one pan cooking
I didn’t even realize that i do this often. It’s just kinda what I do. Growing up, we never used a microwave for cooking anything. I had never seen a hot dog or potato enter the microwave raw until i had graduated from high school. My friends thought I was a freak. I thought they were the freaks.
I never opened a can of soup or spaghettios, dumped it into a bowl, and zapped it. Everything went into a pot or pan. I thought that was normal. I thought that’s how things were done. Microwaves were strictly for popcorn, frozen foods, or sparce re-heating. Thawing – refrigerator. Heating water – kettle. par cooking was actually par cooking. – She also had a thing against pre-packaged food. I didn’t know potatoes or vegetables came canned, I was denied such luxuries as lunchables or string cheese. Its just how things were in my house.
Heck – my mom wouldn’t even let us stand 2 feet from the microwave, let along stand infront of it while it was on. I had no idea you could open the door before the thrid beep. None of this because we had a faulty microwave, or anything of the sort. My mom was just all about the cooking. (and the fear that “what if” situation occured and i suddenly became unable to conceive due to these crazy waves contained in that strange box with buttons)
Fast food was a treat – McDonalds became as exciting to say as Disneyland. Instead of getting a hot lunch from school consisting of some strange chicken nuggets and tater tots (and boy was i jealous of the kids eating that stuff!!! Nothing tastes as good as that which you can’t have!!), I brought a bento box to school. That’s right. My mom still thought she was in japan. Rarely would you see a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my bag. Instead it was rice, steamed green beans, mayo/shoyu dip, and homemade teriyaki chicken. Or maybe some momma innari and sushi (she made the sushi american flavored though, egg, clauson pickles, and ham…i still think it’s the best 
) Once in a while i’d get a fluffy egg sandwich with mayonnaise on some white bread with the crust cut off. That was always a fave!!
Back to my topic though – one pan cooking. So, everything had to go in a pot or pan. I quickly learned what steps I had to take to make a meal…sometimes prepping items ahead of time that would be needed later in the recipe, just so i wouldn’t have to cook using more than one pan at a time – basically so i wouldn’t get yelled at for making mounds of dishes.
30 years later…So i cook all the time still. Using a lot of the recipes that I grew up with in addition to new ones. But I didn’t realize my natural inclination to using one pan until my boyfriend pointed it out. I’d say about 40% of the time i succussfully cook us meals utilizing only one pot or pan without even thinking about it. I’m not talking grilled cheese here either…grilled burgers with whole grilled onion and toasted buns ( all cook at the same time in one pan…and its so good), pasta with sausage, grilled sweet peppers, and a cream tomato sauce, pot roast, omelet with grilled onions and garlic, bacon, sausage, pan fried rustic toast, maybe some homemade scrapple hash with potatoes, curry rice…you get the point.
I never paid attention to these things before joe so attentively pointed it out. I’m thinking of catalogueing all of these recipes now. i swear, you’d never know how easy cooking can be!!
