I’ve been getting increasingly involved in preparing my meals. That is – I’m trying more recipes, more often. Last week I made baked ziti and ate it for almost every meal. This week, I’m refusing to do that. I tried three new recipes today.

But my first adventure was making something I’ve made plenty of times before: chili. Vegetarian meat bits, but otherwise your regular chili.

I’d just gotten back from the supermarket, and didn’t really want to go back out. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to make my roommate’s can opener work. I tried a knife, but it couldn’t cut into the can. I remembered a Tom’s toothpaste ad where someone wrote in about using the toothpaste container as a can opener; maybe Colgate would work, but I didn’t try it.

Three cans to open. I called my sister for advice.

“On Iron Chef, they used a knife and a hammer when they didn’t have a can opener,” she told me. I figured… well, why not? I found my hammer, repositioned the knife – and well, it did work. Crudely.

I did find, however, that this opening was barely large enough to really get the tomatoes out…

For the third can, I got a little smart and made a neat square hole – I figured it was sauce, it should pour out. It didn’t work perfectly, but it worked.

A few tips I learned for anyone out there without a can opener:

* It works better if you tilt the knife blade – Both tilted against the can (so more of the blade is against the can) and angled into the ridges.

* Wiggle the blade carefully if it doesn’t pull out smoothly.

* Go buy a freaking can opener!

So… in any case, I got my roommate to explain her can opener to me today; turns out it really DOES work differently from any one I’ve seen before. It cuts at the top, so you can put the top back on! As demonstrated below with the can of pumpkin I used to make pumpkin pancakes for lunch:

However, my training indicates that you shouldn’t store food in metal, so as kool as this is, I’m sticking with Tupperware.

On a totally separate note, I have to admit: I never really understood omelets before. Appreciated them, but understood? Never. So when I found a recipe by chance, I was really intrigued by its explanation of how to cook the omelet properly. And when I was thinking of something to go with my new recipe for dill potatoes, a vegetable omelet seemed like just the thing.

I’m very proud of myself and very pleased with my dinner It’s left me craving something sweet, though, so I may indulge in a smoothie…