I'm a working mother of two. I've been with my husband for ten years. I'm pretty content with my life. With two young boys and a husband who works a lot of the time, I work at not only to keep them satiated, but for a stress relief as well. Since having kids, I've gotten out of shape and never lost my baby weight. Now,I'm learning to cook a little lighter, use organic when it's financially feasable and cut out all excess processed foods at all costs. I remain positive that I'll eventually return to the weight I was when I met my husband....though the sugar monster inside threatens to take me down. So far, I'm down eight pants sizes already and hope to eventually get down to my pre-baby weight. I've cut out all diet sodas, most sweeteners, and recently, sleep aids. I try my best to incorporate exercise every day. I've gotten pretty good at tweaking recipes to make them my own. Almost everything I cook gets raves from the testers. I really enjoy baking the most, especially quick breads and cookies. I used to be terrified of baking homemade breads and pies, but I've branched out and now am confident when working with yeast AND pastry. For the most part. I am the only woman in a house teeming with testosterone PLUS my husband is a hard working, blue-collar man......feeding them does have it's challenges. A lot of the recipes I use here I try to adapt to use half vegetables when I can and plug in the rare deals I find at my local factory-seconds, about-to-be-expired store. In these times, you have to do what you can to scrimp and save, ESPECIALLY when you've got three boys to feed. And any strays they might bring home. ;) My next accomplishment is to turn my favorite cookbooks, White Trash cookbooks, into healthier versions. I love those books to pieces. Thanksgiving '06, I attempted my first Thanksgiving. My husband even participated in the action. He and I both agreed it was our best ever, that it was made better by our cooking it together. When I was growing up, my dad and my grandmother were big influences on how I cook now. I was raised on welfare for part of my childhood so I was taught to stretch meals when you could and cook as healthy as you could even if you were broke. My grandmother taught me the importance to cook with your heart as well as your mind. She also showed me that if you can grow it, most of the time you can eat it. I hope to teach my sons the same lessons. I'd like them to be confident in the kitchen so they don't waste a lot of money on food they could make themselves. Cooking my first pie AND turkey. I was nervous at first, but now that I've done it and succeeded, I feel that there's nothing I can't try in the kitchen. Cooking the pie was a huge deal because I had the mindset that mine could never be as good as Grandma's. I've had a few. I'm all about learning new, healthier ways to feed a growing family. I've learned over the years that it's most important to not only keep an open mind when cooking but a sense of humor. Without those, you'll never fully enjoy the experiance of cooking. Want to contact me with questions? Just leave a comment on my blog and I'll get back to you.