I know I cannot be the only one who is slightly scared to cook. I can make really good top ramen but when it comes to using pots, pans, and more than one ingredient, all my skills go out the door. That is why my brother comes and cooks dinner with my mom, grandma, and I. I help as much as I can but most of the time I just turn on the TV and play a Star Wars movie. My brother was the reason I started getting into Star Wars over this quarantine. He played The Mandalorian while we were making dinner. My favorite dinner we have made was for Easter. My brother and grandma cooked ham, mashed potatoes, and beans. I don’t really like beans because they tend to taste like dirt and that is not something I like tasting but these were good!

Since my grandma and mom don’t like going to the store most of the time, my brother and I are the ones that do most of the grocery shopping. My mom writes out a list of things that we need for the house and leaves the snacks for me to find. I run up and down the aisles, looking for the best snacks to hide in my room when I get home. I tend to eat a lot of snacks throughout the day because I don’t like to make full meals for myself unless someone else wants to eat with me. I get a lot of granola bars because they are good for any time of the day. I also get a lot of coffee because it is the only thing that keeps me from falling asleep while doing my homework.

I wake up the earliest of my family because of online classes so that means I have to make myself breakfast. The smell of coffee and bacon fills my house every morning and it makes me really happy. I never got to cook breakfast for myself before quarantine when school was open because I would wake up with just enough time to get ready and rush out the door. My mom wants me to be independent so she didn’t want to cook breakfast for me during school. Although sometimes I needed it.

When the lockdown first went into place, I saw what food really meant to people. My brother and I went to Stater Brothers and there was no food whatsoever on the shelves. I started to cry in the store because it made me so sad to think about how the world was in such a state of panic. I know not to take food and shelter for granted because there are people who don’t have the luxury like I do.