DOWNTOWN ST.PETE
YARDHOUSE
WATER STREET
DOWNTOWN TAMPA
TAKEOUT
My favorite soup (takeout) from BARE NAKED KITCHEN,
this is the cheddar cauliflower soup which was on the menu for December
New adventures: I have joined Offline Tampa Bay which is a restaurant club that gives you exclusive offers to local restaurants and cash to go eat.
DOODLE NOODLE BAR
GLUTEN FREE MEALS COOKED BY MYSELF- RECIPES AVAILABLE BY REQUEST IF NOT POSTED.
COOKING COLLABORATION WITH PUBLIX AND #PUBLIXPARTNER
Copy cat recipe: Charlies Stakehous e House Salad
Who taught me how to cook? Let's jump right in.
The early days...I remember being about 4 years old and trying to make my mom peaches and cream. It was a horrible concoction of what we had that I could reach...carnation condensed milk, canned peaches and white sugar which I prepares in a bowl and. rought to her while she was in bed.
She refused to eat it lol.
My first easy bake oven.
Learning that flour and water makes a type of doughy biscuit if you microwave it.
Joining 4h at 6 years old and learning how to bake.
More or less I experimented with making omlettes which I was terrible at from 10 to probably even now. My husband usually makes the omlettes however, I make a bombsimple omlette with unscramble eggs. I like it!
High-school Sr. year I took Home economics and learned a few recipes because I still knew very little outside of watching my parents cook and clean meat.
Marriage: I knew how to cook:
Chicken in the oven
Packaged rice
Spaghetti, spaghetti pie and Cottage Pie.
It wasn't a lot, but I could make dinner every night and vary it up with different rice packets and if all else fails I will throw some hot sauce on it!
College: I took a nutrition class which helped me immensely in understanding what is in our food.
Mid 20's: Weight gain out of no where! at this time I basically was cooking every night I was home or off (my usual was chicken, veggies, rice or sometimes spaghetti, I was working 2 jobs and going to college. We relied heavily on Subway Subs because we fell for that trap that Subway was healthy. I also had unknown health issues (Celiacs Disease) and overall, I still wasn't making totally nutrionally balanced meals. We ate a lot of Ramen noodles and pizza and burgers and takeout as well. I worked at the mall and I got a discount at the food court so I would often eat lunch there as well as pick up dinner some nights when I worked the late shift.
I hosted my first Thanksgiving, I did pretty well on my own, but I messed up mashed potatoes and got made fun of by everyone and it was a learning curve.
Things are getting crazy. I start noticing I am gaining 10 pounds a year on average. My weight balloons up to 186 pounds and when I start the new year I decide yet again to try something new. I work put but still gain weight. I replaced 1 meal a day with Lean Cusines as did my husband and we both ended up loosing 73+ pounds with daily excessive!
The only reason why they weight loss journey comes into play is because when we started eating those Lean Cusines and using My Fitness Pal we started to learn about true nutrition, healthy eating and balanced eating and that is when my cooking came full circle.
I started finding healthy recipes
replicating them
counting calories and other details
shopping differently
cutting junk
eating smaller portion sizes
and leaving sugars and fillers alone especially in my main offender- SALAD DRESSINGS!
Once I started this it eas like my world and my cooking expertise opened up. I was consuming cooking content everyday watching Rachel Ray, reading cooking magazines, looking of new ways to cook things I liked, but healthier.
My family swore I would never know how to cook effectively being a "bad wife", but they never really gave me a chance right? At 19, I was cooking and bring my then fiancé food two times a week and asking for his feedback, but they never knew that. I knew we were going to be married eventually and I wanted to know how to cook something! Taking Home Ec helped a lot! It was a very positive environment to learn and engage with people my age and the things I learned my Senior year were pretty important ( plus it was a lazy class in general for my last semester in high school).
Anyhow, I wouldn't be where I am now if it weren't for rhe whole journey. Now, my husband says I make the best of everything he has ever had. He loves to eat so I know he is saying that with love. But I remember when he asked me to make him Indian food and I was mad as all get out because the idea of cooking a new cuisine I knew nothing about scared me, but now he says I make the best Butter Chicken he has ever had and he eats Indian food (we both do) monthly if I do not cook it. Once scared and definitely now I dive right in.
That's my cooking journey.
People say I make rhe best mac and cheese, the beat wings, I know I make rhe beat crab shalah and grilled or smoked ribs. My oxtails are fire. But I had to start somewhere.
And most of my day to day recipes are just things my mom and dad cooked when I was growing up. Those Sputhern Black recipes.
You can always drop me a comment and ask for a full recipe of I don't post it. Everything I make is gluten free and healthy. I cook during the week, dinner dates on weekends and brunch, so I always have new recipes and things I am coming up with. I hope you all enjoyed this year's cooking posts. I am a Publix Partner and that has actually been great for me this year finding new ways to share my recipes with much much more people!
TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS DINNER
Sautéed Catfish filets with button mushrooms, rainbow Chard and quinoa
A VEGAN CHEESECAKE
I did not make this cheesecake, but it is my favorite to get from Whole Foods. It is the Daiya vegan and gluten-free cheeecake. You can find it in the frozen food section. It is quite delicious and you can not tell that it is vegan or gluten-free.
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