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I lost my love for cooking. I don’t cook as much, especially since the pandemic started. I don’t buy as much meat or fresh veggies. Cans, frozen items, and pantry items have ruled the nest.
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| Aroma 20 cup multicooker. I got a similar one from Target. Slow cooker and Rice cooker in one :-) https://amzn.to/3Da7NWm |
With meat, I used to buy a lot of it. Stock up the freezer with mostly meat and ice cream. Chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, fish, and pork chops, but then my oldest was caught trying to eat through the frozen fish and beef. I found teeth marks on the packages and stopped buying everything but chicken. I was buying 10 plus or more packs of chicken, each month, because it was the only thing he did not bite through. Chicken left little room for anything else. If I wanted pork or fish or beef, I had to hide it between or behind the packs of chicken. I don’t want to eat the same thing all the time.
With fresh veggies, my last apt did not keep veggies too long without them going bad. Either I had to cook them up fast enough or I had to throw them out within a week or so. My kids also did not help either. My youngest has eaten avocados, shell and all, and onions. He also loves fruit. He will eat a whole bunch of bananas, apples, or tangerines in one sitting. I started buying a small bunch of bananas or 1-2 apples or oranges, instead of a bag. My oldest ate a whole crock pot full of rice and beans, years ago, while everyone else was asleep and I had to cook again the next day.
My oldest also threw out multiple gallons of milk, down the sink, when my youngest brought them home from school. I already have been using powdered milk in cooking because of his behavior. I also had to hide knives and can goods for a while, along with can openers, because I woke up one night, with my oldest standing near my bed, with a can over my head and can opener in hand. Definitely glad he did not drop the can. For knives, he decided to cut up all the veggies at my mom’s old house.
Enter the pandemic, the kids are at home all the time. School and church were closed. No more walking and riding the bus because of my oldest son’s behavior. Brad would try to or would run into the road, with me trying to pull him back and keep my youngest, Kalen, in sight. Police have been called multiple times to get Brad to stay on the sidewalk. I had people offer us rides to get to where we were going, after they saw me struggling with Brad.
Back to the no love for cooking lol
Brad would stand over me, while I was cooking. If I moved to the sink, he would move to the sink. If I needed something out of the cabinet, he would move to the cabinet. I wanted freedom to move around my house and kitchen without bumping into a kid. Not to mention, Kalen was in the kitchen as well, because where I go, he goes.
Kalen may have been playing with my phone or tablet or playing with toys on the floor. Brad wanted to help season food, with or without my help, so seasonings temporarily moved to the top of the closet until needed. Brad would also try to add items to the crock or rice cooker, with or without my help. Another issue was he would stand over the rice cooker or crock pot, while food was cooking, not understanding the steam. Both kids would try to open the oven, while it was on. Stove knobs also got hidden when not in use. Kalen also would tear up sliced bread so I started using hamburger buns or tortillas for sandwiches. For crackers, he now only wants jelly on them, then eats the jelly and breaks the cracker on the floor.
I would sometimes make no yeast loaf bread or biscuits, maybe flat bread or dumplings (same recipe lol but sometimes I used broth instead of water). Next, Kalen threw eggs out of the fridge so I temporarily bought a 6 pack versus a 24 pack. I would hide the egg carton under bags of fresh veggies.
Kalen currently eats up the sour cream, yogurt, hummus, and cream cheese. He thinks it’s all cheese. I stopped buying yogurt. I put cream cheese blocks in the freezer until I needed them. I bought small containers of cream cheese spreads to use in cooking. Kalen likes ramen. I forgot what he did with them, but I moved from the squares to the cups. I definitely need a mini fridge for some staples.
I felt like I had to guard the kitchen, while cooking, even if I wanted to set it and forget it in a rice cooker or crock. I got tired of all the kitchen behaviors. I stopped cooking a lot of fave meals and sides. No more gravies. No more bread. Rice and veggies. Sometimes meat. Potatoes and other veggies. Sometimes meat. Maybe a salad or sandwich but they had to be bought and eaten, the day of.
I did learn how to make ice cream, butter, and cheese. I also stopped buying as much in bulk. If I don’t cook as much, I don’t need all this meat, butter, pasta, and potatoes. Kids still act up. My oldest, this weekend, threw the potatoes and avocados off the counters. Brad threw food out of the fridge and freezer. Still can’t find a bottle of ranch dressing. The unopened container of sour cream was in the sink. I had to move the potatoes and avos in the closet, until Brad went back to the group home. Brad also poured out milk on the counters and in the sink, plus chocolate syrup. Kalen also throws food out of the fridge, looking for what he wants.
I am glad my oldest is in a residential home because I can buy fresh milk again for cereal, even though someone poured out a lot of cereal on the counters and sink, this weekend.
I moved the can openers back in the kitchen. I moved the cans back into the living room on rolling carts. I didn’t like the carts taking up valuable walking space in the closet. Brad does not mess with the cans or can openers when he is here. The knives are still hidden. Some seasonings are back in the kitchen, while the rest are at the top of the closet, until the kitchen supplies are depleted.
Yet, I still don’t want to cook like I used to. I don’t want to stand over the stove or put food in the oven. I have used my oven in my new apt, 3x, since moving in. The stove has been used, but not as much. My youngest is picky. Some days, he may eat what I cook and some days, he wants fries or chips. He also still wants to eat up all the hummus, sour cream, and cream cheese. :-). I made some gravy for the first time in the new place, on the 31st. I cooked some whole potatoes in the slow cooker. I cooked a few thin chops. Maybe make a sandwich since I have hamburger buns.
Over the weekend, including Thursday, I cooked 4x. Brad ate a lot, including stealing his brother's bowl of food, before Kalen got a chance to eat one bite. Kalen still broke crackers and dumped noodles all over the floor after he was done with them. Brad threw noodles in the trash, after he was done with them, but then tried to pull them out later to eat them. This is my life. I do not enjoy cooking as much.
