Julie & Julia: Challenge
I come from a traditional Haitian background so cooking & cooking well is important.
Growing up, I wasn’t that girl who wanted to be in the
kitchen when my mother was cooking. In fact whenever she asked me to stand and
watch something for her, you better believe it almost never ended well. My big
sisters even tried countless times, as I grew up, to get (force) me to learn.
It just didn’t really stick.
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| Tostados For Dinner |
Even after I had both of my kids, I wasn’t a great, heck
even a good cook! For starters, seasoning plays a major role in my culture! If
your seasoning is trash, your dish is trash! I laugh as I write this but, it’s
the truth. Finding the best seasoning for my household has been an undeniable
yet vigorous journey. I’ve thrown, given away & abandoned some; yet I’ve
found the ones that I found work best!
Have you ever watched the: Julie & Julia movie? If not look it up! This movie made me challenge myself to become a better cook. Not every dish works but NOT every dish fails! And that my friends,
brings satisfaction & the adrenaline to keep trying new things. I’ve
decided to include some photos of dishes that I myself have prepared during my:
Jules & Julia Challenge. Every year I tell myself I am going to become a
better cook, and to be frank I haven’t made nearly as much progress as I should
have. In September, I decided to take the leap. The biggest rule in this
challenge was no more Spaghetti! I’m a mother of 2, I take courses online, in
ministry at church, work full time and the list could go on so spaghetti is extremely
easy & convenient but I don’t want nor plan on eating spaghetti every day
for the rest of my life; some may feel differently & that’s OK! I enjoy
trying new things and not eating the same thing more than once, if the
opportunity to try something new presents itself.
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| Rice & Peas with Pork Chops |
So maybe you too, have wanted to try dishes from different
countries or cultures. My solution is look up a credible recipe & make it yourself. If
that recipe doesn’t work, tweak it or find another one. Don’t look at this as
wasting, look at it as perfecting! I’ll be visiting a nearby Asian grocery
store for some dishes I’d like to try; I’ll write a new blog once I’ve done so!
Let’s have fun ya’ll, this is growth too!!!
Feel free to share some of your cooking stories below in the
comments or email our team: asyoucanbe@gmail.com
-Thanks for reading!
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| Yellow Rice, Veggies & Beef Chunks |