Here's why

One of the only reasons why I am thoroughly enjoying being a stay at home wife is cooking. I love being able to see something on TV, eat something at a restaurant or hear about something, doing a bit of research and trying to figure out how to make it. A few weeks ago Shawn and I went out to an Italian restaurant and had a really good grilled pear salad with balsamic. We also went to a different place and had some amazing butternut squash soup. Since those visits I have made both, and actually had both for lunch today. I should be a chef.....kidding of course......but I really do love to cook and create really good food. Between yesterday and today I have made:
-Lemon balsamic roasted vegetables
-Butternut squash soup
-Pear and walnut micro greens salad with the same lemon balsamic I used to roast the aforementioned veggies
-Greek chicken with a yummy yogurt sauce

There are also a bunch of other "signature Carol" dishes that I make:
-Pesto chicken pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes (sundried and fresh), baby spinach and pine nuts
-Bruchetta (2 different kinds - one with artichokes and one without...although I can't decide which one I like most)
-Chicken stir fry
-Cream of mushroom with chicken over rice
-Eggplant Parmesan (this was my grandmothers recipe)
-Lots of different pasta dishes that I have copied from restaurants and have added my own twist
-A wonderful garlic bread
-Pesto bread with mozzarella cheese
-Navy bean soup (which coincidently I burned myself on pretty badly about 6 months ago)
-Awesome Salmon skewers
-Meat sauce
-Stuffed chicken breast (stuffing needs some tweeking, but the sauce is lemony needs nothing different)
-Enchiladas
-BLT pasta salad - yum
-Many many others

So, as you can see, I love to cook. Now, I must give props to my husband because he tests all of my cooking. Sometimes my recipes work, other times they don't....but I always learn something from my experiments. That's the beauty of staying at home for a period of time.....the experimentation of cooking. You know what's funny.....my sister does the same thing....she is an amazing cook. Maybe she and I need to open up a catering business (we should think about that). So, if you would like any of these recipes, message me and I will be sure to send them along to you.