A milestone

Mmmm, shredded cow muscle.

Today I cooked lunch for myself: taco salad. Okay, it was just meat, cheese, and chips, so it was more like a beefy plate of nachos, but it's a start. I'm working my way up to adding rice (they were out of my preferred Mexican rice at the grocery) and lettuce (I forgot to get it) and maybe a dollop of Daisy.

My concoction turned out relatively well. I could have used more taco seasoning, and a proper strainer (instead of the pan-to-pan mashing maneuver) would have made it less greasy.

This is the first thing besides a grilled cheese I've cooked on my stove. I am a lifelong picky eater, someone not interested in real food and ingredients, so I never took an interest in learning how to construct meals. And the longer I went without cooking, the more skiddish and embarrassed I became about actually trying. Besides, Phil was always a superb cook, so I was really of no use in the kitchen. And any time I'd try to cook something around him, I'd get self-conscious about my ignorance, and just scuttle away and come back when it was time to put ice in the cups.

But that's stupid and all in my head. So I'm going to learn how to cook, even if it's learning how to cook badly. And then I'm going to cook Phil a meal and see if it passes muster.

My next project is something involving chicken. Chicken seems to be harder to handle than ground beef because it's harder to discern when it's actually cooked. I don't want to be the idiot who gives herself salmonella.