Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my new blog!  If you haven't figured it out, the title "I'm NOT Rachael!" is referring to Rachael Ray and I WISH I was her.  I love the fact that she is not a trained chef, but rather grew up working in restaurants.  To me it just says you don't have to be classically trained to be a good cook.  I already knew that, my Aunt Leoma is an AWESOME cook and she taught herself.  So while culinary school is not in my foreseeable future, I can cook for my family and friends who seem to enjoy it.

I'm a rather late bloomer to the world of cooking.  It wasn't until this last year that I really fell in love with cooking.  Prior to that, I could make some decent food but other than when we had family and friends over (not often enough), it was more of a chore.  My husband does not care to eat a big dinner (he would prefer a bowl of cereal), my daughter no longer lives at home, and until this last year, my twin boys did not eat much.  Now that the boys are tweeners (almost 12), their stomachs have become bottomless pits.  Feeding them, and hearing their appreciation of my efforts, along with their wanting to learn to cook themselves, has really made me want to cook more.  When they often compare the food they eat elsewhere to my cooking and tell me it mine is better, not only do they score bonus points but it truly makes me happy.

So this blog is going to be a place for me to post recipes I've tried, recipes I want to try, maybe some tips and tricks in the kitchen and around the house and just a place to babble.  I am not a good photographer, much to my dismay, but I'll try to share some pictures of my successes and failures (maybe).  Most recipes are not of my own creation, I do make the recipes of other people and may modify them to my likes and what I have on hand.

It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that you will ever find recipes with fish, liver, weird animal parts, gluten or lactose free or fancy schmancy foods on this blog.  I do make some stuff from a box still. I do try to cook more with fresh ingredients but I'm not perfect and do rely on convenience occasionally.

I am also a fairly avid couponer.  I don't consider myself an extreme couponer but others might.  I have a pretty good stock pile of foods in my kitchen pantry, garage and basement.  What we won't eat or use I donate to my children's school or the local shelters.  I am able to get a lot of personal hygiene products for free or nearly free so we've sent boxes to the troops oversees.  So it is possible you might see some posts about my couponing trips along the way.

So welcome to my new little world - let's enjoy the journey together!