The Miracle
I’ve crossed another item off my Baby Bucket List… Possibly the most difficult one to accomplish, it’s really a miracle, and you’re know what I mean if you’re read THIS… I feel comfortable in the kitchen.
I’m trying not to get my hopes too high… It’s only been a few items, but a few items is better than no times right? I’ve made four meals… three from scratch in the last two weeks… And trust me this is A HUGE accomplishment (if you’ve read this blog or know me you know what I mean)!
We had a couple from church over last week and they ate my Stromboli. I got the recipe from a
friend at work. She let me copy it out of a little magazine she had and said she made it and it was pretty easy. I went through and copied several recipes. Here’s how I decide if I’m going to cook something.
1. Does the picture looks good? If “yes” then go to #2
2. How many ingredients are needed? If more than six it’s out of the question. If six or less, go to #3.
3. Do I understand all of the ingredients? This one is tricky because most of the time the answer is “no,” but if I can figure it out using my “Goggle” and “phone-a-friend” lifelines then I’ll usually give it a go.
The Stromboli barely passed… I didn’t understand garlic cloves, and almost used two entire garlic heads instead of what the recipe called for… Two minced garlic cloves. Luckily, my MIL bailed me out before it was too late. Above was the finished product (but in leftover form).
Sunday was casserole day at my job. I had been craving peach cobbler and we needed some dessert stuff so I decided to try to make peach cobbler. I looked up a recipe on allrecipes.com, found an easy one and had hubby go get the ingredients for me while I was at work Saturday. This morning I threw it all together and it turned out yummy!!
It’s actually FUN for me to cook now! Looking for recipes is a little time consuming but I’ve found when I’m craving something, or get a good review about something, I’ll give it a try! My favorite part about cooking is having people say they like my stuff… Including hubby. He has been really nice and helped me get all of the stuff together, he even helped me make the Stromboli.
My skill is definitely a work in progress but I’m feeling more comfortable now and actually enjoying it. It’s also making me feel more “motherly” which is fun. That way when my kids are too old for breast milk I may actually be able to make them solid food.
So come on friends! Send me your favorite recipes and sites! I’m all for trying them out now! And thanks for all of your encouragement in the past, it’s really helped.
Good job! See, I told you it wasn’t so bad. I think that’s the same cobbler recipe I use, by the way.
You’re awesome. I actually did the garlic head thing in a few recipes!!! Whatev, the hubs ate it!!
I love using my crock pot and this site is great with tons of crock pot recipes. Check it out.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
I just made a peach cobbler yesterday. It is one of my husbands favorites. I will be posting a recipe for it on my blog on April 13th.
Mmmm. You’ve made me hungry. 🙂 I don’t like cooking much. I can get by, but I just don’t enjoy it. My husband does most of the cooking. He doesn’t have enough time, but he’s great at it.
I’m going to need to visit allrecipes.com. I don’t think I’ve ever been to that site, but I could use it. Thanks.
Awesome job 🙂
So first I would suggest going to Kraft’s website, http://www.kraftfoods.com and subscribing to their Food & Family Magazine. They have some of the most amazing recipes in their magazines, they only mail them out once a season though so you’ll probably have to wait for the Summer edition but you can access all of the archived editions online. They also send out a calendar every year that I hang in my kitchen and look at all the yummy food each month.
A great website that I always use first is the Food Network website, it’s http://www.foodnetwork.com. I think they have great recipes for almost anything you could imagine.
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*** Sorry, I deleted my last comment. I had some misspellings I forgot to correct.***
When my hubby and I first got married, the most I “cooked” was mac n cheese. But since having a kid, I am in the kitchen 3-5 days a week cooking up a storm! And 99% of the stuff is SUPERB. If I do say so myself. 🙂
I have even started making bread. I have this super cool break machine that does EVERYTHING for me. It is amazing. All I do is put in the ingredients in the order it tells me, and presto! Delish Italian Herb bread came out of the bread maker 3 hours later.
Seriously, I have grown to love cooking. I am always looking for new recipes. Especially since my little boy wants to eat everything off our plates. Its been fun trying to find yummy and healthy things to fix.
And just remember… once you have kids, crock pot dinners can be your best friend. 🙂
You MUST check out http://www.recipezaar.com It does have an option to have a membership(which I did for 2 years) but using it without the membership is still FINE! I have found my most FAVORITE meals on that site!
I love watching the food network shows because I learn so much from them! They also post the recipes on the website. I love allrecipes and whenever I search for a recipe I search for one that has a lot of ratings. (which are usually the ones that are 4.5 stars). The nice thing about allrecipes is that you can search based on rating and I always scroll past the 5 stars to get to the 4.5 star ones that have hundreds of ratings. Then I read all the posts at the bottom (ones that were helpful too most people) and follow their advice as I make the recipe. It has never failed me and I love that website! I have this new cookbook my mom got me for my birthday called Fix, Freeze, and Feast. The recipes are really good! Basically what you do is pick out a couple recipes go buy the groceries, put it all together, label it and freeze. Each recipe makes 3 separate meals and it comes with the labels in the back. I just copied each one three times cut it out and stuck it in a baggie so I have it on hand when I make the recipe. I also have clear tape in the same drawer as the baggie so that when I get the recipe together I can just tape it to the bag. You’ll need freezer bags for all the recipes as well (I just buy them in bulk at Sams Club!). I love this book. Since I had some free time I spent 2 days putting together about 28 meals for the freezer. Now I don’t have to cook for the rest of the month! You just take the bag you want out of the freezer. Defrost it in the fridge overnight. Follow the directions on the bag and voila you have a delicious home made meal in no time! And the book is only about $10 on amazon!
My favorite peach cobbler recipe is 2 can of peaches, a box of yellow cake mix, topped with 1/2 cup of butter, sliced on top, baked until golden brown. It’s really rich, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
My favorite thing to make is tacos. They are quick and easy. You can use ground beef or ground turkey (we use ground turkey because it’s cheaper and better for you). And there are TONS of toppings. You also do variations, like Taco Soup, Taco Salad, Tostadas (can you tell I grew up in SoCal? We always ate Mexican food).
If you want to cross off the three-month food storage here is a great way to get started:
http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&productId=10151&langId=-1&cg1=14087&cg2=10002&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=&sortId=1&sortOr=1&retURLtext=Back%20to%20%27Home%20Storage%27&retURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ldscatalog.com%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FCategoryDisplay%3FcatalogId%3D10151%26amp%3BstoreId%3D10151%26amp%3BcategoryId%3D10002%26amp%3BlangId%3D-1%26amp%3Bcg1%3D14087%26amp%3Bcg2%3D%26amp%3Bcg3%3D%26amp%3Bcg4%3D%26amp%3Bcg5%3D%26pageId%3D1%26pageCt%3D15%26sortId%3D1%26sortOr%3D1
and this calculator is great for when you start your long term food storage:
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7498-1-4070-1,00.html
I like the food stuff you’ve been showing! I always need very simple instructions. It’s nice to know other women are not experts in the kitchen! I don’t feel so out of place!