An Ode to My Dear Friends: Chips & Salsa

It's about 10:30 PM here on the west coast and I am desperately searching for one last recipe before I hit the stores tomorrow. Just one recipe between me and my beautiful inexpensive IKEA bed. 

I'm going to tell you a little story about how this is all my fault. 

I remember with longing a time in the not so distant past where I ate dinner for one. Hummus and pita. Chips and salsa. Both pretty common dinners for a single gal throwing her paycheck to rent and the outfits and alcohol that make for top nights out with the girls. It was a beautiful time and I realize now the beauty in the simplicity of a life where grilled chicken breasts in a George Foreman was an elaborate dinner. 


I didn't learn how to cook when I got married because I am a sometimes genius who selected a marriage partner who is an outstanding cook. Not only is he good at cooking, but he likes cooking AND likes experimenting with new recipes. It was a wonderful arrangement. He did almost all of the cooking and when he didn't feel like cooking I urbanspoon-ed us a nice restaurant. Also, a beautiful time. 

So simple. For me at least. Fast forward to California. 

We arrived and husband had a job that started right away. I on the other hand spent most of my time applying for jobs and starting this blog about working out and eating healthy.

Naturally I had more time on my hands than husband. In between looking at gifs on tumblr and rolling out the yoga mat I had a thought, like sometimes morons do, that I would learn how to cook. 

What. An. Idiot.

Now I do almost all of the cooking. Yep, a kitchen novice is feeding two people on a nightly basis. 

I may or may not have mentioned that my mother, while a great cook, really served a majority of pasta dishes. To the point where I thought we WERE Italian. We aren't. So that was pretty much the only thing I knew how to make. 

I learned to boil water. (Who knew salt was so important?)
How to brown meat. (That sounds disgusting.)
And other various simple kitchen tasks. (Let's not discuss the litany of questions involving my first go at the rice cooker)

Then I realized that by cooking I had control over our grocery budget.
I was so excited that I started making 2 week-at-a-time meal plans. I used that as my template for trying out new things. The learning curve though has been rough. Like eating the same rotation every two weeks. Husband went from cooking every night to never cooking because he wasn't going shopping. 

Knowledge is a funny thing.
You think I'd be happy now that I know how to properly scramble eggs and substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream, and I am.
But right now, as I distract myself from searching for one last easy recipe to finish off a two week plan, I can only think how happy I was to eat chips and salsa for dinner. 

I wonder what husband would say if I put that on the table tomorrow?