Growing up, my favorite meal was anything I didn't have to cook.

But when we decided I should stay home with the kids, cooking was one of the many responsibilities I would have to do.

And the one I dreaded the most.

When I was a kid, I never expected that I would be doing the majority of the domestic duties in my adult years, so I never bothered to learn how to cook. I didn't care much about how the food I ate tasted either. As long as it didn't have peanut butter in it, and I didn't have to make it, I ate it.

Before I was married, I think I only cooked one meal that wasn't mac and cheese or ramen noodles. It was a chicken and mashed potato dinner for my wife before we started dating. Turns out, it was one of the reasons she decided I was boyfriend material.

Boy, did I con her!

My wife loved to cook and I loathed it so much that when I first started staying home we tried having her cook for us after she got home from work. Unfortunately, that just didn't work. She traveled a lot and, when she wasn't on the road, she usually didn't get home until after 6 p.m. By the time dinner was made, it was way past the hunger hour for our growing toddler.

It became clear I would have to buckle down and figure this cooking thing out whether I wanted to or not.

So I started simple: pork chops on the George Foreman Grill, mac and cheese and frozen peas; spaghetti; Hamburger Helper stroganoff. These first attempts weren't too bad, even though my wife often had to use a lot of salt to mask my mistakes.

Or just cracked open a box of cereal instead.

Before long my confidence grew and the cereal bill began to decline. I decided it was time to expand my culinary repertoire by trying recipes from cookbooks.

Problem was… I had no idea what some of the ingredients were!

I remember one recipe for a chicken dish that called for the spice ‘cream of tartar.' I figured cream of tartar was some kind of tartar sauce, you know, that you use with fish, so I went to the sauces and dressings section of the grocery store. When I couldn't find it, I asked the gal at customer service for help finding it.

Thankfully, she didn't act like I was as stupid as I felt.

As the years ticked by and our family continued to grow, I slowly started to get the hang of cooking. I figured out how to make delicious steaks on the grill, homemade pizza, mouth-watering enchiladas and a fantastic chili. I didn’t even have to read the directions on the mac and cheese box anymore.

Of course, the kids (and I) still prefer the dinners my wife prepares on the weekends, but they don’t complain as much as they used to about the meals I make. In fact, the other day my wife even commented to me that I make some things better than she does!

Then she got out a box of cereal.

Al Watts is vice-president of Daddyshome, Inc.–The National At-Home Dad Network and an at-home dad of four children living in west Omaha.