Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Lessons through cooking: Potato Pancakes

Before I got married I never thought of myself as a good cook. As a young child and teenager I even had difficulty cooking a simple frozen pizza without burning either the pizza or myself and sometimes even both. I often tried new recipes that just did not come out like the pictures I saw or the way I had seen others make them. I continued with my college food staples for a long time as they were simple and I had a decreased chance of burning the food, myself, and even the house down.

When Kris and I were engaged last year, I realized that my current food staples although filling and satisfying were not going to be a healthy choice in the long run to feed and take care of our family. I also realized that cooking for our family would become my responsibility. I had to start to make some changes in the way I ate and what I cooked. I did want to start cooking fancy meals as I knew Kris was not into fancy meals or even fancy dining. I knew he enjoyed more of the comfort foods so I became an expert at cooking comfort foods with a healthier twist. I tried to learn to make meals from a box without using the boxed meals.

I get my basic recipes from various Internet websites such as Cooks.com or Allrecipes.com. Even websites such as weelicious.com offer simple and healthy alternatives to familiar comfort foods that we both enjoy. The recipes are simple and do not take much time to prepare or cook although it does take me some time to prepare recipes or meals I have never tried. They are not the fancy recipes found on other websites such as Foodnetwork.com. I am not opposed to using other sites but I find the recipes more complicated than what I need. I do not follow the recipes to the letter but I use them as a basic guideline. I tweak each recipe as needed every time I make it. Each dish comes out different every time I make it. I cannot seem to cook something the same way twice. I am very fortunate to have a willing guinea pig to try each new recipe with an open mind and heart. Kris loves that he gets a new dish every once in a while and he has not complained (much) since we have been married. I do not think he has eaten this well since his childhood days. There have been a lot of changes since eating frozen meals, Ramen noodles, or eating out during his bachelor days.

I often like to try new recipes when I have to use foods before they spoil. Kris is very big on not wasting any food. He makes sure to save or eat every bit of food on the table at every meal. He will even eat the last few bites on my plate so there is nothing that goes to waste. He likes to consider himself a bit of an environmentalist since reading an article online.

I decided on potato pancakes for today's recipe since we had a few potatoes that I was afraid might spoil in the next few days.They turned out to be more like potato cakes rather than pancakes but Kris enjoyed them. When Kris is happy then I am a happy wife.

Potato pancakes which came out more like flat potato cakes

I learned a few lessons today in making my potato (pan)cakes. Lessons that I think will make me a better cook and an even better wife and Mom someday.

Lessons learned through cooking:

1. A little flour goes a LONG way.
2. A little salt does NOT go a long way.
3. A big mess is not as a big mess that we think it is when it is all cleaned and put away.

I still do not consider myself a good cook but I know that I have a satisfied and happy husband who does not want for food.
 
Click the link to see basic recipe that I followed to make my potato (pan)cakes today.

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