Kitchen Confidential: I Used to Cook

After my freshman year of high school, I got my first paying-taxes-job. I got hired on to work in the kitchen of the local pool's snack bar.  

I worked making burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, nachos, etc. The job payed minimum hourly wage, but the perks were awesome. They let me eat as much as I wanted to. This started me on a long path of working food and bev jobs. I've worked many different positions in F&B, but mostly as a bartender. Still, I consider myself a pretty decent cook (I know I'm not on the level of the professional chefs and line cooks anymore in this town—you guys rock), and it is my favorite hobby. Most family gatherings you can find me in the kitchen or over a grill cooking for everyone. I love cooking for large groups, but I also really enjoy cooking for just my wife and I. I make most of our meals at home. Or, I should say, I used to make most of our meals at home. 

This is how I pack for family gatherings.

Now, with the kid, cooking has become much more difficult. Lunch, when I'm by myself, has become much harder of a chore. I've started one hand cooking, which means I'm holding the baby with one arm, and trying to make myself food with the other. If I'm smart and have planned ahead, this isn't so bad. "That gazpacho I made yesterday? Perfect for lunch". When I haven't planned ahead, it's more like "Hmm... I wonder if I can make a couple hard boiled eggs and have some carrot sticks?" And when I haven't slept or planned ahead, "It looks like I'm eating a handful of nuts and this granola bar that may have been packaged when N'Sync was popular."