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Health & Fitness

Boy Scout Cooking

Dinner may not look good, but it's tasty!

Hubby (bless him) was a Boy Scout. That’s where he learned to cook a million years ago when the Earth’s crust was still cooling.  Don’t get me wrong—I’m very grateful he cooks because I don’t.  I mean, I can follow a recipe if it doesn’t have too many ingredients or complicated steps.  Hey, I can make killer toast!

Anyway, Hubby (bless him) tends to make what our friends call Refugee Food.  It’s always some shade of brown, green or gray.  It has rice, beans or pasta—or some combo of them.  It’s served in a bowl and you eat it with a spoon.  It’s prepared in one pot.  It’s always tasty even if it’s sometimes unattractive.  It was dubbed Refugee Food because it sticks to your ribs and is healthy for you.  (An interesting alternative is called Refrigerator Stew—you take a lot of what’s in the ‘fridge and dump it all into a pot.  Cook ‘till done.)

We’ve gotten so used to Refugee Food that when we dine out a plate that sports easily recognized food groups is odd.  And the colors!  When you don’t mash it all together it’s not brown, green or gray!  What a concept!

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One of our difficulties is that Hubby (bless him) likes to cook large quantities and freeze meal-sized containers.  We normally date the container and give it a name—and that’s where it gets tricky. When almost everything has rice, beans or pasta it gets tough to come up with a descriptive name.  Many times we default to names like “Rice Stuff” or “Pasta Surprise.”  It’s not terribly descriptive.

One time, after we’d hosted a big party, Hubby (bless him) took all the leftover party food and dumped it into a big pot.  Party Soup was an unmitigated success!  Too bad he can never recreate his dishes.  He doesn’t measure ingredients or ever write them down.

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Of course, I’m not about to bite the hand that feeds me.  No matter what he cooks it’s better than my best toast!

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