i had said before that i would expound on my relationship/history with cooking, recipes and food.  well, here it is. i have mentioned before that i had been sexually abused beginning between the age of 2 and 3.  one of my abusers was a step-father.  he was married to my mom for 13 years and i was abused during most of that, and, i realized much later, that he saw me as his wife...in every aspect.  i was responsible for every household duty, as well (you ask about my mom~that's another whole story).  by the age of 7, i was responsible for anything and everything that had to do with meals.  this meant meal planning, budgeting,  grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning.

for years, i was very resentful.  for years.

one day, god spoke to me through my children.  one of my boys asked me if i would give his {very far off-in the distant future} fiance cooking lessons, because he was going to require it of her before he proposed :) .  at first, i was appalled, thinking through my wounded filter of how i would feel if my future husband required that of me.  then i thought how much of a compliment that was to me that my kids really liked what i cooked for them.  i realized then, that i had been gifted with the ability to cook, find really GOOD recipes, change them to make them more appealing for our family and cooking in large quantities.....

i have a great collection of recipes, tips, hints, and meal ideas.  most of this i have learned through my mistakes :(  haven't we all learned most of our good stuff from failing?

it is time for me to begin sharing what i have in a format so that others can access it {and my kids don't call me while i am cooking my own dinner}.  I will learn how to do a print link, but for now, just this will have to do.

i am very eclectic in my food experiences.  there will be some very healthy recipes, some that are very not healthy ones and everything in between.  i try to take pictures of at least the finished product, but i won't have too many pics...i am too busy cooking it!  most all recipes come with a story....my goal is to put one on here each week...tried and true....some most from friends and i will try to make sure i give credit where its due.....but i'm telling ya....i change things up a ton and cook without measuring most of the time..this is an act of discipline :/

i hope you enjoy the fruit of many years of laboring to find the gold in the bucket of trash......

p.s.  the picture of me: i know it has NOTHING to do with food...it is in response to others saying i didn't have one of me on here.....