Oh Food Network you are my friend

Seems that even though my desire to cook is waning, my interest in cooking shows has increased exponentially!

Don't ask me why at 9 months pregnant and with GD, I find it entertaining to watch Food Network continously but I do!

Prior to getting pregnant, I loved to cook and bake. Each week I would make a list of new menu ideas and stuff to bake. This was especially true when J and I were first married.

Of course back then, he didn't appreciate it as much because I was always dirtying pots and pans and the kitchen.

Now? If I cook he's alot more appreciative and I think thats a good thing! Throughout the pregnance cooking has gotten more challenging, first because of morning sickness and then because of the standing in one spot makes my feet swell to the size of sumo wrestler's! So I cook easy meals and grill alot. Even grocery shopping has been a challenge.

I am slightly worried that with the baby and a tighter budget even when my desire to cook regularly returns we won't be able to afford it. Hopefully, I can get creative.

Actually, when we were growing up that was my job, making something out of nothing... well not nothing but with my mom (single) working and going to school during our middle school years there wasn't alot of extras.

That is where my interest in cooking really picked up. Trying out recipes and inventing new ones. Figuring out what I could substitute if we didn't have an ingredient.

My mom appreciated the effort even if the dinners weren't amazing. It at least grew my confidence.

Of course I made mistakes along the way. This is the story I will never live down. My gram always made muffins and cookies for us so I decided to try and make 'Yum Yum Gems'. Basically a spiced muffin with cloves, cinnamon and raisins.

I thought I had it right and yet it bothered me that when I mixed the cloves in, they didn't dissolve like the other spices. I figured that they would when they cooked.

Nope, I proudly gave my mom the first one (without trying them- rookie mistake). One huge bite and all she got were cloves! I had used whole cloves, the kind that go into ham. Ooooops.

I was mortified, not only had a made a mistake but I wasted all those ingredients. Everyone thought it was hilarious and I haven't lived it down yet. Someone even mentioned it at my baby shower! Ugh.

Oh well, I can say I have improved since those days and enjoy cooking, not only for my little family of me and J but family and friends. For a while we were even in a cooking club that met monthly to cook on a theme (fun for me, not as fun for J... he got to eat the dinners though!).

I think my re-entry into cooking may be slow but I have a list going of things I want to make that I haven't been able to eat since getting Gestational Diabetes so I can't wait for that. Technically, I can eat almost anything I want now, its just the quantity thats the challenge so I have forgone things that are iffy or have too many carbs because they are hard to count and I don't want to raise my GD levels. So after Baby N, I hope to get my cooking on!