About Me

This blog really is all about food!  Food is a necessity in life, but it is also a way to bring people together, a teaching tool, a mood stabilizer, a comforter.  Food is such a big part of our lives.  

I grew up with home cooked meals every evening, packed lunches, and the occasional special treats, like birthday cakes and birthday dinners.  We didn't go out to eat very much... in fact, going to a restaurant was a very special treat.  My mom would let my siblings and I help with making Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter dinner, if we wanted.  My sister taught me fractions while baking cookies.  Cooking was a part of my life from early on. But, I didn't discover my passion for cooking until in my late college years and into my first years of marriage.  It's a good thing my husband likes to eat just about anything!  My kids?  Well, I'm working on that! 

My eating habits weren't always the greatest.  In fact, believe it or not, in high school, I carried 20 pounds too many.  In college, I tried to drop that extra weight by eating nothing but baby carrots with fat free salad dressing, soft pretzels, hard pretzels, and diet Pepsi.  I got exercise by climbing up and down 11 flights of stairs twice daily.  However, I didn't lose that weight very easily.  Gee, I wonder why?!  My body was on starvation mode!  

June 2006

May 2005

When I discovered I was pregnant with my first son, things definitely changed in the food department.  It's one thing to try to keep my body healthy and a completely different thing to keep my baby inside of me healthy.  That's when I realized that I really needed to focus more on eating healthy and indulge myself, only occasionally, with treats I was craving.  After my son was born, I lost all of the pregnancy weight and then some!  To this day, over 6 years later, I have kept the same eating habits and have stayed at a weight that is perfect for me!  Developing my cooking skills really helped me stay focused on eating things I enjoy in moderation.   

February 2009

I love creating weekly menus, grocery shopping, cooking dinner, having my kids and my husband help me out in the kitchen.  I love to create recipes, to try and learn about new foods, to go out to restaurants.  I love to bake, cook, can, dehydrate anything I can get my hands on.  I love to enter cooking and baking contests (see my finalist recipe Tropical Mango "Shribit" Sandwiches).

Tropical Mango Shribit Sandwiches

Some of my favorite foods are Mexican/Southwestern food, muffins, cookies, and other sweet treats.  Sharing food with my family and friends really brings joy to my life. :)  In my blog you will find birthday party ideas, recipes, grocery shopping tips, health tips, and much more.  Enjoy!