Cooking

I love to cook and bake. I got this attribute from my Mom and Grandma (my Mom's, Mom). Growing up, Mom always had a homemade dinner ready for us every night...we always had a good and filling breakfast, and she made our lunches when we went to school. I'm a lucky girl! My college room-mates used to laugh at me, because I would read cookbooks all of the time. I'm sure they thought, "Just read a book!" but reading a cookbook was just as good (if not better) to me that reading a novel.

Now, when I'm saying my Mom cooked...that doesn't mean she heated up a Stouffer's Lasagna...people, she cooks from SCRATCH. This is rarely done in this day in age, but I love it and hope to do this the rest of my life. Being the nutritionist that my Mom is, cooking from scratch was not only done to save money, but she also prepared healthy meals. My Mom taught me simple ways to cut fat, cut sodium, etc. I bow down to my Mom and thank her for being such an amazing role model in my life. When I was younger, I didn't appreciate the meals that much...now that I'm older, I appreciate them SO much. She always finds a way to make healthy meals even when she works full time for Johnson & Johnson.

My Mom is a planner...and so am I. I have discovered that you have to be a planner to be a good cook. You have to plan ahead what your meals will be, then get the ingredients ahead of time. That way, you are all prepared when the time comes to cook! Now being married, I know my husband enjoys the home-cooked meals. We don't go out to eat a lot because we are trying to save $$$, so this is a great way to save money and eat healthy. Daniel will cook fancy dinners for me sometimes, or we'll cook together. It is great fun!

This past Monday night, I made home-made mac'n'cheese (with whole wheat noodles), pecan encrusted Trout, fresh broccoli and ceasar salad. The picture is above. Last night, we had White Bean Chicken Chili that I put in the crock pot Tuesday morning...oh and with that we had biscuits---yumm. It was delish!!! I love a warm crockpot meal at the end of a cold day.

I will put any super delish recipes on my blog when I discover them! Bon Appetit!

*Live well, Laugh often, Cook much*