I Have Been Eating A Lot More Healthier Lately!

I notice that I have been eating a lot more healthier lately! And believe me this is not by accident!


I have been eating a lot more vegetables and salads.

I have been using a lot of garden vegetables and they do require some preparation when you cook them. For instance I have been cooking kale (which is similar to greens) which requires adding additional ingredients as well. In my particular case I wash / rinse the kale thoroughly and add it to the saucepan and then fill the pot half-way with water. I then add a slice of uncooked bacon to help with the flavoring. I then cut up half an onion, about 2 cloves of garlic, 2 bay leaves and some other herbs as well including some "crackled" pepper! (I soon hope to be adding ingredients from my own garden soon! Once I have included all of my ingredients I will let the pot simmer all day! (Word of advice here though - if you plan to not be home I would suggest that you turn off anything that you are cooking! Since I work from home I can let the pot simmer all day and check on it about every 2 hours. I'll usually eat this with a nice piece of meat like baked chicken (and last week I even had some steak with it!.

I have also been eating a lot more salads lately as well! You know lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers - also celery. This also takes some time to prepare but the preparation process is something that can be relaxing as well.

Do I feel healthier? - Yes I do! - LOL!

My First Baking Project - Corn Muffins!

Well I already see that I blogged about my first baking project! Did I mention that I bought the semi-made muffin mix - LOL! I had to start with something simple because it has been a very long time since I baked anything. With this semi-made corn mix all I needed to add was eggs and milk!

I loved the way that my muffins turned out and it made the house smell so good! I also found out how delicious muffins are when they are hot!


Now maybe its just me but while thinking about baking I'm sure that I mentioned here that I had to get some baking pans - especially muffin pans because I didn't have any.
So guess what happens the next time I'm at the grocery but I see some muffin pans selling for 99 cents! Well that was something that I definitely had to "break the bank" for! I have been using them quite often but I have come to find out that cleaning these aluminum pans is proving to be difficult - especially when you want clean in those cracks and crevices!

My First Bakery Concoction (in a long time - LOL!)

Well, I finally did it! I baked something - for the first time in a very long time!

I just got finished baking a batch (half-dozen) of corn muffins and they came out great! I even had a couple of them for a snack!

Mind you the muffin mix was pre-packaged but it did require me to add some other ingredients - eggs and milk. Actually I was nearing the ending date for the rest of the milk that I had and I wanted to put it to good use!

It just occurred to me that I could have taken a photo of my muffins and put it on here but I'll remember to do that the next time!

Mind you, I do want to start this whole baking and cooking thing slowly and the corn muffin mix was on sale and I figured that this would be something easy that I could handle as a first start to baking!

I have to say that I loved the way that the house smelled as the muffins were baking in the oven and that's a smell that I could get very used to! Plus I have a few left over that I can have as a snack before I rush out the door in the morning!

So my first baking attempt came out very, very well!

I'm Going To Be Baking Once Again - I Vow!

A long, long time ago I used to bake cakes! I even think I had one of those easy bake ovens as a child!

Thoughts of baking again have again entered my mind and I was recently reminded of it when I was watching one of Martha Stewart's shows!

I haven't baked in so long that I am sorely lacking in baking materials! I did manage to find my old rolling pin and found the sifter that sifts the flour. I have maybe one or two baking pans and I know that there is a mixer around here somewhere but I haven't found it yet - LOL! But it will be fun to buy some new baking tools and I look forward to that!

About the closest that I have come to baking in recent times was when I last bought some cornbread mix (they were on sale - 3 for a $1 - LOL!) I had bought the mix but I didn't have any eggs or milk to add to it and I had to wait. But once I did get the eggs and milk and made - it tasted great! - and this furthered my longing and desire to bake once again!

I have been buying my pastry items from the bakery at my local supermarket mostly because its quick and painless but I have been longing to get back to baking once again and its something that I really want to get back into.

I Am A BIG Gordon Ramsey Fan!

Just got finished watching "Kitchen Nightmares". I have started to become a very big Gordon Ramsey fan!

One of the things that he seems to emphasize is one having a passion for food! Especially when its one of the chefs!

He goes to a restaurant whose business is not doing well and tries to help the business get better - which in every case he has seemed to do!

It always seems to come to the food itself. Serve good food to the customers and the word (and your restaurant's reputation) will spread!

I Found An Absolutely GREAT Cooking-Related Blog!

I read the first entry on this blog and now I know I'm hooked!

The name of the blog is The Real Home Chef!

It's by a woman who is a wife and mother who enjoys cooking.

I glanced at some of the entries and the recipies (and the pictures) look absolutely yummy!

What I Made ForDinner - Garlic & Lemon Flavored Breaded Pork Chops With Rice!

Ahhhh! The joy of cooking! I usually like to bake my meat so that I can smell it cooking throughout the house. This particular time I made baked some pork chops - which was a real treat for me because I haven't bought pork chops in a loooonng while!

The garlic and lemon flavor idea I got from when I was baking my Thanksgiving turkey last year! What I did was finely chop up some onions and garlic and added that to the baking pan with the already breaded pork chops. I sliced a slice of lemon and also added it to the baking pan. Slowly cooked for about 2 and a half hours.

The rice was an additional side dish. It was the "healthy" portion of the meal!

The Joy Of Cooking - Why I Started This Blog

Actually I should think of it as the "rediscovered" joy of cooking.

I do remember how I liked to bake in my younger years. I have never made a pie before but I have made a few cakes and a couple of biscuits. Not too long ago (a few months) I made cornbread for the very first time.

As I got older my mother used to do all the cooking. She seemed to enjoy it very much so I let her do so. Unfortunately my mother passed away not too long ago and I have rediscovered my love of cooking!

There are some simple things that I can prepare - food-wise - like scrambled eggs and I have made rice (which is sort of an artform to make it correctly (that nobody told me!)). As far as meat goes I either bake it, fry it or make a stew and add vegegetables. Making a stew is very pleasurable to me because I don't even mind chopping up all the vegetables and food in stew form is good for you - especially during the winter.

I have also come to realize that as I get older I should be eating more healthier too. Don't get me wrong I love my "take-out" food and I will definitely continue to order out ordering my pizza's, etc....but I want to eat some healthy "junk" too!

I'm not too fond of onions but can appreciate the fact that they are good for you and I will usually add them to my stews. I have also come to appreciate the fact that there is more than just one type of onion!

I started this blog because I am sure that I am not alone in that I'm not a chef or have had years of cooking experience but am someone who has discovered that they like to cook and have discovered the joy of cooking!