Sometimes love, Sometimes loathe

Cooking and I do not really go so far back. It is still a novelty to me really. Growing up, I hardly cooked. Blame it on my mom or was it just me? I knew how to cook rice with the electric cooker when I was 11 or 12. Then I was taught to peel onions and that kinda the only thing I knew up until I left home for college! Yeah, sure I cooked the occasional maggi mee, fried egg and that tasty sambal goreng kentang my big sister concocted but that's about it. In my household, cooking was more my parents' forte and my big sister's too and in later years, my other sister (who's 6 years younger) would follow suit. It was never me. While THEY were in the kitchen, one can find me either in front of the tv doing my homework or in my bed, reading a book. To say my mom was accommodating to my "lifestyle choice" is an understatement when she was quite a nagger back then. But my absence from the kitchen never bothered her. As long as I have done my onion peeling duty, I can be excused from the kitchen!

So I left for college and the first two years in Shah Alam, I did not have to cook. Warung food everyday! Then came the US and I finally cooked! Strangely I don't remember much what I cooked back then but I knew I had a few recipes I took with me to the new land and I think I cooked a really tasty ayam goreng tomato. But other than that, I could not, for the life of me, recalled what else had I cooked during that time. Ayam goreng, ikan bilis goreng, ikan goreng etc .... were they nice or not, I don't remember.

Working life in KL, I ate out most of the time but I did remember cooking beef paprik and one my roomates commented " mmm... this is good Rozi. Tastes like the one we buy in warung." Mmm... was that a compliment?

Anyways, then I got married and cooking was yet to become a fav pastime. I mean, cooking for two ain't easy. Most recipes are meant for 4-6 people and that would meant a 2cm of ginger needs to be divided by 4?? And I hated Maths.

Fast forward 6 years, my daughter was 6 and boy she loved to eat. So eating out is not really a good option anymore as it can be quite costly. Living in the UK at that time did not help too. So I had to cook. No other choice but that. And thanks to the Internet, finding tried and tested recipes was a breeze. So my culinary journey began in a foreign land ..... and surprisingly I enjoyed it very much. You can say I kind of fell in love with cooking and even baking.

And that continued when we came back to Malaysia. Cooking for four is easier than cooking for just hubby and myself. And I kinda enjoyed it especially when you have a child that was quite the Alam Flora! But living in our own homeland, we are spoilt with a lot of warung choices. There are days, we can opt not to cook and just tapau. No harm there what.

But now? I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO COOK!!! EVERYDAY! And it is making me SICK! Seriously. A stay-at-home-mum in Malaysia would be a different story. A SAHM in a country where women can't drive is a torture. Day in and day out, I have to think of what food shall I prepare for my loved ones.

Imran just asked for nasi 30 mins ago and I told him it's too early for lunch. So he asked for milk and I scolded him because he has had too much milk today. But I made it anyway and he drank it and now he has dozed off, probably dreaming of his nasi! Kesian.

I have thawed chicken and calamari but I still have no idea what to cook .... I love cooking really but there are days I just LOATHE it to bits. And that day is today. Help!