The Same Ol' Cracker...

Growing up I remember that the ladies in my family all really knew how to cook wonderful meals and I mean cook! I must preface the remainder of the story with the reality of my family. While growing up most all the women stayed home while the men worked outside of the home. The women were responsible for cooking, cleaning, making appointments, and the small people running around their homes. This is likely where I got my warped sense that my husband should manage all vehicle issues, outdoor work and I will handle the indoor work and appointments for children, etc. This also includes cooking for the family!

With all of that said I have absolutely NO idea how my mother or any of the other women in my family figured out how to make good meals that the kids enjoyed and kept up a good variety. I feel like I am making the same meals over and over and over again and soon the family is going to notice and there will be a mutany.

I work outside of the home, I have little to no energy when I return home...oh hell, even on days I don't work I don't have much energy to cook and do all the other stuff necessary. I really don't ever feel like cooking but child protective services would prefer I not starve my children! Recently I've started writing out a menu for a week and then grocery shopping specifcally for that menu. It not only saves my sanity when I know what I'm making and what I need to thaw while I am at work or the night before but it also saves us money to only get what is needed from the grocery store.

It wasn't until just a couple of days ago I e-mailed my childhood friend, Carrie and asked her what types of things she makes for her family for dinner. Carrie's mother and mine were dear friends for a very long time and very frequently cooked the same types of really yummy dinners. Eating at Carries was always just as good as Mom's cooking at home and even better during Lent (I used to be Catholic) when we didn't eat meat on Fridays and if you were lucky enough for an invite to dinner when they were serving waffles with ice cream! YUMMO!

So...Carrie makes a lot of similar meals but there has to be some different things that I just can't think of so I e-mailed her and then we talked about sharing our recipes through a weekly exchange. Then it dawned on me that I have this great recipe section on here where we can all share recipes! I would just ask that if you have a great recipe that your family loves that is easy enough to make after a long day of working or that can be cooked in a crock pot...PLEASE SHARE with me and the others who follow the blog. You can e-mail me your recipes at rachelperez01@comcast.net and I will share them if you would like. If you don't want me to share them on the blog but want to share with me...I'll be just as grateful!

This could be a great place to come to get those home cooked meal recipes that we all loved growing up or love because we've tried them in our own kitchens and they were a huge success. I have shared some of mine already and will add to that but I am excited to try other's recipes also. Please share so we can all make life a little easier (not having to really think to come up with something for dinner is such a nice little luxury).

Thanks all and happy cooking!