My Quest to be a Better Cook

In the interest of being open and transparent, I have a confession to make: I can’t cook.

Okay, well maybe that’s a tad dramatic. I’m fairly good at making sweet stuff. And I can technically cook other stuff, but it does not come naturally to me. Up until a couple of years ago, I didn’t have much practice at it. I would “cook” things like instant mashed potatoes, Hamburger Helper, canned soup, Kraft macaroni and cheese. But, as I got older, I realized (1) that’s not really cooking and (2) it’s not really healthy.

I skated through my cooking duties the first couple of years of marriage because Mr. 31 can cook and he enjoys doing it. However, there are times when he’s not home or home late or tired and we can’t eat out every time that happens. Also, in the interests of being a better wife, I thought that cooking might be a helpful skill to acquire. So, a couple of years ago, I began to try to teach myself to cook.

When I first started, I wanted to work exclusively off of recipes because, basically, I didn’t know what I was doing enough to improvise. But the problem with that is most recipes called for stuff I don’t typically keep in my house. So that would entail a trip to the grocery store. A few dozen trips to the grocery store later, Mr. 31 declared that, for the sake of our budget and his sanity, I was going to have to learn to cook with what was already in the house.

So, a little freaked out, I began to get a little more creative in the kitchen. I have been not-so-successful a number of times, though my husband has been kind and eaten everything with no (okay, very few) complaints. However, I have found success more times than not and have grown in confidence and skill. I’m still not the best, but I’m growing and learning.

In future posts, I will share stuff that has worked as well as some things that were spectacular fails (because I’m sure there will be more of those along the way!).

Scripture Saturday - Proverbs 31:10

I wanted to set aside one day a week to take a short look at a scripture. You may be asking why Scripture Saturday, not Scripture Sunday (since it seems I'm into alliteration)? I like to set Sunday apart as a sabbath day, when I spend time with the Lord and my family. Note I say "like to", not "always manage to". But, I'm trying, so Scripture Saturday it is!


Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. -Proverbs 31:10*

I wanted to take a particular look at one word in this verse: "virtuous". I think we all understand (and agree!) that it's good to have a worth higher than rubies. But who is it that qualifies to be this virtuous woman worth more than rubies? What does it mean to be virtuous?

To be virtuous means to be pure and to have moral excellence. Our motives and decisions, as well as the actions that follow, should be pure and blameless. What good is it to decorate our homes if our motive is simply to get compliments and attention from others? What good is it to keep our homes clean and neat or to work outside our home if our motivation is to be able to act like a martyr because we're doing so? Doing a multitude of "good" acts does not make someone virtuous.

Our motivation for doing all in our lives should come from a place of holiness and purity that comes when we are focusing on the Lord. I know that is something that I need to keep a check on - how about you?


* Unless otherwise noted, all scriptures come from the King James Version of the Bible.

My First Post!

Well, first things first. I guess I should tell you a little bit about me and the point of doing this blog.

I'm a 28 year old Christian woman. I have been married to my husband (let's call him Mr. 31 to protect the innocent!) for almost four years. We have been together since we were 16. He's the love of my life and a fabulous person. He is also a very patient person, seeing as he's been with me for so long!

I work as an office administrator in a denominational office. I love my job. It keeps me busy and is challenging in a good way.

My husband and I live with 2 and 1/2 cats. I'm mentioning them, not because I'm a crazy cat lady, but because they are a part of our household and I may want to mention them down the line. The oldest is Dixie; she is 12 years old and the Queen Bee. She's tiny and declawed and beats the tar out of the two larger male cats. The second oldest is Samuel; he's a four year old cat that we rescued from the street after he got beat up by another cat. He's very lovable and playful, but also very dumb. The 1/2 cat is a homeless cat the neighborhood kids named Ernie; he lives with us part time and we keep him fed and warm, especially in the winter months.

My point in doing this blog is two fold. I want to be an encouragement to those women who, like me, are striving to be the woman God has called them to be. I like to use Proverbs 31 as a guideline for my journey and thought that would be a good frame of reference for this blog.

But, alas, I am not perfect, not even close, which leads me to my second reason for doing this blog. I think this blog will be a good accountability tool. Putting my successes and failures out there for everyone to see will help keep me focused and in line with what I am trying to achieve.

Wow - I did not mean for this first post to be this long, but I think it's important to set the stage!

I look forward to walking the journey together!