Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Chaos Cook or OCD Cook? Which are you?

I've never been much of a cook. When my kids were little, I would make simple things, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes. Then came the glory years when all I would do was call my son on the way home and tell him, "I'm at Wendys, Panda, McDonalds, Jakes Tex Mex, Burger King, etc., what do you want for dinner?" Ahhh...those were the days, no cooking, no shopping, no dishes to be done after dinner!

But recently, I've decided to eat healthier, which means that you have to shop and cook and of course you have to clean up afterwards. I was reading a blog the other day about how people are using their laptops in the kitchen rather than cookbooks. One person mentioned that it's not a good idea for her to use a laptop judging from the state of her cook books and how she is one of those cooks that drags out every pot and pan and has them all piled up alongside cookie sheets and cutting boards. With all that going on her laptop would definitely not survive for long.

When I cook I always need a recipe, so when I find a recipe I like I email it to myself at work and on my personal email, I pin it on pinterest, I share it on facebook and I print it out! Most of the time what I printed out ends up in a pile of mail and bills to be paid so I have to resort to using my laptop. Luckily I am a very neat and organized cook, almost too neat and organized (not so neat and organized with mail and bills).

So I have started using my laptop in the kitchen quite a bit, but I'm always worried that I'm going to get something on it and ruin it or make the keys all sticky! They need to invent something to hold your laptop while you cook. Here's a picture of my kitchen and I think maybe I need to invent something to hold my laptop on the ledge of the window over the sink. Something that would hold it in place and not let it fall into the sink and keep it above the counter so I couldn't get it all sticky and messy.




But back to my cooking technique...I am a very OCD cook. I clean as I go. I have to use all the proper cooking tools. If a recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, I use my measuring spoons, no guessing or a dash of this and a palmful of that for me! My mom on the other hand salts her food by just using the box of Morton Salt! (Don't tell her I told you that though, just between you and me!)

So I use tons of dishes and bowls and cutting boards and pots and pans too, but I wash everything as I go and put it away, which means it takes me hours to make a simple dish, but I just can't bring myself to leave the counters and sink a mess to be cleaned up afterward. I'm an OCD cook. So if I ever invite you to dinner and you tell me, "Cool, you cook and I'll clean up" you are getting a deal because other than the plates and utensils and glasses we use to eat, everything will already be washed up before we sit down at the table!

So are you a Chaos Cook or an OCD Cook like me? 

     

9 comments:

  1. I am 100% in between. I put away all my ingredients as I go, and I place dishes in the dishwasher or sink, but I don't wipe down counters or do the dishes while cooking. And I've cooked enough that I guesstimate measurements for spices and the like knowing where I can and cannot fudge things, but... that's an experience thing. My husband though? If a recipe calls for diced tomatoes and we only have whole ones, he has to go buy new tomatoes and can't cut up the other ones. We all find what works for us though, right?

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    1. lol, that made me laugh about your husband. That sounds like me. I was making a recipe once and it said to use a rectangular baking dish but I only had a round pyrex one and my mom said I could use that one and I knew I could, I knew the ounces were the same but it wasn't rectangular...so I had to go buy a rectangular one. Human are strange, interesting and intriguing people! Thanks for visiting and for commenting! :)

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  2. I'm neither chaotic nor obsessive in the kitchen; somewhere in the middle.
    I agree with you that if we wish to be healthy we must, if possible, cook our own meals.

    Almost everything we buy at the store (including the Health Store)has stabilizers and preserving stuff which are not healthy components.

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    1. I know! I was wondering just today at the grocery store where I stopped after work why they can't just make something with all natural ingredients and not use preservatives and chemicals!

      I bet you really make some great meals DUTA!

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  3. Neither, if I tried to cook I would burn the house down. I heat soup and hotdogs once in a while.

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    1. You are so spoiled Sextant. Mrs Sextant obviously takes very good care of you :)

      Do you BBQ?

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    2. That she does. Although I think she tends to spoiling the cats more than me. A know it all young vet technician, told my wife:

      "You are spoiling this cat!" with a real snotty air in her voice.

      My wife replied calmly and with a big smile, "Every chance I get."

      "Well then!" and she stormed off.

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    3. Oops I missed the BBQ question. Yes I grill...ha! Hamburger and hot dogs only and hers are fake, soy protein fixed in some facsimile of a hamburger or hotdog. The hamburgers are OK in the microwave but I can't eat them grilled. Its like eating a shingle. The hot dogs were designed by a panel of experts who decided to make the fake hot dog a culmination of everything one hates about a hot dog. They took hot dog flavor...concentrated it to 10,000 times and it put it in a slimy yicky pretend meat. Blaggh! So I do real one for my self and fake for her.

      BTW I do all the dishes.

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    4. As to the cat comment...good for Mrs. Sextant! Why not spoil our pets? They want us to just keep them lean and mean, not plump and sassy! I like plump and sassy...just like me...lol.

      Now as to the BBQ fake hot dogs...ewww, you make them sound horrible! I have taken to buying the Foster Farms Chicken Hot Dogs, they are so delicious! I especially love them grilled. Good thing about a low carb diet is that you can eat meat so burgers and hotdogs can be all beef and as long as I don't eat the bread I'm good!

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Please leave a comment.I would love to know your thoughts!