Cooking 101

Cook From Your Heart And Soul

Those that know me, know that I do in fact cook from my heart and soul. My cooking is a reflection of all that I am. It is rare that I use a recipe. When I do, I generally never actually follow it. I add in ingredients, take ingredients out, change measurements, change cooking times, etc. I never cook anything the same way twice.

Cook With What You Have

You will notice that in my recipes I do not list certain things like brand names, whether something was organic or not, or types of oils or cheese (unless it is paramount to the recipe) that I used. This is intentional. I am leaving these options up to you. I personally get turned off by recipes I come across when I see the words like only organic, grass-fed, pasteurized, free range, humanely killed, etc. I don’t want you to get caught up in all that. If you chose to cook with all organic, some organic, or no organic at all, that is up to you.

My goal is to get you cooking as fresh and healthy I can with what you have on hand or is easily assessable from your local grocery stores, farmer’s markets, butchers, or orchards.

Why Are There Measurements On Certain Things In The Recipes And Not On Others?

I will not list the amounts of things like spices or cheeses unless paramount to the success of the recipe. My biggest pet peeve is reading the comments on recipes and seeing “You added too much salt”, “It was too spicy”, “It was not spicy enough”. “You added too much of this ingredient” or “You added too little of that ingredient”.

My thought is that when you cook, you are cooking for your particular taste buds. That is why there are so many variations of recipes. They are meant for you to put your own spin on and enjoy. Get creative.

How Much Do My Recipes Make?

My recipes are usually doubled or tripled so that they are large enough to have leftovers for at least 2 adults. We are a family of 5 people (3 adults and 2 children). I need to make sure we have lunch for the next day or to freeze and enjoy later.

My Pics

All my recipe pics are taken by me as I am going through the recipe and creating it. There is no lighting magic, no tents, no light reflectors, no ladders, etc. Nothing is staged. You see what you would see in my kitchen if you were beside me helping me to create. I have chosen to do my blog this way to keep it authentic. I want you to look at the recipe and say yep, that looks like what I have in front of me.

My Hopes For You In The Kitchen

My hopes for you in the kitchen are that you fall in love with your food and realize that cooking from scratch is not that hard. If you fall in love with Real Whole Foods and eat less of the processed stuff then I have achieved! It is all about getting out of your comfort zone and experimenting with different recipes to see what works for you and what doesn’t.

I WANT YOU TO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

Your body has the AMAZING ability to tell you exactly what it needs to heal and to maintain your health. You just need to learn how to listen to it and what to do with the information it is giving you.