Welcome!

Hello, my name is Jet, and I like to cook. In fact, this upcoming junior year of college will mark my third year of cooking meals for myself. What I've found over these past years of cooking, is that it really isn't all that difficult. Time consuming at first, maybe, and perhaps a little intimidating if you've never had to use a stove, but pretty soon you get the hang of it and you're knocking out Santa Fe Chicken or grilling yourself a nice Sirloin Steak, or perhaps baking a Stuffed Pork Chop or two.

Me, I've never really been one to follow a recipe. Never did like dealing with all those measurements, it was all too....rigid for my taste. And perhaps, that's what really gets you to the essence of cooking. It doesn't matter what the cookbook says. Honestly, what's a 'pinch' of salt anyways? A teaspoon? Half a teaspoon? Who cares? What matters is that in the end, whoever is eating the meal (in this case, probably you, the cook) thinks it tastes good, and that's that.

For those of you who choose to follow this blog, I will periodically update with recipes of my own creation. These recipes will generally be simple things, meals you can cook for yourself in no more than 30 minutes to an hour. Instructions will be straightforward as well. None of that "add a cup of diced tomatoes" junk. Pfft. Is it really that hard (or wrong) to just say, chop up half a large tomato and heat in a pan on medium? Does it really matter if it's half a cup of tomato or 3/4 cup? I think not. And the best part of it all? You'll eat well, eat healthy, and it won't hurt your wallet.

I'll throw this out there right now. I'm not rich. Far from it. Wanna know how much I had in my checking account at the start of the summer? A paltry $120. I'd try to find a job, except it's difficult to get hired when you're not going to be in one place for more than a month and a half at a time. Thanks to my birthday being in mid-June, though, my bank account has been nicely padded. Still, I like to watch my budget, and therefore, I need to be careful with my shopping. In general, I spend about $150 a month on groceries, and everything I put in this blog will have been made on that budget. And if you think I'm just boiling rice every night, you'd be wrong. Among the list of dinners I've made just this past week are Pork Chops with Sauteed Vegetables, Grilled Shrimp Kebabs, Tilapia & Seaweed Soup, and Sausage Fried Rice (okay, lame names, sure, but you get the idea). Some of the stuff I've got planned for next week? Shrimp Alfredo. Linguine with Tomato Basil Sauce and Sausage. Chicken Stew w/ Potatoes. And that's just scratching the surface of what I can do.

Besides, have you seen the prices on meal plans these days? For me, at my school, it's $1900-2700 per semester, depending on your plan, and from what I hear, that's not that bad as far as meal plans go. Think about it. At $2300 a semester (one of the common plans for students here), that comes out to about $130 a week, over 18 weeks of class. That's almost as much per week as I spend in a month. And you know what? With the stuff I'm making, I'm eating better food, and healthier food than they serve in dining halls (seriously, the amount of oil they put in that stuff? sheesh). I'm a young, Asian male with a fairly quick metabolism and even I'd be worried eating that stuff all the time. They don't call it the Freshman Fifteen for nothing (and for some people I know, it's been rather a bit more than fifteen).

For me, cooking is hardly ever a chore. At the end of a long day, when your brain's been fried to mush by classes, there's nothing quite like a delicious dinner to unwind. Add in the knowledge that you made it yourself, that this is your creation, and it'll taste twice as good. As this blog grows, I will post all sorts of recipes, from breakfasts to dinners, appetizers to desserts. Most will be simple, requiring little preparation. Often, recipes will use similar if not the same ingredients, yet they will use those ingredients in a variety of ways so as to create completely different dishes. Some of these recipes will be personal favorites that I've been making since the beginning; others will be entirely new ideas cooked up in the future.

Unfortunately, posts will likely not be regular. Sometimes, I might submit recipes several days in a row, or even have multiple recipes in one day. Other times, I might not put anything up for a week at a time. However, I will try to keep posting recipes on at least a moderately regular basis, even if not so organized as 'every MWF' or something like that.

Anyways, this first introductory post has run on long enough. Hell, I didn't really intend to write this much right off the bat. But if you're a college student living on your own for the first time, or anyone else that's looking for nice, simple meals to cook for yourself, friends, or family, check back every now and then, or subscribe via RSS feed or whatever. Who knows, you just might pick up a thing or two.

This is Jet, signing off. Happy cooking.