Foodie Friday

So I had to be really nerdy and look up the definition of a foodie before I decided it was ok to call myself one.

The Urban Dictionary defines a foodie as "someone who loves everything there is to know or learn about food".

Uh, yeah, I am DEFINITELY a foodie!!

I LOVE to eat.  I love to cook.  I love to bake.  I love to FEED PEOPLE.

It just gives me a great sense of joy and pleasure to see someone enjoying the taste of something I have created.

I haven't talked about it much on the blog, yet, but I have come a long way on my journey with food.  I have learned so much about how our bodies react to so many things I used to not even notice on the ingredient list.

I want to share all that I have learned with you.  My hope is that you'll get just as excited and eager to learn and grow and change in your eating habits as I am.  Your body (and your taste buds) will thank you!

So, every Friday here is going to be "Foodie Friday".  I'll post recipes, information on things I've learned, spotlight great clean, healthy or natural Food Blogs, and ask you to share what you know.

To get started, leave a comment below with your favorite food blogs, recipe sites, or tips and tricks for eating healthy on the go (and with kids!)  Let's all learn more about food together!

Thanks for visiting me - I hope you'll come back soon!

Homemade Bread - I did it!!!

So yesterday I posted this grand plan for this week's meals - and I was firmly resolved to stick to it.  Let's see, what day is it? 

Just kidding!

So far, so good.  The only thing I haven't stuck to is which day to prepare what meal.  Yesterday was the pasta casserole and baked chicken.  Today I decided to make the homemade hamburger buns with this recipe.

squeals . . . 

giggles . . . 

I can't believe I did it!  I actually, really, all-by-myself, made homemade bread!  It didn't take all day, which I've always heard bread does.  In fact, the steps were pretty easy.  I did one step right before breakfast, one right after chores, and one just before leaving for our American Heritage Girls meeting.  Thanks to my oldest son, who watched the oven for me while we were gone, we came home to this:

Now, I am well aware that they don't look like the fancy, schmancy picture on the website with the recipe.

But hey, this was my first shot at it.  I'll get the shaping down.  I was just happy that they came out soft and yummy!  At this very moment I am telling my children to get out of the kitchen because they cannot eat the buns that I made for dinner.   I let them try one little corner and now they want to scarf them down before the burgers are even ready!  

I'm so happy with this venture that I am going to be trying a french loaf recipe in just a few minutes.  I found it on the website of my favorite magazine - Mother Earth News.  The title of the article is Five Minutes a Day for Freshly Baked Bread.  I'll let you know if that turns out to be true.

All this baking is getting me geared up to start planning the spring garden.  We're going to need some strawberry jam to smear on all this soft yumminess!

What's happening in your kitchen this week?  Are you cooking up some love?  I'd like to hear from you.

Happy Homemaking!

I'm linking up at Growing Home and Time-Warp Wife

Meal Plan Monday

When you ask your family what they would like for dinner, do you get the response, "food" ?  Well, that's the answer I get at my house all.   the.   time.  Seriously?  My family has an incredible lack of motivation in helping me plan meals.  They like to eat, that's for sure, but having a hand in putting together the menu is not something they look forward to.  So when I sat down to plan this week's menu, I was feeling discouraged.  I had absolutely no ideas about what to prepare, but I knew I didn't want it to be the same ole, same ole.

Thank God for Pinterest!

I said a quick prayer that God would help me get over my grumbly attitude, and I got to work searching for some new meals to put on our table this week.  Not all of them are healthy, in fact several are loaded with dairy and cheese, but I think they are going to please every member of my family.  (Including my vegetarian self, and my oldest son who won't touch a vegetable other than potatoes or spinach.)  I thought I'd share my plan with you, in hopes of giving you a little bit of inspiration (and holding myself accountable to stick to my plan!)

Monday:  Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce with crusty bread and a salad

Recipe here 

Tuesday:  Veggie tacos for me, beef tacos for them, with black beans and cilantro lime rice  (recipe link)

Wednesday:  Pasta Salad (with baked chicken for them) and bread

(recipe link)

Thursday:  Burgers on homemade brioche buns with oven fries  (I'll have a black bean burger, of course!)

 Bun recipe     

                               

Fries recipe

Friday:  Spinach stuffed shells with a salad

(recipe link)

Saturday:  Spinach alfredo pizza (homemade crust) with salad (can you tell we eat our greens?) and baked mac-n-cheese  (just in case the little two make a face at the spinach pizza)

I got the recipe for the pizza topping here

(the only variations I am planning are to make a crust from scratch instead of using the Pillsbury crust she recommends and I'll add shredded mozzarella to the top)

the homemade pizza crust recipe is here

and the mac-n-cheese recipe is here

I'm going to try my hand at homemade bread this week.  I found a recipe for a french loaf here.  I've never attempted it before, but if I can do it, we just might stop buying the bagged variety.  

Mmmm . . . you can't tell me you'd rather have Mrs. Bairds.  I sincerely hope my efforts are successful!

I checked my attitude, got my heart and mind in the right place, and I plan to spend some time creating meals that let my family know how much I love and care for them.  What are you cooking up in your kitchen this week?  Next Monday will come all too fast, if you have any ideas or recipes for me (especially vegetarian) I would love to hear from you!

I'm linking this post to:  An Original Belle,  The Barn Hop, The Better Mom, The Purposed Heart, and These Five of Mine Plus Two 

Happy Homemaking!