Lovelies in my Life : My New and Improved Life {as a mini chef}

I know I've said this about eight hundred and twenty-seven times now, but I LOVE Pinterest and for so many reasons. The most important of which is it has single handedly turned me into a bit of a chef, I'm not bragging or anything. Seriously, I did.not.like.cooking before I met Pinterest. I was intimidated by it, the same way I am by my sewing machine, and I really thought there was no way I'd be good at it. I just didn't know how to throw good things together and following a recipe with precision was such a downer when too often my attempts failed to please. So I stuck with my uszhs - spaghetti with meat sauce, tacos, anything on the grill (though that was husband's doing so can't take credit), the occasion chicken enchilada casserole, and a Olive Garden-esque Italian sausage soup that was my finest dish. Pretty boring stuff.

Moving on. I found that dear, long ago friends were all about pinning recipes. At first I ignored it but then I noticed that they would often write things like "Best tortilla soup ever!" or "Easiest and most delicious crock pot beef stroganoff" and I thought, "Hey, I like a good strog, maybe I should give this a try". I soon noticed that every recipe I tried from Pinterest was a smash hit at home. Unbelievable! I think it's the fact that you're cooking the "best of" recipes, already hits in someone else's home. It certainly helps that crock potting is so very popular now as I seem to have a knack for it and really, it's the easiest thing imaginable (what woman wouldn't want to simply stick her food in a pot to cook for 6 hours while she rules the world). Finally, there's something about having it all there in one spot, just a click away from a recipe. I love a good recipe book but it just seems that cooking from a laptop works wonders for me. I'm obviously a terribly lazy chef.

So these are my favorite new meals, all tried and true, with my personal pictures to match. Not saying they tasted quite as smashing as the original but they were pretty stinking good all the same.