And then you totally f$@k up dinner.

I hear so much from people afraid of cooking that they always mess up and it never tastes right and they don't want to waste money etc etc.  Boo hoo.  You know what happens when you burn your pie crust?  You eat the filling, cause that's still good anyway.  You know what  happens when you put too much salt in your soup?  You add some damn water and loosen it up.  Half your cake stuck in the pan?  Oh, you mean you MEANT to make a trifle.  

Cooking is a great thing to explore and conquer on your own and it's such an amazing confidence booster, both because you can learn to own up to your mistakes right away and because when you DO make something fantastic you feel like you're totally the bad ass iron chef you set out to be.  Or, you just made a really bangin' dinner you can't wait to share with your friends, or take pictures of and post on the internets.  YEAH YOU CAN BRAG ABOUT THAT.

Welcome to mexican lasagna, guys.  Looks disgusting?  Maybe.  Tastes amazing?  Cha.  My friend was coming over for a nice day off of crafting followed by a healthy vegetarian dinner.  I made a black bean &sweet potato filling for some yummy enchiladas.  I made my own enchilada sauce with some sauteed onions and garlic, fire roasted canned tomatoes, 2 whole chipotles and veggie stock.  I simmered it away.  I dunked my gluten free ezekial corn tortillas into the sauce to make them pliable… i went to fold it into the pan and it broke.  OH, weird?  Try again… it needs to soak longer… BROKEN.  Well, two broken tortillas were enough for me to be pissed off and done with this idea.  Did I give up and order from the mexican place down the street?  Nah, B.  I preheated my oven to 375, layered that sauce i simmered all day on the bottom of a ceramic baking dish, layered on top my broken tortillas, then layered my delicious vegetarian filling on that followed by more sauce, more tortillas and topped it with some vegan cheese shreds.  

As my friend dug in to my mexican lasagna that night she asked me, "mm this is great!  can i have the recipe?"  

I WIN AGAIN, UNIVERSE!!