Dinner: An (Un)-Love Story

A few weeks ago, I had a total cooking crisis. This was not surprising, given that a) I tolerate cooking but don't love it b) I tolerate grocery shopping but love that even less c) I did love the idea of healthy, homecooked meals but wanted to plan menus, shop, and chop vegetables with a one-year-old in tow about as much as I wanted to watch any more presidential debates (all chores. All necessary but extremely un-fun).

I decided to email a few mom friends for some cooking tips and didn't expect to strike culinary gold... but I did. These supermoms had all kinds of tips and tricks for me, including some very tech-savvy solutions for 2012 parents (like Dinner: A Love Story, a delicious read with just as delicious recipes, and Cooksmarts, a weekly meal planning "newsletter"). They also told me about how they tackle the prep that's required with a homecooked meal. Some are slow cooker fanatics. Others enlist their husbands to watch the kiddos while they cook (while still another friend told me that her husband does all the cooking for the family. Hello, can I move in with you?) Another friend of mine explained that she's trained her small children to play quietly by themselves between 5 and 6pm—an excellent idea I hope to one day emulate. If I can. Without losing my mind. Or Leo losing his. Almost everyone agreed that the key to their cooking success lies in once-weekly grocery shopping to stock up on all the ingredients for that week's dinners.

I've done better than expected so far, in my little cooking experiment. I've even learned how to make stir fry (and then I've made it again... and again... and again). I totally ruined the quinoa, but who needs carbs, anyway?

What are your cooking secrets, and can I have them?! (I'll show you mine if you show me yours).