Cravings

My newest "thing" is mindful cooking, instead of just randomly tossing food together I actually meal/menu plan. Mr. G surprised me with a subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray , now I have to admit I am not a fan of RR. The magazine is nice though chock full of interesting articles and tasty recipes, so all of the fat none of the annoyingly grating voice. Her mac n' cheese with trees recipe is a huge hit in my home, and I use many of the ideas I find to feed my always hungry family.

I also devour every issue of Everyday Food and am a huge fan of the PBS series with the same name. So let me tell you how excited I was when I saw Lucinda Scala Quinn's newest show on the Hallmark Channel. I can happily say it is one of J-Bird's favorite shows now (and you guessed it one of mine).

This show is amazing LSQ makes homemade cooking look effortless, but the amazing thing is when you follow her lead it really is pretty effortless. Take chicken parmigiana with homemade sauce, I have never made it. I always thought it would be so hard and require hours of cooking. Until the day I saw LSQ make it I thought "Gee even I can do that!" I did and it was SO good.

Thanks to PBS, Hallmark, and some amazing blogs *cough* Chickens in the Road *cough*,  I have discovered the love and joy that can be found working in my  kitchen. Sometimes when I branch out and try a new meal idea it might not always work, sometimes I spectacularly crash and burn. Always though it is a growth experience for me, even when it makes me want to cry. Most times we get lucky, we find a new meal to love, and new tastes are always a welcome adventure in our household.

Where do you find your cooking and baking inspiration from? Are you right this minute trying to sneak new ideas onto your families plates or even your own? Are you mindful in the kitchen or working to be, if not maybe its time to hit Google and get some kitchen inspiration for yourself!

Tonight we are having taco's with homemade salsa and beans, I know I plan to have just as much fun eating it as I will cooking it.