Where do you find your Recipes? Then what?

I think I get asked this question a lot people who really want to cook, but don't really know where to start.  Where do you find your recipes? So today I want to just highlight some great blogs, or sites you should visit to just surf for recipes.

There's no real science to recipe hunting- just find things you like to eat and make them.

I like Cooking Light, Southern Living, The Pioneer Woman, Skinny Taste, Tasty Kitchen, Gluten Free Girl, Hungry Girl, and Food Network. There are more, many many more, but these are some I really like and go to regularly.  I kind of like that I just linked all these for you because now you can just click away and go look on your own. But come back, I have more to share with you!

Many times, the best place to start on getting started with cooking homemade meals is to simply decide what you want to make.  Ask yourself, what am I hungry for? (sorry all you grammar-a-tarians! I am not going to re-word!)  You might also ask your spouse or significant other-person-who-wants-to-eat what they would like to eat.  Sometimes spouses have a craving- or an opinion! Ask your kids.  They will say things like macaroni and cheese, or chicken nuggets, or pizza.  That's okay.  You CAN make those, too.

So step one, though obvious, is to decide what you want to make.  In a week, I will choose 4-5 recipes for my family of 5.  We will have a left over night at least once during the week (we really don't want to waste the food we have purchased), and perhaps twice.  Sometimes, one of the meals will include breakfast for dinner.  My kids love this.  I do too.

Next step is to find those recipes.  Surf the web, using the sites above, and find recipes that have RATINGS.  I know you might think that is silly, but peoples' comments are really quite helpful when deciding IF the recipe is worth making. Many times a recipe might be rated AND there will be a skill level listed.  I LOVE THIS.  It helps me to know how much time I will have to spend concentrating on my cooking while I make it.  This is so helpful because there are nights when my kids are going in 6 different directions for sports or school or band or all of the above, and I will not have the time to make a more difficult recipe.  Whereas, I might be able to make easier recipes in less time on my busy days.  Pay attention to the skill level required only as a time commitment.  You can make anything you can read the directions for.  Be assured.  If you can follow directions, YOU CAN MAKE HARD RECIPES.

One more thing about recipe ratings and skill levels: the easier the recipe the better, especially if you have young, and or needy grumpy whiney-driving you absolultely-crazy kids.  You know exactly what I mean.  It's called the "crying hour" at our house.  I am not saying that young kids are needy.  You know your own kids.  Maybe you have a "hangry" gene in your family- "hangry" is when you are hungry and get snappy and irritable when you are hungry. (Thanks to Nancy  D. for defining this phenom in our own household!) SO, if you have these issues one day- switch to an easy quick recipe so you can squelch those hangry kids and adults quickly. Easier recipes are also good for those mamas who can't spend a ton of time monitoring a dish in the kitchen.  Easier recipes enable  you to either walk away from your oven or stove with ease or make your time in the kitchen shorter.  Gauge your time and value your balance.    

Secondly, don't be alarmed by the list of recipe ingredients! Check out the entire list of ingredients and see how many actual ingredients there are- NOT including spices or seasonings.  Many times, seasoning lists make a recipe twice as long and it will seem intimidating to make, when in actuality, there might be 4 main ingredients, and 4 spices or seasonings.  That IS doable.  Trust me.

Once you PRINT OFF your recipes, go straight to your spice and seasonings rack and HIGHLIGHT the seasonings you DON'T HAVE.  You will notice over time that recipes you like will use a lot of the same seasonings.  Seasonings can be pricey, and though the recipe may call for fresh,  you can always use dried (most seasonings will have a dried equivalent on the bottle) if the recipes you want to make for the week will not use the entire purchase of fresh.  I am always about economical uses as well.  Just be aware if you are trying to be more "fresh food" oriented, dried doesn't taste as good as the real thing- fresh.  You will notice a difference.  Fresh herbs can be found in the vegetable section of your local store.  If you are organized, snap a picture of the fresh herbs in your local store, so you know if they even offer the fresh item you want.  Many come in boxes that have larger labels on them for easy reading. OR just make a note of the ones you see for future reference.  Super handy.

Then head to your freezer to see what kinds of meat you have and start a grocery list of those things you will need.  Staples like canned goods will be easy to see in an organized pantry- so get organized mama.  Clean that sucker out and know what you have.  Use up what you have.  If you need help using up those 46 cans of corn or hominy or ranch style beans you can do a recipe search based on ingredients... try this one from recipe.com.  There are others too, just google "ingredient search" and start finding recipes.

With list in hand, shop and buy what's on the list.  I tend to buy meats from an actual butcher - Sam's Clubs have a butcher, NOT WALMART, so does Kroger and HEB. Check your own local grocery store and you can just use that door bell on the wall near the meats and "ring" your meat department manager out to the store to ask specifically if they cut and package their own meats. You can usually tell if they do based on the packaging.  If it is shrink wrapped with a SEAM then it was processed somewhere else, frozen and trucked in.  If it has saran wrap around it, then bingo!

Buying organic or not is up to you. What I have learned through asking my organic granola friends is that the fattier the meat, the more worthy of organic it becomes since hormones or chemicals are stored in the fat.  However, price dictates us too, so I have to consider that as well.  If you don't have a budget for food, then be smart with the organic thing.  Fresh is best.  In our family we strive to buy anything from the ground, and anything from an animal.  This leaves out breads (I love bread), pastas, processed "quicky" foods and soups.  If I do buy pasta, it is usually wheat free or gluten free.  It is better for you and leaves you feeling less "heavy".  

So with that I will leave you... lots to think about and lots to discover.  Message me with questions  or leave them below for discussion.  Tomorrow- tools you should own!