Something like adulting
April 16, 2025
I've never enjoyed cooking.
Some people get into a kind of zen state with the prep work; for me it's just drudgery. And then the cooking process itself can require a lot of attention. Stir for however-many minutes, when it does this, add those ingredients then do another thing. When your entire day can be derailed by something shiny that's not a great proposition. And then there's the cleanup afterwards. At least an hour of effort for something that's going to get eaten in like ten minutes.
The eating part of the process is nice, at least.
Given that I live alone it shouldn't be a surprise that I spend a lot of money going out to eat. Between the increasing expense and for health reasons, I've been trying to change that recently.
I'm not always successful at it, but I've kind of learned to work with my lazy impulses instead of fighting them. It's no great shock that my most-preferred dishes are things I can ignore for long periods of time. Black bean stew, chili, shredded pork in the slow cooker. The prep-work slog is still there, but the fact that I can wander off for a while and let the food do its thing without me is a pretty big plus as far as I'm concerned. And those dishes tend to be a bit forgiving if the goldfish memory kicks in and I forget about them for a bit.
Baby steps, sure. And I'm not expecting praise for sorta figuring this stuff out 18 months before my 50th birthday. But better late than never, right?
