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| Be a real man...get into the kitchen and cook! |
I'm sure most reading this grew up in homes like mine. Mom cooked the meals in the kitchen, Dad took care of the grilling when necessary. Just the way it was, and how our home was before we had children. Nicole would get home and make dinner and all was right with the world.
After our second child was born, I quickly realized if I wanted to eat dinner, I was going to have to cook it myself. Nicole was typically taking care of the kids, which meant it was time for me to step into the kitchen and start cooking. To say I was clueless was an understatement.
Before you go rushing to conclusions, I knew the basics. I knew where everything was located and how to work all the proper appliances, but the methods and timing of cooking were very foreign to me.
Nicole would laugh at me and my endless questioning about this, that and the other, but what started off as a dreadful assignment turned into a pleasure for me. I started to enjoy having my day or two to cook dinner. It started off with simple stir fry using a rice cooker, then expanded to spaghetti using spaghetti squash rather than noodles, to black bean burgers and eventually more time consuming dishes like the Caribbean tilapia bowls we now enjoy (the recipe is below given for this delicious dish).
Now with 3 children, two dogs and working full time, cooking dinners has become my every day job. There are a few occasions where Nicole will put something in the crock pot the night before, but since I get home first and have time without the children, I take care of the cooking Monday through Friday.
Cooking can be a very rewarding task. Putting in the time to put a healthy meal on the table that your family enjoys and benefits from is something very difficult to explain to someone who has never experienced it before. In my opinion, any guy can throw burgers on a hot grill and move them around, but it takes another type of man to step into the kitchen with the confidence to say, "I got this..."
As I continued to cook, I became more interested in the Food Network, but one chef in particular. Mr. Bobby Flay. Everyone knows him as 'the grill guy', but he can truly do it all. I realize I am not a chef and will never attend culinary school, but you can always learn from people like this. It was from Bobby Flay and his grilling books I've received through the years that inspired me to cook entire meals on my charcoal grill. I took the kitchen, and just moved it outside. (Expect more grilling articles in the future.)
Cooking is something everyone should experience. Putting your stamp on a meal is something truly rewarding, and making the meal healthy just adds to the satisfaction of treating your family to a good-for-you meal.
So, guys, it is time to get off the couch and get into the kitchen and do some work!
Caribbean Tilapia Bowls:
(Feeds a family of 5)
2.5 lbs. Tilapia
3 packs frozen cauliflower
6 Bell Peppers
3 Onions
1 Can Kidney Beans
Chili Powder
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay seasoning
- Rinse off the tilapia and dry. Spray a glass dish and place the tilapia evenly on the dish. Coat generously with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. Place in the oven at 350-degrees until the edges of the fish start to brown and the fish is white throughout.
- While the fish is in the oven, place the frozen cauliflower into a pot and fill with water to boil. Allow cauliflower to boil for 5-10 minutes. After cauliflower is fork tender, drain the water, and mash the cauliflower to make cauliflower rice. Season with salt and pepper.
- While the water boils, cut up the bell peppers and onions and caramelize in a pan. Season with salt and pepper.
- Take the kidney beans, strain and rinse the beans, and place them in a small pot to warm on the stove top.
- When the fish is done, remove from oven and mix together breaking up the fish and mixing the seasonings on top.
Put the cauliflower "rice" in the bottom of a bowl with the tilapia, beans and pepper mix on top. Add Old Bay seasoning to specific taste and enjoy!
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