I'm a foodie-or a wannabe

I love food. Truly...thinking of cooking and new recipes energizes me.  DH likes food to. When trying to find ways to decrease our monthly expenses our grocery bill became the eye of scrutiny.  He looked up and told me that we could probably decrease that each week if we ate "regular" dinners.  Hmmmm. Regular dinners.  Define regular.  Hamburger helper, noodle packets, hotdogs?  Ah...No.  Now grant it.  My cooking of meals has really been on the downswing for the past several months due to my insane amount of working.  However,  I love to cook meals with different, fresh ingredients.  Whole grains, veggies, special sauces (not to mention pasta bestill my heart:), fresh herbs...these are all things that are essential to a great meal.
Plus, DH has noooo problem eating anything I cook.  So sorry, my taste in food and what to cook is not going to change.  I'm more of a fresh type of girl.

That leads me to self diagnosing myself as a foodie.  One that loves and appreciates wonderful, quality food from around the world.  I read a lovely blog called Chez Pim She's an ultimate foodie. Her food blog is packed with mouth watering receipes that will make you swoon. The thai-marinated chicken (now I love me some thai) makes my salivary glands start working! Or the thai cucumber salad.Writing down my grocery list as we speak. She has a book out.  The Foodie Handbook.  Another resident moving in to cookbook row.
And hamburger helper, I have a homemade recipe that I use.  I would be appalled to place the shelf version in my shopping cart.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

1 lb hamburger
1 8 ounce box elbow macaroni
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 large onion
2 cups shredded chedder
1 clove garlic
s/p to taste


Brown the hamburger and onion.  Drain the grease.  Add undrained stewed tomatoes and about a cup of water.  Add uncooked pasta to skillet.  Stir well and let simmer until pasta is cooked.  Add a little more water if necessary.  When it's cooked stir and chedder cheese.  Voila...a very good fresh meal.