Over the course of my time at home, one of the activities that gives me the most pleasure and fills my need to be productive, is cooking.  I typically prepare about four home cooked meals a week for my husband and two daughters…..weeknights, for the most part, are healthy home cook meal nights in the our household.  We reserve weekends for dinners out at our favorite restaurants, take out Thai, delivery pizza, a few glasses of red wine, or some variety of IPA.  After an indulgent weekend, I get excited to get back on track with some healthy home cooking.

I am addicted to cooking magazines!  I leaf through them on a nightly basis with Sundays bringing the most intense leafing as I plan our meals for the week.  I admit that I don’t cook many recipes directly from the magazine but I use them as inspiration and marvel at how the photos are so inviting that you can smell and taste the item by just staring at it (in my opinion Bon Appetite has by far the most appetizing food photos in the biz).

My food must have flavor…lots of flavor.  I love spicy food, saucy food, tangy acidic flavors.  I put lemon on and in everything!  I gravitate toward Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Spanish, Asian flavors.  I lived and studied in Florence, Italy while I was in college.  If my IBS laden tummy, my hips and my thighs could handle it, I’d prepare some type of pasta every night.  But instead I try to keep my carbs to a minimum, avoid white starchy foods and replace them with whole grains and whole wheat.

I am learning and growing as a cook.  I know that there is a lot I still don’t know about many ingredients and certainly many advanced techniques.  But the one thing I am pretty confident on is my ability to put some serious flavor into everything I make.  I hope you enjoy my recipes and my musings.

THINGS I KNOW:

1. A squeeze of lemon makes everything better.

2. Plain greek yogurt equals guilt free dips that still taste great.

3. Wine while I’m cooking beats wine while I’m eating.

4. Thanks to globalization, the ingredients to which we have access is growing exponentially — I find this entirely inspiring as a home cook!

5. Fresh herbs are a must all year long.

6. Crockpots, while kind of “old school,” are just so awesome.

THINGS I DON’T KNOW (BUT AM TRYING TO LEARN…):

1. How to execute a meal which has a lot of last minute steps when cooking for a crowd.

2. Root vegetables.

3. Bone-in meat (I’m getting there…check out Braised Short Rib Sliders post).

4. Eggplant.

5. Some tried and true old school techniques — Julia Child style (although I am currently taking a 30 week French Cooking Series at The Seasoned Farmhouse).

6. Cooking seafood at home (love it at restaurants….still trying to get it right at home).