Confessions of a (Sort-of) Cook...

I have a few confessions to make. A) I have not made a menu in three weeks, and B) I have not cooked in three weeks.

Am I ashamed to admit this? Yes. After Jim and I began our Dave-Ramsey-inspired budget, I began to enjoy putting together weekly menus and making frugal meals that wowed my husband.

And then November came. We spent the first two weeks of the month out of town, and when we came home, I started working full-time. Even with those crazy days, I still was able to keep up with cooking, even though we were not following our menus at all.

The week before Thanksgiving, I began the Great Vomit Marathon of 2008. And my rule of thumb is: Never eat anything you have thrown up. Unfortunately, the GVM began the week I stocked up on groceries and made a whole chicken with the intention of using the leftovers in sandwiches and salads. So once I recovered, I was forced to clean out my refrigerator and throw out everything I had eaten prior to the GVM, which included the majority of the groceries I had bought that week. Somewhere in Africa there are little starving children crying over all that food.

Then December came, bringing with it visiting Grandma Brown's delicious cooking and Jim's busy nights at the church. Any semblance of motivation left to plan and cook was gone. Not only do I not enjoy cooking for myself in an empty apartment, but there was no need with food only a short trip away at the in-laws' house.

Today, however, I have renewed motivation to begin planning and cooking again - a new crock pot! Yes, Jim surprised me today with a new crock pot and fancy travel case (to prevent the Great Halloween Crockpot Disaster of 2008 from happening again!). It is beautiful and shiny... and I can't wait to use it! What should I try first? John McCain's rib recipe? Cranberry-Apple Turkey Breast? Applesauce Chicken? Or should I attempt to resurrect my White Bean Chicken Chili, which for the life of me I can not remember how I made?

My new crock pot also came with a book full of delicious new recipes that I can not wait to try, including a section on desserts. Peach cobbler in the crock pot? Yum!

I think Jim may have given me the shiny new crock pot for purely selfish motives...