3 years later, a new resolution

There has been a title change on this blog.  It used to be a blog about CrockPot cooking entitled "Meals for Moms on the Move".  But my resolution for 2013 is to be a better cook.  It's not that I overly depended on my CrockPot - using a CrockPot for cooking is still a valuable tool - but I did not necessarily want to start a 2nd cooking blog... I just wanted to share my journey from a mom using a CrockPot to someone who just wants to be a better cook.

Since starting this blog (the CrockPot Blog), I have moved to Abu Dhabi.  In our first year here, my husband had an accident and life became very hectic and crazy busy.  He had ruptured his Achilles tendon and for a first year of experiencing a new lifestyle, an injured husband and a completely new culture, we found ourselves eating out... and eating out A LOT.  Did you know that Abu Dhabi is the most expensive city for restaurant eating in the world?  We learned it the hard way and in the past several months, I have been trying to cook more at home.  What our eating out DID teach me is to enjoy really, really, really well cooked and well spiced food.  We've had Arabic food, Indian, Asian, Arabian versions of American food! LOL!!!  We can tour the world of cuisine and never leave the island of Abu Dhabi.

So, my blog is about trying to bring that really good cuisine home - try to make it palatable for a family of a few robust eaters and some picky eaters - and I count myself as one of those picky eaters.

When I decided to look into this concept and this New Year's resolution, I googled "Be a better cook" and I must laugh at what first came up in the search.  One of the first results was 9 Simple Ways to Be a Better Cook.  It recommends good tools, good pre-preparation, etc.  If this idea of being a better cook really grabs your attention, that website has some good rabbit trails you might want to follow and gives me some good ideas for me to cover as I go through this journey. Anyway... back to my train of thought... another link in the first page of Google results was Train Yourself to be a Better Cook.  I must laugh at the disparity between the first result I mentioned at this one.  I think they are *worlds* away from each other and for some people, it's a very long journey - years - between the need for good tools and the "need" for having 4 different types of salt in your pantry.

I confess that I think that I am on the side of this journey where I am going to be looking at the 4 different types of salt rather than the purchase of a good set of knives.  That's where I am at.  But it's taken me a long time to get there.

Let's see where this journey goes, shall we?  I think we'll start tonight... but I'm not going to make a rack of lamb with desert truffles... but it's my husband's birthday and my daughter wants to make him a very nice meal.  She's 13 and my pickiest eater.  But she wants to make him a very nice roast.  She likes it and he likes it.  I'll share with you how it turns out.