Intro to Aroma Wednesday!

I love to cook.  I even think I love cooking the food just as much as I love eating it.  I used to take pride in cooking meals for my family every night.  Now that they are getting older (that includes Lon) and more independent, I don't have to cook as much anymore.  I have time now to experiment with different kinds of foods.

Read more below and see pics...

My family loves to eat everything I cook, but these days they are more interested in EMFH night.  It stands for Every-Man-For-Himself.  I started EMFH night after deciding that I needed at least one night to relax after work instead of coming home and cooking.

They love it!  It started out as one night a week; now, everybody is so busy that they enforce it more than I do - sometimes 3 nights a week.

Sometimes, I'm happy when I come home and Austin and Kingston say "Don't worry mom, we're doing EMFH night." But then sometimes I feel like they don't need me anymore. I know, it's sad.  I need to get a life. :-)

That's where YOU, my readers, come in...  I'm going to cook for you!  I'm hoping to share a different recipe every Wednesday night.  I'm also going to look to you to help keep it going by sharing your favorite recipes with me. 

I'm even working on a deal to get this brilliant in-house photog to shoot and edit cooking segments for me.  He claims he has too much going on right now, but he'll give in once I put on my best sad face and puppy dog eyes.

Until then, I'll just write out the recipes and post them.  Below are a few of my favorites:

My famous lasagna. It's famous because I don't cook it often.  It takes too long to prepare, and I'm a 30-minute meal girl. I made this about a month ago.  

My 10-minute chili with brown rice, cheese and low-fat sour cream.    This was good comfort food  last winter.

One of my absolute favorites...meatloaf with garlic and parmesan mashed cauliflower with roasted brussel sprouts.  It's delish and healthy in one bite.

I don't really have a name for this. It's just a simple penne pasta with chicken and veggies.  Easiest dish ever to make!

We love our veggies around here.  This is zucchini and squash that I'm trying out for the first time in my new stovetop grill.  I bought it during my excursion to IKEA earlier this month.  See "Some Real Therapy" for details.

Check out the grill marks!  Can't wait to use it for chicken or fish.!