Still finding my way in the kitchen...

   So, I'm still trying to develop some cooking skills so Ryan and I can stop eating out all the time. As much as he would like to help me with the cooking, Ryan has never learned cooking skills (since his mom and sister are INCREDIBLE chefs!!) The truth is, I'm not too much more advanced than he is. I'm trying to get better at cooking and expanding my list of recipes, but it doesn't always go too well. Recently, I've been feeling pretty discouraged with cooking. By the time I come home from work in the evening, the last thing I feel like doing is cooking dinner. However, I've been getting better about putting forth the effort. The trouble is, my dinner is usually ruined before I even finish making it. I end up throwing away a lot of dinners-in-progress. I hate this because it's wasteful and it doesn't do too much for my confidence in the kitchen. I think one of the low moments for me was when my co-workers were planning a pot-luck at work, and my co-worker looked at me hesitantly and said she wasn't sure she would be eating whatever I brought (and she was serious!) Ryan always tries to encourage me and let me know it's ok, but I don't feel like it's ok. I want to get a lot better in the kitchen, but it's a work in progress at this point.
   My successful recipes are pretty much limited to pasta dishes, black bean burgers (sometimes,) empanadas (sometimes,) chili (sometimes,) cobb salad, and veggie flatbread. I feel like cooking is one of the ways I contribute to our family, and it's not fun to feel like you can't always deliver on that. I'm trying to slowly get my confidence level in the kitchen back up, and try some new recipes. Keep your fingers crossed for me.