Lately in my kitchen I have…
:: experimented with my new slow cooker. I never had one before, but I’m hooked. So convenient to fill it up in the morning and have diner ready in the evening.
:: made my favorite soup (chorizo, sweet potato, leek, onion, red pepper, corn). So good!
:: made several soups from leftovers. I started doing that a while ago and it’s such a great way to use every little bit of food
:: baked (fried?) potatoes. I always considered this a labor intensive meal, until I learned that leaving the skins on is actually quite tasty. So now it’s one of my go-to easy meals
:: snacked on frozen food.Fruit sugars are also not the best choice for my body, but sometimes you got to indulge, don’t you think? (at least it is much healthier than chocolate ice cream)
:: been simplifying my life and my pantry by admitting that I’m not a baker (I have nobody to bake for – can’t eat it myself and T. is gluten sensitive and not into cakes and cookies that much anyway). I’m also slowly accepting that I’m not a fancy cook either, so I don’t need every spice available in the shop, just the stuff I use most often. My pantry is starting to look so organized now!
:: been thinking about above simplifying and us going out for diner at least once a week and how I’m only cooking for the two of us now. Does that make my kitchen a less important space in my home than the kitchen in my Dutch home where we lived with three teenagers?
I think not. It’s still where we start our days (making coffee) and sit down to eat every single day. It’s where the cats ask (loudly) for their diner. It’s where I make my teas, where I dry and store my herbs and it’s where I prepare my medicinal oils and tinctures. It’s where I often sit down to make phone calls, where I take a lot of blog pictures (I like how my knitting looks on my kitchen table) and where I intend to set up my sewing corner soon. It’s where I try to find a bit of peace and calm when my racing mind keeps me awake at night (chamomile tea and reading children’s books usually help) and where I start working from when I feel overwhelmed by all I have (want) to do in a day.
There’s no doubt about it. It’s still the heart of my home!
NOT A STATION 
I’m also cooking just for two now, and also with diet restrictions. I’m not a fancy cook either. I’d love to bake more but like you, I have to watch what I eat and hubby’s not big into cookies and cakes. When I look at supposedly diabetes-friendly recipes I get discouraged about all the alternate ingredients I’d have to buy, costing a lot and cluttering my cabinets. Nah, I’d rather use the simple, familiar ingredients and just limit how often I each such things.
I have a slow cooker that I barely use. I’ve been thinking about getting an air fryer. I’m afraid it will be one more thing I barely use that is just taking up space. I got a bread machine years ago, had all these good intentions, and then only used it 2 or 3 times. Now I can’t even give the thing away. LOL
I like soups, hubby likes chili. So once again, only cooking for two and now one doesn’t like what the other likes. Oy.
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We bought an air fryer years ago, used it twice and dropped it off at the thrift store. We really don’t like how things taste if we fry them in that thing.
Different tastes make it even harder, I agree. We found a happy middle ground, but there has been a bit of compromising on the way 😉
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I too have a fairly new slow cooker and don’t know how I have latest without one for so long. I use my a least once a week sometimes more, I know as we head towards winter I will be using it alot more particularly as the price of electricity is so high here now, it is cheaper to run than our oven.
The kitchen is definitely the room I spend the most time in, we have a separate dining room but they are the two rooms I pretty much live in during the day time.
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Yes, it’s great isn’t it? We’re thinking about buying one for our little cabin in the Netherlands too, since gas prices will be extremely high this winter and we don’t want to skip our winter visit this year because our grandson will be born in December…
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