Cooking Anyone?

Well I have been for about 3 days. It all started when I decided to try and give more freely of myself. They say if you give you shall receive. Right? Well it was my sisters birthday on the 5th and she really doesn't like to cook, but really does try to make good meals for her family. So we were talking about her birthday and she says "you are going to make me meals for 2 weeks as my present right?" She was half joking /half hoping I would. So I thought about it and agreed! (She bought the food mind you) I know I am CRAZY! And I guess the craziest thing about it is that I ACTUALLY ENJOYED IT! Anyway so back to that whole giving and receiving thing..... So her friend saw what I was doing and was a little envious and wanted to have the same freedom every night. So she asked if I just doubled everything could she PAY me! So see it is true.. do a good deed... make a couple hundred bucks in the process... oh and get a few free meals for yourself. Not to bad.

So I decided to do it a week at a time. This week was

Tilapia w/mango salsa, yellow rice and black beans

Chicken pesto and 3 cheese ravioli w/ marinara

Philo chicken enchiladas w/garlic cilantro sauce and charro beans

BBQ chicken and ribs w/BBQ sauce

Taco chili

Turkey and provolone sandwiches w/ Tomato soup

There are a few items missing from the pictures but I just wanted to show how you can keep some stuff out in your fridge to use that week or vacuum pack it to save it for an emergency night when you don't have time to cook. You can pretty much vacuum pack anything. I have become addicted to this concept because it is SO NICE to already have dinner made for a couple of nights! Wohoo!

Which brings me to the main point of posting this. I will be cooking on Monday and the menu for next week will be as follows....

Chicken pasta

Stuffed roasted pork loin w/potatoes

Steak w/mushroom gravy

Parmesan chicken

Pesto chicken Sandwiches

Fish Tacos w/Spanish rice

So I know this is last minute.... but if anyone would like to come over and make some of these meals with me for your family you are more than welcome to join me. With more then one set of hands it will go much faster. Just let me know if there are any takers. (Oh and do service for others:)!)

I ALSO TOOK ON BAKING!!!

So there have been several birthdays in the past couple of weeks so I flexed my cake making/decorating skills. I learned a couple of things

1. Fondant makes you look like you are more skilled than you are

2. Ribbon also helps you look more skilled than you are

I have made 3 different cakes in last 2 1/2 weeks. The first one was for my friend Kasia for her parents B-days it was black and white w/ red ribbon. It's on her blog. Then my sister got this one

and my friend got this one last nightNot the most amazing pieces of work, but they were really fun and I love trying to improve on my skills. So if anyone wants a cake anytime soon let me know!

That's all from my kitchen!