Find Creativity in the Everyday Stuff

Prosciutto-wrapped Mini-Frittata Muffins from Nom Nom Paleo

Ever since I was tall enough to reach the kitchen counter, I have been cooking. My mom started me out with making pigs in blankets, grilled cheese and pancakes. Not long after that, she taught me that with a few pantry items and a pound of ground beef, a person could make a decent homemade spaghetti sauce or some tasty tacos. Before too long, I was making dinner a couple of nights a week once my mom started working full-time. What I didn't know back then was that not only was she was teaching me to be a problem solver, but also to find creativity in even the most mundane tasks.

Flash forward to college where I made strange but edible concoctions with a few simple ingredients and my illegal hot pot in my dorm room. When I had my own apartment and kitchen, I prepared a roasted turkey dinner with all the trimmings for my friends. I had practically no money, but somehow I was able to throw some ingredients together and make it taste good. Or least no one got food poisoning.

Today, cooking is one of the most enjoyable things I do in my life. My favorite challenge of the day is to open up the pantry or vegetable crisper and think, "What can I throw together tonight." Even after a long day at work, as soon as I pull out of the parking lot, I'm already thinking about what I can create in the kitchen. The worries melt away as I'm chopping ingredients and stirring things together. I'm in the zone.

I collect cook books and recipes like a boss, but rarely do I follow them exactly. I have never stopped in mid-prep to run to the store to get a special kind of cheese or a bunch of scallions just because the recipe said I had to have it. More times than not, I'm winging it with a big smile on my face. And, no one has died yet because I didn't use the special cheese.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows - there have been some epic failures, but thankfully, they are few and far between. I almost always walk away from that experience having learned something new to try again in a different way (or I learned to NEVER try that again). I wish I had more time to experiment, but I mostly have to feed my family of five before they start gnawing on each other for sustenance. But there is joy in that preparation and nothing pleases me more than when the family says, "Make it again, Mom."

I'm trying to teach my kids to cook in the same way my mother taught me. To learn to solve problems. To learn from the mistakes. To try new things. To find creativity in the everyday stuff. I believe this is a skill that transcends the kitchen. And most of the time, the results are delicious.