More notes from the kitchen of Lena Chen:

I chose the dishes for my Mexican feast purposely, since many failed culinary experiments have taught me that I have limited expertise and experience. Thus, instead of overly ambitious goals, such as soufflé-baking, I can make the most of my skills by employing these strategies:

1. Step away the knife. I absolutely hate chopping, skinning, and any preparatory steps in recipes, which is why I make Patrick do those tasks. (That’s also all he can contribute to the culinary process). But ever since I got a food processor, I realized that I don’t even need a boyfriend. Unlike my trusty Kitchenaid, Patrick doesn’t double as a blender, nor can he create dips and sauces with just a couple pushes of a button.
2. Combine dishes that contain similar ingredients. The best way to cut down on cooking time is to prepare ingredients in advance. For the above meal, I used onions in the guacamole, salsa, mole sauce, and soup so that I only had to pulse my food processor a few times to cross onions off the list of ingredients I had to skin and chop. My chips were made from the same tortillas used in the enchiladas. I just heated them on high in a pan to get them crispy and slightly burnt.
3. Make use of things already in the fridge. Never let anything spoil since almost all items can be re-purposed. Old carrot sticks go into my juicer in the morning. Already-cooked veggies can become soups, sandwich fillings, or pizza toppings. I’ve even crumbled up stale cereal bits to coat fish fillets. Get creative and you’ll waste and spend less!
4. Keep a well-stocked pantry. Thanks to obeying rule #3, I only had to buy $10 worth of items for the above meal, especially since I already owned spices, herbs, and other basic goods needed for the recipes. It’s inconvenient to make a grocery run just because you’re missing a relatively simple, but crucial ingredient. Though I go to the store near-daily (thanks to living within three blocks of three supermarkets), I usually only pick up perishables that will go into that night’s meals. Most of the time, I already have on hand the basics (pasta, good olive oil, chicken/vegetable broth, etc.) since those items tend not to spoil. It’s a lot easier to grab something off my shelf than it is to make a new grocery list before every meal. I’ll follow up on this entry with a list of pantry must-haves.
5. Maximize taste while minimizing cost. Enchiladas are filled with cheap ingredients and I can closely approximate the taste of their restaurant-made equivalent. As an amateur chef, I’m not quite ready to take on more exotic ingredients like truffles, which cost too much for someone who makes a lot of cooking errors. I’m never going to be Barbara Lynch, but I can play off my strengths by being realistic about expectations.

Any other tips for making cooking a bit less hellish for the uninitiated?