I'm 30 and I can finally cook!

If you want to read about my New Years resolution click here:
http://ournewjag.blogspot.com/2014/01/its-cooking-time-new-goal.html

According to Sid Savara (whoever that is), "25% of New Year’s resolutions are broken in the first week alone. Within 6 months, over half of New Year Resolvers will have given up."
Well it's February 11 and I'm still going strong!  That's more than I can say for any gym membership I've tried in the past...this year I'm working my way through Michael Symon's five in five cookbook.  Each week I use the handy grocery list generator that's part of his ebook on the iPad and plan my family's menu.  I just click the meals I want to try and the iPad puts it into a organized grocery list for me.  I have been very impressed with how quick the meals are...while they are more than five minutes, I'm always out of the kitchen in under 30.  They also have been quite delicious.  Many of the recipes use fresh herbs and spices to help me feel like I'm cooking restaurant quality food because we know that's what we'd rather be eating...from a restaurant.  There have been a couple that have lacked a little flavor but I blame those on not having a grill and me improvising.  My favorites have surprisingly been the sandwiches!  You can't go wrong when you buy good quality bread and new flavors of cheese.  With that said, here are some photos of my cooking endeavors...if only I brought out the SLR to do blog quality work...Sorry...I guess focusing on cooking has been a big enough goal and photography will have to come a little later.

Portabella, arugula and blue cheese sandwich

Want to see how easy the recipes are to follow?  Here's an example for the above sandwich...remember all credit goes to Michael Symon's five in five so that if the world goes nuts and I become famous, I don't want to get in trouble for copyright.

Prosciutto, tomato and basil fritatta (fritattas are so easy and now a great way for me to use up any leftover veggies from the week)

Garlic chicken and mushrroms (was supposed to be asparagus but we used mushrooms)

Sausage, zucchini and almond foil packet using an oven instead of a grill :(

The next exciting thing has nothing to do with my resolution is I decided to try flavored water thanks to Pinterest!  I hate drinking water but I know that I need to, we all need to.  Once I made this concoction I downed several water bottles in the same day and yes that's a feat for me.  My first go was cucumber, mint and lime.  I'm so excited to buy fruit every time I go shopping now to make more flavors...I am determined to find one my husband will even like.  He's currently on a break from his precious Coca cola so I have a better chance of slipping one of these new drinks in.  Oh and even Joaquin was obsessed!