Hello! I'm a 24 y/o work from home mom to two sons (5 & 2.) I'm married to the greatest guy; 7 years together this year. I mainly cook for the boys & husband so I love them for being my guinea pigs. I'm not the best by any means but I love to try anything new. I originally joined AR so I could pick up a few new recipes. Since I've been here, I've realized this place is more than just a knowledge base. There are so many amazing people here who make this place so interesting and addicting. I apologize for my food pictures; I concentrate more on the taste of the dish than the presentation. Anyways, thanks for stopping by! Most of the stuff I cook could be considered comfort food; you won't see a whole lot of vegetarian, low carb or raw dishes from me. I have lots of respect for people who live those lifestyles but I can't focus on just one way of eating (although if I can substitute something with a healthier alteration I'll do so.) Growing up my family's weekly menu was pretty small. Venison, chicken, hamburger, veggies - anything my parents could hunt, grow or make. Growing up on a farm definitely had its ups & downs. A variety of food was not in the "ups" category I assure you. We never went outside the box although I always wanted to try something new (their income said otherwise.) We couldn't afford to try something we didn't like and didn't finish. Now that I can enjoy both homegrown and in-store foods - I jump on the idea of anything new that sounds good to my family and I. Even if its not the best, at least we gave it a shot. Thankfully, rarely does anything go to waste! When I lived at home, mom was always the one cooking (dad didn't touch the kitchen). We didn't have many traditions as my family just wasn't into that. I grew up being OK with that but now that I have my own family, we're working on changing that. My husband and I both cook and are working on a few traditions of our own. We are still trying to figure out dishes that are we want to make each year; so far baking two sweet potato pies at Thanksgiving and making white chocolate fudge at during Christmas time have resurfaced a couple of years in a row. Here's to making many more. My sweet potato pie, fudge, homemade biscuits & pulled pork barbecue. I'm proud of anything I cook that turns out well, though, as mom didn't teach me much about cooking while I lived at home. Lord knows I love my parents to death but they were set in their ways. Kids stayed out of the kitchen and worried about school work. Cooking is something you learn on your own once you're married. Now that I have my own home and my mom has softened a bit, she always shares recipes with me that I recall from my childhood when I visit. Deep down inside, I really think its because she knows I can't burn her kitchen down now! A Manicotti dish. It had too much seasoning, the noodles didn't finish all the way and the sauce blackened at the end. The husband refuses to try that kind of pasta again. Besides that - I've had pretty good luck with cooking so far.