Ok, maybe lazy isn't the most accurate word....it sure isn't the most flattering! So instead, let's go with busy. I am a busy cook. I like to eat. I love food. I even like to cook. But I also have a job that keeps me really busy, so don't have a ton of time to spend preparing meals. But I also don't like eating a lot of packaged or pre-prepared foods, because they are just so bad for you.

I don't have little kids to try to feed, but I do have an 18 year old nephew living with me. So the trick is to try to balance meals for me and for him. On my side, you've got an adult female who is trying to eat in a healthy way and lose weight. On Josh's side, you've got an 6', athletic teenage boy who could happily eat 4,000 calories a day and stay slim and athletic. Sometimes, he makes me crazy! And let me add that I love to try new things and be adventurous in my cooking, and Josh would be happy always eating the same 5-6 meals, every 5-6 days. So the happy medium is that I cook healthy meals, making them in ways that make Josh's teenage boy appetite happy, provide lots of veggies, and always have a batch of cookies in the cookie jar.

So anyway, to wrap this up. I know I have a lot of friends who find themselves to be in the same meal preparation situation as me. I've found and collected some really great, simple recipe's. And, since I like to play with things when I'm cooking, I've created some dishes of my own that are pretty darn tasty! Soooo....I figured I'd start a blog to share those recipe's with my friends. I'll only post recipe's that I've made and have passed approval from my family. If they're my own creation, I'll claim credit. If I lifted it from somewhere, I'll give credit to the culinary genius I stole from!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A few of my basic must haves

I have a few basics that are always, always in my cupboard.  I'm not sure I'd know how to cook without them!!

1.  Paula Deen's House seasoning
     1 cup salt
     1/4 cup black pepper
     1/4 cup garlic powder
     Mix them together and store in an air tight container.  I  store it in a pint sized canning jar.

2.  Butter.  Now I'm not going all Paula Deen on my cooking, but butter really does, in limited quantities, make whatever I'm cooking better.  And I mean butter.  Real butter.  Not margarine.

3.  Olive Oil.  It's key in cooking, in my opinion.  It'll be in a lot of the things I cook.

4.  White wine.  Now don't freak out on me.  I actually use wine in a lot of the things I cook.  It adds a very unique flavor.  And since I only use it in items that I am cooking, all of the alcohol cooks out of it, and you are left only with the flavor, so you don't need to worry that you are feeling your children alcohol.  The great chefs say not to use any wine that you wouldn't drink, so instead of using cooking wine, I always purchase a cheaper drinking wine.

5.  Italian Seasoning.  It's super cheap, and because it's a blend of herbs, it's actually one of my go to seasonings.  I use it a lot when I taste something and think, Gosh, this needs something, but I don't know what......voila!  Italian Seasoning.
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