About

I have two sons, 14 and 10, and have been married for 15 and a half years to my sweetie who also happens to be a minister. Life in a fish bowl can be stressful and challenging, so I figured why not just blog about it all and tear those curtains down. Actually, I don't blog about the church or my personal feelings and frustrations (sorry). In fact, I don't do drama but I have been known to rant on occasion. My youngest son has SPD/ADHD and it is a challenge to say the least.

Aside from mom and wife, I am also a ministry leader, PTA president, wedding officiant, and self proclaimed foodie! I love Pinterest and Facebook because it allows me to connect with friends and family far, far away (and even those near), and I also get to meet new foodies and bloggers like you.

I love to cook and shop, and I try to combine the two by clipping coupons and stockpiling when items go on sale. I use a calendar to create meal menus by the week and sometimes even by the month if I can. I use a grocery budget of $60 a week to feed a family of 4, 1 cat and 1 dog. This budget does not include anything I may buy from Schwan's home grocery delivery, my bi-weekly veggie boxes, or any huge trips I make to Sam's Club. It sounds like cheating, I know, but it's really not. I live on an island. The nearest Walmart is well over an hour away and Sam's Club is 3 hours away, meaning I don't go very often. Sam's Club is usually every 4 months and I allow myself a good $300 or $400 for each trip. Schwan's deliveries are every other week and usually I stick with the same items at around $35.00.

Cooking is a labor of love for me. In my home dinnertime is important for everyone in the family to gather around the table, break bread, and spend quality time together. I learned to cook from two main sources: my mother, and the countless mom and pop restaurants I worked in as a young adult. I don't necessarily write recipes but I do alter other people's to make them work better for me, and I will often share that. I have some favorites but love to try new recipes all the time. None of my recipes have pork in them, ever. Also it can be assumed that any grain or bread products I use are whole grain or whole wheat. I only use brown or wild rice, wheat pasta, organic sugars, and will mix whole wheat flour with regular when I can. I try to eat and feed my family healthy foods and spend as little as possible while never sacrificing flavor or nutrition.

Health is important to me for all the obvious reasons; weight management, optimal health, etc. But also because I tend to get migraines from MSG's, partially-hydrolyzed oils, etc. Consequently, I am not a pre-packaged cook. I don't prepare or eat meals out of cardboard boxes. I try to use real and fresh ingredients when I can. If I can't then I at least want it to be organic (macaroni and cheese comes to mind- it's my youngest son's favorite thing to eat in the whole world). Also with an ADHD child, food allergies and intolerance's play a big role around here. So while everything around here may not be perfectly 100% healthy (let them eat cake, I say!) I can promise that I will at least try to provide quality homemade meal and recipes ideas.

For the past few months I have been blogging on all manner of topics from cooking, saving money & budgeting, organizing, and living with and educating myself on SPD/ADHD. I seemed to focus more on cooking and sharing recipes along with money saving tips and really just wanted to reach a broader audience. My original blog is called The Home Heart and I am still blogging almost daily. I will continue to blog there so check it out if you have the time. Eventually I plan to separate the cooking from it and only post that content here.

As a blogger I welcome your comments. Anytime I post something I love to hear a new take on a recipe, or opinions, or your experience with it, etc. Anything really. Don't be afraid to comment. Bloggers rely heavily on comments otherwise we'd never know anyone was reading! (I'd hate to think I was hanging around here in the virtual kitchen all by myself.) So thank you for stopping by and I hope to get to know you better.

Blessings!
~Caprice