A New Blog

Hello everyone~

My goal for this blog is to post about food.  I'll be posting recipes that are easy to prepare, don't require strange ingredients and best of all, yummy enough that your KIDS will eat it too!  I will also blog about restaurants that we go to (with and without kids) around the area.  If someone already does this, please let me know because I would love to read about restaurants before going.  I want to know about the kid menu and prices.  What is the atmosphere like?  Is it really kid-friendly? 

I posted a step-by-step on how to make Bakerella's cake pops on my other blog.  If I had any computer skills, I would be able to just transfer that post over to this blog.  But, I can't so I shan't.  If you wonder what cake pops are, you'll need to just go check it out over there.

So, today, instead of a recipe post, I'm going to let you know a bit about my culinary experience. 

I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen.  As a working mom, she was the queen of casseroles.  She taught me how to set a table properly and to chew with my mouth closed.  We ate dinner together MOST of the time.  As my sister and I got older and involved in activities, there were occasions that we would eat at different times, but for the most part, we ate as a family.  My Dad was also helpful in the kitchen - he is a hunter so he provided the meat.  I have vivid memories of him standing at the kitchen sink, cleaning quail or pheasant feathers (kindly removing the shot-gun shells) so mom could fry them up for dinner.  I loved it when she made gravy to go along with it so I could tear up bits of bread to make gravy bites.  My dad's grilling skills could put Bobby Flay to shame.  I have had hundreds of steaks, but my daddy's are the best.  So, I knew my way around the kitchen in a very "baby of the family" sort of way.  I knew how to follow a recipe and that's about it.

In college, I lived in a dorm room and ate dining hall food.  The extent of my cooking came from making boxed mac and cheese in the microwave during late night study breaks.  During my senior year, I lived off campus with some girlfriends.  The extent of my cooking was microwaving a bowl of frozen peas and slathering them with butter.  Occasionally, I'd smear some peanut butter onto a slice of bread.  I didn't cook, period.

So, I got married.  I loved registering for the kitchen stuff but I really didn't quite know how to use all of the great gifts received.  My early days as a married gal were ugly.  You see, My Man joined the marriage straight out of his mommy's house.  And his mommy is a WONDERFUL, down-home cook.  She makes most things from scratch (except her lasagna, blech).  I never made a meal plan.  I never made a grocery list.  I would just go to the store and get stuff.  Occasionally, I'd look through a magazine and find a recipe that looked good.  I would cook it and we'd eat it but the kitchen would look like a hurricane hit it and I never wanted to clean up the mess.  I worked full time and didn't have any desire to prepare intricate recipes that required lots of ingredients and steps.  One day while strolling through the grocery store, I stumbled upon Hamburger Helper.  I bought every box.  We had plenty of hamburer at home because My Man had ordered a side of beef that first year we were married.  I thought the Hamburger Helper meals tasted awesome!  I thought My Man did too.  I just thought he didn't eat much.  There were always leftovers for me to take to work the next day.  Little did I know that he would choke down only as much as he could and later, after I'd gone to bed, he raided the pantry for any snack-type stuff he could find.  I didn't cook side dishes either.  I just couldn't be bothered with the whole cooking thing.  After a year of marriage, I decided to go back to school to get my Master's Degree and also take up professional cheerleading.  Working full-time and being gone four nights a week, plus weekends really got me out of the whole cooking thing.  I honestly have no idea what My Man did for food.  I bet he went home to his mommy's.

It was during my first pregnancy that I made the decision to start acting like a good wife.  I'd just completed The Virtuous Woman bible study about the Proverbs 31 woman and was gung ho to start taking care of my husband and home.  I started going through the recipes I'd accumulated from family and friends, started watching Food Network and pouring over cookbooks.  I had a new desire.  I was bound and determined to get good at this!  I made it a point on Sunday evenings to map out a meal plan for the week and a grocery list.  I started dusting off these wonderful kitchen gadgets I didn't know I had.  I developed a small addiction to kitchen stores (that I am still suffering from).

That brings me to now.  I still have a big passion for cooking.  I am not a chef and I don't make up recipes.  I am simply a cook - I follow recipes.  I've taken a few cooking classes and have learned a few techniques but for the most part, I'm just a normal mom who makes three meals a day for seven people.  Breakfast and lunch during the week are pretty basic and dinner is where I focus most of my energy.  Weekends are different depending on what we have going on.  We go out to eat (or go get it and bring it home) only once a week.  Such a treat!

I wouldn't say that I have picky eaters at home but they are definately reluctant to try new foods.  We have a three bite rule and if you don't like it after three bites, you can stop.  I try to make dinners I know they like 3-4 nights a week and introduce something new 1-2 nights.  I do prepare side dishes and occasional desserts.  My boys enjoy simple things like box mix brownies and I'm happy to comply.

So there you have it! 

Until next time...