Loving the Kitchen Time!

Since I graduated college I've always worked out of the home full-time, and as a result have spent less time in the kitchen. Now that I am home all the time, I'm loving the freedom it brings to plan meals, to shop for everything I need, and to be creative. 

One of the most exciting gifts Jody got me for my birthday was a KitchenAid mixer along with several attachments. Words cannot express how grateful I am for his kindness towards me in recognizing an area that I want to grow in. 

One of our first adventures with the mixer was in making homemade applesauce. After making applesauce with a friend, it was so fun to "try it out" with our new toy. Ha!

Overall, the experience was a huge success, and I'm totally never going to buy applesauce at the store again. ;) The fresh stuff is amazing!!!

Another gift Jody got for me was a Blendtec Blender. The reason for said purchase was that I'd started making smoothies in the morning, and he was so tired of our blender not working. It took me a good 10 minutes to make a smoothie, and the noise over that long a time, while I struggled to try and get the blender to blend everything up, was more than he could handle. So I think he really bought the blender for his own peace of mind. Haha!

The blender is absolutely amazing and has revolutionized our options for cooking. Not only do we make smoothies on an almost daily basis for breakfast, but the blender is incredible for pureeing soups, making marinades and dips like hummus!

Jody took this video while I was in Aiken to show me how he was getting his daily dosage of greens in my absence. :) I'm so proud!

I find that having all the tools to work with - even more than I could have imagined - and having a bit more time to dream has allowed me to truly enjoy the time I'm spending in the kitchen. I'm also finding that while I love to bake, I'm also starting to truly enjoy cooking more. Baking is my go-to past-time, but I no longer dread the "What's for dinner?" question and am starting to enjoy the process of creating food that tastes good. And Jody is such a sport! He's growing in his willingness to eat foods that *shock* contain onions in them - cooked, of course. Nonetheless, I never imagined that such a day would come (and, I always cook them waaaaay down before I add any other ingredients). But still, I count it as a huge victory and proof that if I can cook well, then even the most unappetizing foods can be delicious!