Cooking Mexican (independent living skills series lesson 3)
By Amanda Nelson
After a short bereavement period, I decided to return to school in my grandma’s honor. I was nervous the night before because I had missed class the previous week, but I had a lot of support from the staff and classmates.
Today we were learning how to cook Mexican. We had the choice to make: Small or large quesadillas, burrito, or hand corn tacos. During the lecture part of the class, we discussed shopping on a budget, getting assistance while shopping, and basic types of spices that would be useful to have at home.
We were all eager to get cooking. For those of us who needed practice cooking meat, we got to brown the hamburger. I was one of the students, (3 of us) cooking it.
I learned to start cooking meat on high heat, then once it’s mostly cooked, it sizzles, and you can turn the heat to medium.
While the three students were cooking the meat, the remaining students chopped onions, bell peppers, and peeled and mashed avocadoes. The students who cooked the meat learned how to use paper towels on a plate to drain the meat. We also chopped vegetables too. I chopped an onion, tomatoes, and tried to peel an avocado. During the vegetable prep, the director of Division of Blind Services stopped by. It was nice to meet her, and to be able to show off my new skills, as well as share my professional achievements.
Once all the ingredients were chopped and the meat cooked, we got to choose either tacos, quesadillas, or a burrito. I had two hard-shell tacos, and I made a quesadilla for my grandpa. I had fun with this lesson and as always I look forward to advancing my cooking skills.