me. Even though I feel badly about it, for some reason I’m not making a move towards learning to cook for two. Cooking for a family of 4 was enjoyable. Cooking for two is complicated. I try to remember back to the days before kids but I was so inept in the kitchen that dinner consisted of a lot of spaghetti (which Tom lovingly referred to as “Old Standby”) and grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m back to grilled cheese, but no longer make spaghetti because of the acid reflux that results from too much tomato sauce. But I don’t think Tom recognizes grilled cheese as me actually making dinner. Recently, some friends stopped by with their motorcycles and asked if we wanted to go ride and stop for dinner.

            “Sure,” Tom said, “We haven’t had dinner.”

            “Yes we have! I made grilled cheese sandwiches!” I responded.

We did try Blue Apron for about a month but I didn’t do well with the pressure of cooking some creative recipe that nobody liked. There was also the pressure of some evening commitment or class potentially preventing me from cooking one of the recipes so that the ingredients would eventually go bad, which would then be a waste of food and money (never mind the food and money I waste annually that comes directly from the grocery store). My most successful week this past year (yes there are only a couple of successful weeks) was my annual “Week of Soups.” That’s always great because soups are easy to store and reheat at a later time, usually during the cold months.

I really do like to cook. And there was a time when I made a weekly meal plan. There was usually a chicken night, a crockpot meal night, a casserole night, pasta night, leftovers night, and salad or sandwich night. Occasionally, I’d throw in breakfast-for-dinner night. We ate like kings back then! Sometimes I’ll pick up a “Cooking for Two” recipe book magazine in the grocery store aisle and flip through it for inspiration but then put it back when I see the familiar recipes that I have cooked in the past and see the $14.99 price tag on the cover. This year I’m going to commit to learning to cook for two. I’m turning over a new leaf. Tonight we’ll start with grilled cheese sandwiches.