I think you need a nice sit-down with someone who can hold a two-way conversation with you on this situation.
A review of 91.155 might be good to help you follow along with what you needed at various points in your flight.
Also, as a CFI-I, I would like to comment that I think you made a poor decision to put on the hood altogether. You did recover and climb when he said 800', but you shouldn't have put yourself in that position prior to that. I also can't ever recommend doing simulated work in conditions where you don't have a 2000' ceiling or greater. It just complicates too many things and creates a situation that is asking for trouble like this one.