Josh and Joshia

Tonight, I decided to do something I have never done...cook...and not boxed tuna helper. More specifically it was baking but either way, it was a first. I had been jonesing for tater tot casserole all day so after doing my laundry, I had no choice but to head back to HyVee so I could get the appropriate ingredients.

Before heading to HyVee, I perused the internet to find a good recipe. I couldn't find any that seemed right so I decided to be a real chef and create my own recipe from combining a couple and adding to them. Off the HyVee!

I get to HyVee and immediately start wishing I wasn't there. Because I work there all day long, when people see me come back they give me a hard time and just about every employee asks me why I don't just shop after work so that I don't have to come back. After explaining that I don't take my wallet to work with me and that I walk so I wouldn't want to walk back home with sacks full of food, I maneuver my way out of the store and almost wipe out about six times trying to get to my car. I make a mental note while unlocking me car..."Ice and boots don't go well together. Think about different foot wear."

I get back to my apartment and almost cry...there is not a clean dish in the kitchen. I grumble to myself because I'm the only one here with Cody in Arkansas and roll up my sleeves and start scrubbing pots. After one load of dishes, I decide they are going to have to be done anyway so I spend the next hour scrubbing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. When my hands look like they can't absorb anymore water and I am starting to think no food is worth this, even tater tot casserole, I am finally ready to get started.

I review the recipe again, which I have copied to Word for saving, and add in the ingredients to it that I decided to put it. The recipe calls for half an onion so I get to chopping. I am starting to think I am resistant to the war cry of the chopped onion when my next chop yields a spray. I am unable to blink in time and the onion almost brings me to my knees. Why are you doing this to me God?! Can a man not enjoy his casseroles?!

I squeeze the hamburger out of the tube and start mixing it with the onion while cooking it. It isn't long before I realize that I have way too much onion. So as I am mashing and mixing meat, I am trying to pick out onion to somehow reduce the intensity. This proved to be a task that I am excellent. All employers reading this take note...I can effectively reduce excess.

I do the manly thing (plus what I see all the chefs on food network) and ignore the measurements for the Worcestershire sauce and ketchup(I just splashed it on). I dump in the cream of mushroom and it is time to spread it out on the pan.

Uh...this is when I instantly realize I should have used two pounds of hamburger and two cans of cream of mushroom. I spread out the green beans on top, throw on way more tater tots then the recipe calls, and sprinkle cheese all over the top. I stick it in the oven and cross my fingers. It smells good but did I get enough onion out?!

25 minutes later...

I search the kitchen for oven mitts and eventually just secede to using a towel because I don't want to food to burn that I have been sacrificing for the last two hours. I make another mental check to use more meat and scoop some on to my plate. I nervously dip my fork into the meat and cheese and close my eyes. "If this goes bad, I am not telling anyone about this." And survey says! Wow...that isn't bad. In fact, this is really good. I am thoroughly impressed. I need to try this more often!

What did this experience do for me? Besides helping me refine my tater tot casserole recipe, it has also given me confidence. I can do this. And I will do this. I am becoming a man!