What's Cooking?

the Internet calls these emergency nachos. i call them heavenly.

It's Wednesday night and I do not feel like cooking. AGAIN.

Before I was pregnant I cooked all the time. I loved cooking. There was a certain kind of peace attained in the kitchen and I took pride in the fact that nearly nothing Rex or I ate came out of a box. We were healthy dammit. We bought local and ate fresh and seasonal and I somehow had enough time on my hands to spend half a day thinking about what kind of awesomeness we'd cook together at night. I may have been cooking for most of my life, but my DH is relatively new to the game. I have taken great pleasure in showing him the ropes, watching his confidence blossom and encouraging him to trust his instincts.

During the first trimester things started to go down hill. I was tired all the time and the mere thought of touching uncooked meats or even water soaked tofu made me gag. I couldn't stand the smell of anything and I hated being in the kitchen. Rex, champion that he is, stepped up to the plate and did most of the cooking while I moaned on the couch and focused my energy on consuming strawberry fruit floes from TJs. He did a great job too, let me tell you. I don't remember what we were eating, but it was good, with lots of vegetables and deliciousness.

As my nausea subsided I took things over in the kitchen. The husband works hard see. Ten hours at the office and often several more at home in the evening. I don't mind cooking by myself to give him a break. And I've always been adamant that he shouldn't help if he's too tired or doesn't feel like it, because the food will know his heart isn't in it (don't ask me how the food knows, it just does, okay?!). We ate a lot of salads for dinner, eggs, and easy things. And I supplemented. With take out! Take out is easy! How I wish that I had the constitution (and bank account) to survive on take out without putting on weight. I might never cook again. I love it, I cannot deny.

Lately I've been feeling really tired and lazy. I have to soak the chicken in vinegar for two hours before I bbq it? Are you shitting me? And then I have to turn on the bbq? And then I have to cook it? Complete with the turning over and the spreading of the tasty delciousness?* I am too exhausted to bbq, let's have nachos! Somehow I've managed to get out of bbqing that chicken all week. It's been waiting for me and I know I really want it, that it will be delicious, but I also know that it takes effort to make it and I am all out of effort. The effort well is dry. We must dig another hole and to do that we need permits and a drill and all sorts of unpleasantness.

What do I do Internet? Sometimes it is too much to cut a cucumber. HALP! Send me a cut cucumber stat! (I hope right now you're imagining me eating a cucumber whole.)

* this is my favorite bbq chicken. Cornell BBQ Chicken from an issue of Cooks Country released sometime last year**

** that was an excellent example of what years of studying political science taught me about citations. Hahahaha. Joke's on you UC Davis!