Guess what I do now?

I cook, that's right....I actually cook. I no longer warm things up. Okay, I still do that occasionally when I'm tired or in a rush. Mostly, I cook, from scratch,with spices and more than 3 ingredients. The amount of spices I have bought in the last 6 months is insane. I'm talking more than I've bought the rest of my adulthood. I need a bigger spice cabinet and it's one of my biggest cabinets. I wish I was kidding but it's all true. I actually cook food more than just warming it up.
Many things factor in here, there is no fast food in this city, there are very little restaurants and two pizza places. So this forces me to make dinner. Then there is the fact that my boys are growing and consuming 673 pounds of food a day. So buying already prepared meals is more expensive than it used to be. This leaves me with one other option, cooking, really cooking, from recipes.
I thought I would share a few of our favorites, I wish I could say all were but I'm just learning and they don't all go over very well. Also, in no way am I claiming these are my recipes. They were found on the internet thanks to google.

Meatloaf. My mom always mixed hamburger with sausage so I google turkey sausage meatloaf and found this recipe. I thought the spaghetti sauce was weird but went with it. Next time I think I'll use tomato sauce and season it with garlic. I also left the liquid smoke out, for two reasons. I am not a fan of smokey meat and I didn't have any. Everyone loved it, did you hear that? All my kids ate it, enjoyed it and complimented me. So sorry Stouffers, there's a new meatloaf in town.

Loaded Chicken and Potaoes were also a hit with everyone. I have made this a few times, first time there wasn't enough chicken, may have been because I actually cubed the chicken myself, a first. Second time I used buffalo sauce but not enough, it was kind of blah. Third time it was so spicy, lots of milk consumed by the little ones on this night. All three times it was really yummy but I have yet to perfect it. Unless I want to cook it like I did the third time and then reheat it for dinner the next day. The next day it wasn't as spicy, it was perfect. This dish is something I would take to a pot luck, wonder how it would cook up in a crock pot. I may have to try that.

Crispy Chicken Burritos
I gave these a try, cautiously. Cream cheese in a burrito???? I tried it anyways, hopeful it'd be something everyone liked. I used Costco's canned chicken the first time, it was just easier. Baby steps, people, baby steps. It was a hit, I made rice and beans to go with it and everyone was happy. I didn't use the chemicals in a can cooking spray on top of them, I used good ole butter.

Then there is the garlic chicken. This is my own recipe and everyone loved it. Problem is I didn't write down what or how much I put in. I chopped up garlic, lots of it, and infused it in some olive oil by letting it simmer for many minutes. I then dipped chicken breast into it and then my bread crumb mixture. Now it gets tricky, kind of, not really. I used Panko crumbs with some italian seasoning, garlic, cumin and a little bit of this spice and some more of that spice. This is where I was thinking more is more. I don't remember the amounts of any of it though. I have discovered you can just dump while cooking, totally different from baking. I cooked the chicken at 350 for 40 minutes or so. Our oven was going out, which we didn't know, so it took longer than it should have. It was still moist and delicious. That is only some of the many things I have cooked more then once since moving here. I will share more another day. It may not seem like much to most of you but it is for this anti cooking mom.
I'm growing, look at me, branching out of my comfort zone. Notice the socks, first day of the season that I wore them. Hating every minute of it. Oh and the dog...there is a dog that lives in my house and follows me from room to room.