Thank You, Hungry Girl!

I have written before about my lack of cooking abilities. I am not good at it, and I think a major part of not being "good at it" comes from not trying. Again with church, sorry to you non-religious people, but stick with me. A couple of weeks ago the priest said that fear kept us from becoming the people we were supposed to become. That made sense when it came to my kitchen, and I had a little epiphany right there in the midst of Advent on the front row of my church. I can cook just as well as any other mommy if I really really want to. I have a kitchen and the bills are paid so I know that it works. I have pots and pans. You guys KNOW I go to the grocery store. But still, if I were to face a boggart, it would form a busy highway first and kitchen stadium second. After that sermon, I tackled my fear. I refuse to call this a New Year's Resolution, because those fizzle. I have been doing this for three weeks now, and it takes twenty times to learn a new behavior, so it's safe to blog about. I also think I am really going to stick with it.

I decided to go with Hungry Girl. I bought her cookbooks a couple of months ago and her attitude makes the most sense. You have to live in the world, so tweak it. She has a wonderful website and her newsletter is awesome. I get it every morning and read it before I start my work day. I have seriously been making her recipes and I will write about the ones that have worked.

NOW MAJOR ALERTS:

1)This is NOT Julie and Julia and I am not a professional anything, in fact I am a quack, so read this or not, and do whatever you want.
2) These are not low sodium recipes, and my blood pressure has always been fine, so I am not worried about it really until my doctor says I am about to have a stroke. Use common sense with the salt shaker.
3) If you decide to make changes, watch out for, as my middle schoolers in Pittsburgh used to say, "haters." Yes of course we would all rather eat the french fries and drink a venti mocha latte, but you have to decide what you really want more. For a couple of months you are going to have to hang out with people who eat the way you do and avoid people who are going to pressure you otherwise. This is also good advice if you are trying to quit smoking, drinking, or whatever.


The Recipes from Hungry Girl 200 under 200:

1) "Faux Frying"- I was really skeptical of this one. First of all, I have never been allowed to fry because my husband, with good reason, is afraid I'll catch the house on fire. Second, duh, I'm southern. How in the hell do you faux fry? We fry steak for crying out loud. But Lisa has this fry mix that involves Fiber One cereal and a lot of different spices, and oh yeah, egg substitute, another thing I was raised to gag at. I have tried it with the chicken, zucchini, and the cheese sticks. I like it. The more I eat it, the more I do NOT want my children anywhere near a chicken nugget Happy Meal. But still, I can just imagine trying to serve it to some of my relatives and getting yelled at for living in the north too long.

2) Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo Veggie Explosion- OK, I don't use the Tofu Shirataki noodles, I use whole wheat ones. It will be a while before my southern genes allow me to be near tofu, but I am always hopeful. Even with the noodle tweak, the sauce is still very creamy and the veggies are very yummy. My kids ate this one.

3) Spinach, Mushroom, and Mozzarella Supreme- This one was easy and anyone who knows me knows I am a mushroom freak. So I had to make this one first. I am making it again tomorrow. I can't believe it has less calories than one of my cream of mushroom dishes.

4) Cheesy Saucy Veggie Stacks-It was good, but I couldn't get my stacks to stack. Such is the story of my life when it comes to a stack....

5) BLT Quesadilla and Wrap- I am getting used to turkey bacon, and my children love it too.

So, I have been trying and it is working. I feel better already and have more confidence in the kitchen. What is the trick? Practice makes confident? Who knew?

Thank you, Lisa!