The beginning of something great!

I have wanted to start a blog for awhile now.  Life gets so busy I've just never sat down and taken the time.  I decided a week ago to make it my mission to get it up and running this week and with this first post I officially have completed my goal!

I started what we call in this house "Sunday Soup Kitchen" about 3 years ago after I went back to work after being on maternity leave with my second child.  I had a lot of fear about how our work/school/daycare weeknights would be when we would have two furious children at 5:30 when I get home from work, that just want their dinner and want it IMMEDIATELY.  That seriously scared me.

So after talking about it with the Mr., I decided a few weeks before going back that I would dedicate every Sunday (at least a few hours of it) to cooking a weeks worth of dinners, muffins for school snack, and healthy adult lunches for work (HATE eating leftovers the next day FYI).  It was torture at first - don't forget I used to despise cooking back then.  BUT, it has now become ritual, and honestly it is such a creative outlet that I really look forward to the prepping, cooking, and AMAZING aromas that come with cooking healthy meals for my family.  Dinners have been amazing since I started Sunday Soup Kitchen!  There is still weeknight stress, don't get me wrong.  BUT, it's at least a little more manageable.

Many people ask me "where do you find all your recipes"? The answer is - from all over!  I love social media.  Anyone close to me knows that :)  Pinterest is a great app that has people all over posting and sharing some amazing recipes.  My recipe board on Pinterest is loaded with recipes I've tried once, tried many times, or haven't yet tried.  I also have a lot of friends on Facebook that post some awesome recipes and pictures and I love recipe swapping with them too.  It's great when you know that someone has tried the recipe, it works, and it's good!

On a Friday, I begin my grocery list for that Saturday.  I buy everything I need on Saturday morning usually with one of my little kiddie sidekicks along for the ride.  I also have my list of what recipes I'm going to make and what day we're going to eat them on.  It may sound ridiculous to be this organized about it, but it's the only way to make it work if you want to do batch cooking on ONE DAY.  Organization is KEY.

I also have to say, that my Sunday Soup Kitchen wouldn't be possible without a husband who keeps the kids busy while this mama cooks up a storm!

So sit back, enjoy the recipe ride, and I hope learn some tricks of the trade that I've picked up along the years.  If I can make it easier for one person out there in their kitchen, I'll feel that this blog was worth it :)

Miriam