New Month's Resolution

For those of you who can't cook, maybe you'll find this as inspiration!
By the way-the topic of this blog post is a very sore spot in my life and the fact that I am admitting this on the internet (gasp!) is a huge step.

To some, cooking may be one of those activities that comes second nature..something you do to relax and when you have free time..or something that people love about you.  I would love to say that is me.  Instead, I stare jealously at all your recipes (oh goodness, and the blogosphere is full of them), desperately wishing I knew how to "coarsely chop a bellpepper" or just where in the world the parsley was in the grocery store.  Instead, I sulk to my freezer and pull out my frozen Smart Ones 3 cheese ziti (which if you haven't tried, you need to today. no excuses).  Well, last night I decided that enough is enough!  I don't want to be intimidated by the kitchen any longer!  I long to be a great housewife someday and being able to cook a meal once a week I feel is a necessity in a 20 something's life.  Plus, it's not like I have kids right now..or even a dog..or homework.

I searched online for recipes and found one that looked yummy and easy enough.  Now off to the grocery store.  Or, as I like to think of it, finding needles in a haystack.  I called my mom to tell her to be on standby in case I had questions.  It's that bad.  It's foreign language to me.  EXACTLY why I forced myself to do it--it's about time I conquer my fears.  I think shopping for your recipe ingredients is like being pushed into a swimming pool and learning how to swim right then and there.  Anyways, so I'm at the grocery store...meticulously checking my list I had written.  Let's just say that the man in the seafood section could definitely tell this was my first rodeo.  Sure, I've looked for fruits, salad ingredients, pasta, etc...but where in the world were these SPECIFIC spices or...how about this one "Chili Sauce?"  Good thing mom had followed directions and was on "standby."  She informed me that chili sauce is "hot sauce."  There's that foreign language I was telling you about.

Finally, after 30 minutes of searching, I had found my 6 ingredients and was outta there!  At home, it took me 45 minutes to prepare a meal that said "25 minutes preparation."  I didn't care, I was still proud and my baby turned out delicious! Check it out:

Minestrone Tortellini.

Boyfriend even asked to take leftovers to work.  Now...what am I going to cook NEXT week?  This cookin' thing ain't so bad, I promise!  I think the main inhibition I have about the whole thing is actually planning it out.  Picking out a recipe-->making a list-->shopping for the ingredients.  It scares [scared] me!  That's a whole bunch of steps and if you don't plan BEFORE you're even hungry, well, let's just say you can keep eating those Smart Ones (which I'm not completely opposed to sometimes!)

I never did a New Year's Resolution so I think I'm going to start a "new month" resolution.  Every time a new month begins to roll around, I'm going to identify a part of my life I'd like to improve or enjoy more.  What is your new month's resolution?