Food

(I apologize in advance for the super lengthy post, but it turns out I have more to say about cooking than I thought! Guess that's what happens when I write it over a period of two weeks!)

I've discovered something about myself over the past few months...I really enjoy cooking and baking (breads especially).

I don't know if I'd call it a passion, but more of a hobby.  Yes.  A fun hobby, which happens to be convenient for eating dinner.  I didn't cook a ton before marriage and figured, for whatever reason, that I wasn't very good at it.  But turns out, I have a decent hand in the kitchen.  I wouldn't say I'm a fabulous cook, or that I LOOVVE cooking, but I can follow a recipe like no other.  I might venture to use the "L" word if it didn't always result in so many dirty dishes.  (Or maybe once we get a dishwasher that doesn't consist of my two hands).

A year ago, exactly, I posted the following: "See, that's when I'll consider myself a master homemaker. When I've perfected grocery shopping enough to "have things on hand".

Well I'm not there yet, but I'm much closer than I used to be, due to a bit of menu planning and a year of good ol fashion practice.  The more I cooked, the more familiar I became with "common" ingredients, as well as some of our own favorite and most-often-used ingredients.

I am starting to substitute things here and there (usually because I don't have an ingredient, not because I think something else would taste better).  I don't think I'll ever be a scratch recipe creator.  I've always been a great mimic-er... not so much an "originator".  But that's fine by me, because there are already a million and one amazing recipes out there, perfected and ready to go!

Anyway, that's my longer-than-expected schpill about cooking.  Thought I'd share some of the recent stuff popping up in our kitchen.  I'll link back to where I found each recipe (and skip any tweaks I may have made).  I'm not out to be a food blogger here.  I've started taking pictures, though, so we can compile our own "Tried & True" collection of recipes.  Gotta keep track of the good stuff!  If you're going to try anything, make it the Spinach & Goat Cheese Pizza, or the Thai Chicken Pizza! (Recipes below) Those our our current favorites!

Breads:  

Whole Wheat Bagels. {Recipe Here}

I used 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all purpose flour. Boiled, then Baked!

Bread Bowls {Recipe Here}

Chocolate Banana Bread.  This actually didn't turn out very well.  Not sure where I went wrong, but it burnt on top and wasn't quite cooked all the way through.  Tasted fine with milk, though! {Recipe Here}

English Muffins {Recipe Here} I felt very accomplished baking these! 

Naan {Recipe Here}. Breads are just fun to make!

Naan Stack!

Random Breakfasts:

Usually consist of some sort of bread topped with eggs and whatever veggies I have in my freezer.

Eggs, tomatoes, olives, and mushrooms on english muffins

Mushrooms and eggs on toast

(Another thing I've learned about myself.  I actually do like mushrooms. I like the white ones better raw, and the brown ones better sauteed, and I like the white raw better than the brown sauteed. Phew. Make sense?  Not that you need to know that.  But it's the little discoveries, right?  I feel like I know myself better.  And now, so do you.) 

Dinner/Lunch Stuff:

Spinach & Goat Cheese Pizza. One of our recent Faves! SOOO good! {Recipe Here}

I like to make pizza dough and freeze it, makes pizza nights easy!
This {Pizza Dough Recipe} is the one I've been using lately. I double the recipe, then split it into 3 balls, for 3 pizzas.

Thai Grilled Chicken Pizza (On Naan).  Dan's favorite. {Recipe Here}

Potato Soup in the Bread Bowls.  Pretty good for an easy crockpot recipe! {Recipe Here}

Grilled Cheese & Creamy Basil Tomato Soup.  {Soup Recipe Here} (This isn't like Campbell's tomato!)

Grilled Pesto Chicken with Lemony Spaghetti {Recipe Here}

An easy favorite: Costco Gnocchi with red sauce, parmesan, and  basil. Ready to go in 5 min!

Poached Eggs  & Grits {Recipe Here}. I thought I could substitute Malt'O Meal for grits (pic above). Not so much.  The left-overs over rice were much better :)

Spinach Salad with Apples, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Honey dressing

Spinach Salad with Mushrooms, Feta and Balsamic Dressing

Honey Goat Cheese: Buy cheap goat cheese from costco and mix in my own honey! Cheaper than Trader Joes :)

Slow Cooker Red Sauce - Easy, though don't know how cost effective it is. {Recipe Here}

Bought meat cheap at Costco, but it meant buying 6 lbs. So I measured into 1 lb logs  on my new birthday kitchen scale!

*You'll notice most of these recipes come from a blog I found that I LOVE: www.BudgetBytes.blogspot.com.  This girl cooks simple, healthy recipes on a budget.  And her healthy equals my kind of healthy...moderation. (Not vegan/vegetarian/no-good-stuff healthy).  Every recipe is broken down by price per recipe, servings, and ingredient. Love it!

And one last note: This is over a period of, well, a long time. I definitely don't cook everyday. In fact, far from. My "menu planning" consists of 4 or 5 dinners for two to three weeks.  And that's just so Dan has left overs for work.  He's not home for that many.  A good chunk of my meals consist of cereal, pasta, and off brand mac and cheese.  But I decided you probably have your own favorite brands, so I didn't bother with pictures ;)