SAHM in the making: Episode I!

For all of those who don't know me well, this may come as a surprise...I don't cook. I've never cooked...unless you count Create-A-Meals and Hamburger Helper. Baking has always been my specialty. I'm great at brownies, cookies, cakes, etc. Providing meals however, not so much!

I am so blessed to be married to a great cook, who has kept our family fed, and fed well! But with the upcoming arrival of Baby Sloan and my transition to Stay-at-home-Mom (SAHM), I've decided I need to learn to cook. The idea of caring for my family and serving them in this way has never really appealed to me, until now. I told you all, this pregnancy has done crazy things to me.

So, I've decided that I'll cook every other night. Matt loves the idea! I've cooked some of our regular dishes, but I've also been online researching new recipes. We're tired of the same menu week after week. Yesterday I found Chicken Crunch. It's a chicken casserole that sounded so warm and yummy!

After work, I headed home excited about providing for my family and being able to serve them dinner. I got busy cutting chicken, mixing sauce, and crushing crackers. I had it in the casserole dish and in the oven in no time and felt so productive...maternal and wife-y. I fixed some rice and green peas as sides, and went in with my family to help with homework time while the Chicken Crunch cooked away.

When, the timer went off, I went in and pulled out the beautiful casserole. We got the table set and settled down for this wonderful Jennifer-made dinner. We served Jacob his rice and peas. Then I scooped into the casserole only to discover that the chicken was kind of pink. Hmmm...what's this? I cut into the chicken pieces. Oh, no! Raw chicken--salmonella! I was baffled...I followed a recipe for crying out loud. How could this happen to me! I just want to be a good wife and mother! How can Matt, Jacob, and Baby survive with a SAHM who can't even get a recipe right! Notice the rational thinking of a pregnant woman!

Thankfully my husband is calm and cool. We nuked our plates, and put the casserole back into the oven. After we finished dinner, I went back to that awful, mean, no-good recipe to see why it tried to sabotage my attempts at providing for my family. I read the directions over and over. I followed it the to the letter. Again, how could this happen. Then I saw it...the awful phrase, the culprit of the crisis--the recipe ingredients read: "4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked" Arghhh!

Notice the title of this post...for your enjoyment, stay tuned. I'm sure Episode II will soon follow!