Ok so maybe I won’t be the next Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart but I’m on my way to something. Cooking is a huge step for me! I had my first appointment today with the lady that will be taking me under her wings for the next 6 weeks to teach me all about nutrition, healthy meal choices and show me how to cook. Today was just filling out tons of paperwork, going over food nutrition, serving sizes, portion sizes, dry measuring vs liquid measuring and the food pyramid. I’d be lying if I said the food pyramid makes any sense to me. Ok so I get the gist of it and how you are supposed to eat so many servings out of each group on the pyramid but it still just feels confusing to me. She said we’ll go over it more so not to feel too overwhelmed by everything she threw at me today.

I think R doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into. She’s convinced that after 6 weeks I’ll not only know my way around the kitchen & understand a recipe but I’ll be a pro at cooking. I’d say unless she’s a miracle worker this might be a pretty tall order to fill! Seriously. I mean I’m the girl that put a hot dog in the microwave for 5 minutes and couldn’t figure out why it was hard as a rock & black as charcoal. I’m the girl that has melted a strainer because I turned the oven on not remembering I had put dishes in there. I’m the girl that burns pop tarts.

But hey if she’s convinced I’ll not only know what I’m doing but be good at it in just 6 short weeks then I’m all for it. Besides this I really do gotta see. I’m convinced there is no way that 6 weeks is enough time to teach me everything I need to know.

Next week she’s actually going to MAKE me cook! Already? Seriously. You’ve got to be kidding me!

Well I guess it’s time to go - I need to program the fire department into speed dial on my phone

Share This

Sandra Jensen is such a wise woman! I’ve known her personally for several years now and she’s always full of advice , suggestions and opinions.

I’ve already shared my lack of expertise in the kitchen so I won’t mention that again Now aside from lacking skills in the kitchen I always face the challenge of having a very very limited grocery budget (when you go from having food stamps for 3 years to taking yourself off them - yes I am the one that made the decision to get off them, it wasn’t because I met the income limit & wasn’t eligible anymore, it was because I was tired of living off the government and ready to stand on my own two feet!). Thankfully it’s easier to feed two people on a limited budget than a larger family.

This week on Family Foodies, Sandra is talking about desperate cooking and feeding your family some healthy meals on a low budget!

Can you imagine making 13 meals without grocery shopping? Sandra did it! She obviously had to pick up your ‘basic’ items over the next couple weeks like bread and milk but aside from that she did not shop! She made all these meals out of what was already in her house.

I’m not all that interested in one of the recipes she shared, the spinach quiche but there were two that struck my fancy; the oven baked omelet and ham & cheese croissants. Below I’ve listed those two recipes.

Oven Baked Omelet

4 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
3 slices of American cheese
¾ C milk
Dash pepper

Arrange cheese slices to cover bottom of sprayed, 8” pie dish.
Beat together eggs, milk, pepper with fork; add bacon.
Pour over cheese.
Bake for 30 min @ 350 F. Let stand few minutes before serving

Ham and Cheese Croissants

(Great for breakfast, lunch or snacks. Can be assembled night prior for breakfast.)

Lay 2 slices ham and 1 slice cheese on each sliced croissant.
Wrap in tin foil. Heat in oven.

The battle has begun! I’m in it to win it. Kelly McCausey has started a war amongst the WAHM blog world and I’m not against pulling hair and scratching to get my hands on that chocolate!!!! Actually I’m even sending good luck wishes to my competition! hehehehe.

Share This

It’s no secret that when it comes to the kitchen I’m no Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray! Far from it. LOL

One of my goals for 2008 was to start learning my way around the kitchen more. Sure I know some basic recipes but honestly that’s about as far as my skill set goes - not good considering men love to eat and I plan on marrying eventually.

Family Foodies, with Sandra Jensen, has been my source of inspiration so far. This week on Family Foodies, Sandra is sharing a couple simple soup recipes but the one I’m most interested in is the Chicken Noodle soup. Check out how simple the recipe is (simple is right up my alley!)

Super Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

(It doesn’t get much easier than this short-cut recipe!)

In 4-quart pot, heat together

2 C cooked chicken meat
60 oz canned chicken broth
1 C carrots, sliced (I use more)
1 C celery, sliced
¼ C onion, chopped (I use more)

Bring to a boil, and then simmer 10 min.

Bring back up to a boil, add 2 C egg noodles, and cook ‘til noodles are tender.

That really is simple! I’m adding the ingredients to my list of shopping items needed for next week.

The battle has begun! I’m in it to win it. Kelly McCausey has started a war amongst the WAHM blog world and I’m not against pulling hair and scratching to get my hands on that chocolate!!!!

Share This