Let's try this again.

Well I used to blog.  Alot.  I used to blog about being pregnant with my first baby and all of the fun things that were happening with her, me, my body and our little family. 

So, I gave birth and ran out of spare time.  For those who are pregnant or thinking about having a baby...let me just tell you.  The first year is spent completely devoted to just adjusting to life as a parent. It was for me anyway.  I spent the last year so utterly enamored with my little girl that I really didn't want to think about anything else.  And if you are a working parent (like I am)...you start to spend your time at home thinking about work and you spend your time at work thinking about your little one at home.  There is little time to even think about anything else.

I am a go-getter.  I have a hard time sitting still and am always doing "something." Nothing about that has changed since our family of 2 became a family of 3. The problem...is not having any time for anything other than washing clothes, vacuuming the floor and feeding the cat.  (You get the picture).

Our "baby's" first birthday has come and gone and she is now 13 months. I am slowly gaining more confidence as a mom and am still trying every day to balance home and work.  That'll always be a challenge, as I'm sure it is with every other working parent out there.

This blog will be my creative outlet. A place for my passions. What are my passions...hmm...let's see.  Let's start with food.

Since I was about 22 years old, my love for cooking has slowly grown.  You see...I love food.  I love shopping for food.  I love picking out food.  I love dreaming up with I'll make with the food.  I watch the Food Network for fun. My heaven is Whole Foods. I framed a picture of the best caprese salad I've ever eaten when I was in Venice, Italy. That picture hangs on my wall at home. I almost went to culinary school (until I saw the $80,000 price tag).  My idol is Ina Garten. To put it simply, I. Love. Food.

Don't get me wrong, I still cooked during my first year as a mommy, I made homemade baby food for my little Mimi for 6 months.  But I haven't cooked with...oh..."pizazz"...if you know what I mean.  Lots of vegetable, starch, meat meals with no character, flavor composition or well...pizazz.

I'm claiming back my pizazz.  So, I'll start here.  I have aspirations to grow my own vegetables.  I live in Texas where the soil isn't exactly vegetable growing friendly, but I'm giving it a shot.  I did grow my own basil, chives and cilantro last summer and it's a FABULOUS feeling, walking out your backdoor and cutting your herbs for dinner.  I'm gonna do as much as I can of that. 

I'm going to cook healthily and organically when I can.  We're not made of money and I don't necessarily think that every piece of food you eat has to be organic.  You just have to know the basics and have an understanding of the type of inorganic foods that are most harmful.  Minimal processed foods, no hormones, pesticides...you get the picture. 

And this blog will be where I share it. I've already started the "pizazz reclamation" process...it's slow going...but you gotta start somewhere.

Friday night's meal...taken from Ellie Krieger's cookbook So Easy. I altered the recipes a little bit.  Oh yeah...that's something else you'll learn about me.  I really don't like to measure and I change just about every recipe because, well, that's just me. Don't tell me what to do. :)

Friday's Menu...simple and easy. 


Garlic Lemon Turkey Breast
Rosemary Red Potatoes
Parmesan Brussel Sprouts

I'm also trying to photograph my food and know NOTHING about that.  We have a fancy Nikon.  I have a sister in law who is an unbelievable professional photographer and a husband who is pretty good also.  I'm not gonna pretend to be a photographer.  But this will be so much more fun if I can take pretty pictures of my food.

Soon after we had the above delicious meal, Mimi started throwing up so much that we ended up in the ER.  So, Saturday night's meal was a pepperoni pizza from Domino's because we were going on about 4 hours of sleep. But Sunday night...game on.

Sunday night's menu...my recipe.

Sweet Pork with golden raisins and onions
Acorn Squash

This is my recipe...something that I came up when I wanted to clean out the fridge/pantry.  It's now my husband's favorite meal and the only way I know how to cook pork without drying it out.  

Recipe:

Pork Tenderloins (4 thin tenderloins)
Brown Sugar - (1/4 cup)
Golden Raisins - (a handful...or more...depending on how much you like raisins)
Yellow Onion - (half an onion, cut in half and then sliced into 1/2 rings)
Salt and Pepper - (to taste)
Olive Oil - (4 tbsp divided)
Orange Juice - (1/4 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Rub the tenderloins with 2 tbsp olive, salt and pepper in an 8x12 baking dish.  Set aside.  In a mixing bowl, combine the the rest of the ingredients.  Pour over the top of the pork evenly and cover the dish with tin foil.  Bake for 45 minutes covered or until pork is done, raisins and onions are soft and sauce is thickened.  Enjoy!

I also made acorn squash. I made it the way my mom always did...with butter and brown sugar.  Hated it as a kid, LOVE LOVE LOVE  it now.

So there you have it.  The beginning of growing, cooking and photographing my own food.  When it warms up around here and I can actually plant things...this will really get interesting.

Also, today, Mimi had her very first apple.

She liked it.