I've really gotten into cooking over the last year and half. The economy has forced my husband and I to drastically cut down on our restaurant spending. We were averaging $1000/month in eating out (lunches, brunches, dinners). On top of that we would spend money on grocery only to have alot of the veggies go bad because we didn't eat them in time. I started watching the Food Network channel to get tips and techniques; starting making some of the dishes; and learned I really enjoyed making a satisfying and tasty meals. What I loved also was I began using ingredients I normally would never buy at the grocery store: cumin, kale, kalamata olives, quinoa, scallops, fromage blanc, italian parsley. So fun to be adventurous.

I like fish and chicken as my protein mostly. I love using all sorts of vegetables and herbs. I'll try a multitude of dishes, but tend to keep them in the easy to intermediate level. Won't be at the hard level for a while yet. It's infrequent that I'll try a recipe requiring heavy creams or alot butter or flour. My top 2 go-to recipes that I know by heart, and are easy to make are poached salmon with dill and cuccumber broth and Thai-style red curry halibut. So healthy, tasty and easy to make!