after twenty-six years, domestication

After spending too much money and gaining about twenty pounds over the last six months of eating out for lunch every day, I purchased a lunch box, some tupperware, and, get ready for this: Food. As in raw ingredients. At the grocery store. The very grocery store where the basketball coach at the University from which my latest degree was conferred got in a fight with the Chancellor of said University. But I digress.

I've always liked "cooking," at least nominally, but up to this point in my life, "cooking" has merely consisted of the following activites:

1) Outdoor grilling of any variety of red meat;

2) Outdoor smoking of any variety of red meat;

3) Outdoor charring of marshmallows;

4) Toasting bread in a toaster;

5) Microwaving Hot Pockets;

6) I made a cake once to prove to a girlfriend that I could do it. She didn't eat any.

Needless to say, what I set out to do this week was indeed a tall order. But one which was necessary, given the aforementioned pocket drain, weight gain, and, more recently, time constrain(ts). So it was off to food.com I went to get recipes.

I have to say that my efforts have met with resounding success in the Court of Culinary Opinion, i.e., me. I have now consumed three of my own lunches so far, cooked in my very own skillet, over my very own stove. Accordingly, I have no intention of stopping my embryonic restaurant rebellion.

The plan as it has manifested itself so far had gone like this: I cook all my lunches and dinners for a whole week in advance, put them in tupperware containers small enough to fit in my lunchbox, then store them in the fridge. So far I have made two different types of Hamburger Helper, a macaroni casserole of my own concoction, and a lasagne recipe I got off of food.com. All this cooking took up about two hours of my Sunday afternoon, but the time was worth it in relaxation and money saved.

I can't believe I didn't do this sooner.