Winner Dinners

Do you ever get into a cooking rut?

Same dishes week after week?

We've definitely been in need of a dinner-makeover at my house during the past couple months.  

So off I went to the library and came home with a stack of what I had hoped to be inspiration.

Yes, as you can tell, these were pretty much quick & easy cookbooks. I still have not mastered the art of working full-time, staying on top of all the laundry and housework, AND having a wonderful full-course meal on the table by 6:00 PM. 

I tried it for awhile when we first got married, but I never got out of the kitchen until 8:30 or 9 PM, and that put me on the verge of going crazy. What I've realized though is that pre-planning is half the battle.  If I know ahead of time what I'm going to make for dinner, than I can have the meat already thawed out and proper ingredients on hand so I don't have to make last-minute dashes to the store when i realize mid-recipe that I'm short on tomatoes, beans or broth. 

"Express Lane Meals" by Rachael Ray was the biggest disappointment to me.  I've perused several of her cookbooks and I don't think I've ever actually tried any of her recipe.  They all have really strange ingredients, and don't seem economical or appetizing.  Skip that.

I enjoyed the "Hungry Girl" cookbooks and made a few good things from those.  I like "real" ingredients though (not liquid egg substitute and stuff like that), so I used her recipes as a guideline and just tweaked whatever I made. 

I like tweaking. 

T-w-e-a-k-i-n-g. 

Tweaking.

Ahem.

Then there is always the trusty Internet, filled with creative recipe, absolute disasters, and some real winners!  Some of of my current favorites are:

Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti

Mongolian Beef (crockpot)

Lemon-Herb Zucchini Fettuccini

Baked Oatmeal (crockpot)

Noodles & Co Mac & cheese

Each of these recipes I have altered to suit our personal tastes.  More or less sauce, rice noddles instead of pasta, differently seasoned meat, etc.  I use the recipes like a canvas and take my own set of colors to spice it up!  Cooking is often my outlet for creativity these days. 

Have you tried anything new lately?

Happy Cooking ~

Monday Munchies

It's Girl Scout cookie time! 

I had it on good authority (my husband's) that Samoas were the best Girl Scout cookies ever.

E.v.e.r.

However, my knowledge of this didn't occur until after GS cookie season had ended last year and I had failed to order any.  Up until my husband asked why I didn't order any cookies, I had been unaware of the amazing yumminess that was supposedly held within the confines of these chocolately-coconutty cookies. 

I mean seriously people, I make my own cookies.  Why would I buy some pre-made stuff in a box? (Oreos excepted, of course.)

This year when somebody at work was selling cookies for their daughter I bought a box to surprise him. 

A couple weeks before the cookie orders were due to come in, I found a special edition Somoas ice cream on sale and decided to give it a try.

I would consider it to be good for a spoonful, but not for a bowl full. It didn't do much to get my hopes up for these boxed cookies.

And then they arrived.

Everybody at work was tearing into their boxes as they got passed out.  Seriously, these people were going crazy over cookies.  I decided to give mine a try.

People. 

These are da bomb.

I was regretting having only bought one box...

and regretting having to take it home to share.

{But don't look at the ingredient list.

Just sayin'.}

They're also good if they've been in the freezer for awhile, but I'm not sure if I like them better that way or straight out of the box.  Either way is pretty good stuff!

So I've become a cookie-convert.

But only when it comes to GS cookies.

What's your favorite kind?

Watcha Saying?

Somebody gave me a compliment today.

There was no hidden agenda behind it; nothing for them to gain by saying what they did.

They were quiet words that caught me completely off guard.

We had all been standing there laughing together when there was a pause and these words were said. They spoke, and then this person walked out the door and everything around me went quiet. Quiet, as I let the words soak in and turn to encouragement in my heart.

It is easy to do damage with our words, but a few kind words can be used for so much good. It’s easy for me to go through my routine and not think about offering kind words to the people around me.

How you doing today?

You look lovely.

What a beautiful smile you have.

I love hearing you laugh.

Simple words that might just make a big difference in somebody’s day.  They made a difference to mine.

Try it.

It's like giving somebody a hug with your words.

The words of the reckless pierce like swords,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 12:18