To return to the kitchen again has been a serene and a joyful feeling after living in a homeless shelter for years. It has been a year since moving from the shelter in April, 2013, and a year of having my own kitchen.
Since moving, I have been able to make a variety of meals from simple to unique dishes, conventional and complex dishes. Most important, I was able to cook my favorite meal of baked barbecue chicken, sweet potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob along with corn bread muffins. To prepare the chicken, I use seasoned salt, black pepper, paprika and, Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce; I prepared the sweet potatoes with sugar, cinnamon, and orange juice, which makes them flavorful and most delicious. Also, I made my own cornbread muffins.
With my meals, I usually include a salad which is healthy for you. My salads start with lettuce; I use Romaine lettuce, which is a green leafy type that I prefer to other lettuces. I include cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and shredded cheese. I read that salads help your digestive tract and therefore, the foods you eat are processed better. As a result of reading about this, I eat salads regularly. The choices of dressings that accompany my salads are usually Blue Cheese Ranch, French, and Italian. In addition to my normal salad, I enjoy eating a chef salad, which can be eaten as a meal and is very filling.
Since being in my kitchen, I have cooked and experimented with an array of meals, from cooking tilapia (a fish) to brewing my own favorite Starbucks’ coffee. The side dishes that I prepared with the entrée of tilapia were a delight! They included cooked carrots, broccoli, and garlic bread. Other dishes I’ve made have been veggie burgers of vegan beef, fixed with green peppers, red peppers, onions, carrots, garlic and seasoned salt. I’ve also cooked lemon chicken, to name another dish. Recently, I cooked a spaghetti dinner for a friend who was delighted with the meal that I prepared with vegan beef and included green peppers, onions, oregano, black pepper, and a brand name tomato sauce. My friend said the dinner was delicious with the right spices. He said the tomato sauce had a “flair” to it that was “invigorating”. Along with the spaghetti dinner, I served a salad and tortilla bread.
I enjoy baking as well, and explore different recipes for the holidays. This past Christmas I baked Christmas sugar cookies; they gave the apartment a sweet savory aroma which lasted for hours. The smell of Christmas was certainly in the air. I also got the chance to make corn pudding, a cherished family recipe and always made during the holidays. When I was a child, my grandmother looked forward to making corn pudding. She would get up early to make it special, and I couldn’t wait to delve right into the sweet, savory, and flavorful dish to eat it with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, giving the meal a tangy and filling taste!
Getting acquainted with the kitchen again and cooking an array of different dishes has been surreal.
I learned how to prepare foods, about proper food storage, and how to cook food the right way by experience working in the restaurant industry and various community kitchens, reading books, watching food shows on TV, and collecting recipes.
It has been said time and time again that the kitchen is the heart of your home; I truly treasure and value my kitchen and have gained greater appreciation for it after not having one for so many years. It has really been amazing to be able to share my talent with others, as well as to have the opportunity to develop my cooking abilities.
My next experiments will be with gourmet recipes!
