Chili powder, fresh cut berries and sugar cookies.

One thing most people don't know about me is that I absolutely LOVE to cook, maybe even more than I love to eat, which is quite a lot.

Growing up in a family of six kids, eating out was expensive and usually reserved for special occasions. And considering most "family sized" meals like frozen lasagna and chicken pot pies are made for families of 5, they didn't go very far in our house, especially not with four growing boys to feed.

Instead, my mom cooked. Soups, chowders, chili, casseroles, Shepard's pie, pot roasts, fish, pork tenderloin, chicken anything, you name it. My mom is an absolutely fantastic cook. And fortunately, was always willing to let little hands come help/taste test. I've been helping in the kitchen since early grade school. By middle school, I was cooking dinner by myself at least 3 or 4 nights a week.

Because of my health, I have an obnoxiously high tolerance/craving for salt. One of my biggest challenges when it came to cooking was learning to not salt things to MY taste. And let's just say.. it was not always successful. Once, probably about 8 years ago, I was making mashed potatoes. I peeled, boiled and mashed an entire stew pot full. Added some milk, butter and salt, and tasted them. But they weren't salty enough! So I just added a little more, and then a little more. When my mom came in and tasted them, she literally gagged. No one in my family could stand to take even one bite. So, as you can imagine, I ended up eating a lot of mashed potatoes, by myself, that week.

To avoid catastrophes like the mashed potato incident from happening again, I started to avoid salt and used other spices and herbs while I was cooking. I don't particularly care for cookbooks. And while I admire my mother's ability to cook from scratch, I certainly don't have the patience for it. Usually, I start with dinner kits or mixes, then add my own touch, sometimes turning it into completely different meal. Sauces, seasoning packs, frozen dinner kits, that kind of stuff.

Tonight was one of those nights. My mom is currently in grad school (because you know, being a mother/teacher/medical caretaker/pet sitter/cleaning lady/chauffeur/contractor just wasn't enough), so my brother and I usually split cooking. Between finals and a much needed recovery afterwards, I have been down for the count the past week. He cooked nearly every night last week so it was definitely my turn. I didn't have anything particular planned, but Mom found a package of "Taco Pasta" mix and told me to run with it.

The mix was pretty basic, just pasta and a seasoning pack. The instructions said you can eat it plain or add variations like ground beef, chicken, beans, peppers, onions, etc. It also listed a recipe for making "Taco Chili." After the lovely, 54 degree spring day we had today (just btw, Virginia weather sucks), chili sounded quite appetizing.


I'll admit, I didn't actually read the recipe. I just went exploring in the pantry and found canned tomatoes, kidney beans, and corn. Then hit the fridge and grabbed an half an onion, leftover pork roast, minced garlic, and sliced jalapenos. Started a big pot of all the canned veggies, chopped up the onion and pork, added some garlic and jalapenos. Seasoned it with the taco seasoning from the original kit, a little bit of chili powder, and basil, then let it simmer. After 45 minutes or so, I added the boiled pasta from the original kit and a little bit of sugar because it had gotten muy caliente.

While that was simmering, I sliced up some fresh strawberries and steamed some zucchini/yellow squash. Fresh steamed veggies are one of my primary food groups. Oh, and I decided I wanted baked potatoes so I washed some small ones and threw them in the oven.

All in all, the taco chili came out absolutely delicious. Pretty hot, but topped with shredded cheese it was just perfect. Sugar cookies for dessert made for a lovely Monday night while watching The Voice with mom. 

p.s. Garrett Gardner is the cutest ever. Def my favorite. 

So, now you know. Secretly, I'm the next Racheal Ray. Not really, but I will make a pretty decent wife one day. Just don't ask me to follow a recipe because it's not going to happen.