SecretIngredients

about me

I am 30 something, (who's counting at this point anyway) and the proud Mother of 4! 2 Boys and 2 girls. The boys are 14 and 13 (11 months apart)...and the girls are 5 and 18 months. I often refer to them as my crazy crew! I stay home with "the crazy crew"...thank God for the Public School system!! My DH and I love to travel (HA) and just get away when we can. I fell in love with RecipeZaar back in 2002, but have just recently decided to get involved....I came out of the closet so to speak! I now have the great pleasure in being a part of the *Cooking on a Budget: OAMC, Make Ahead, Freezing & More Forum* with Tish ,JillAZ, and Erindipity. It's an honor!


I have been cooking for as long as I can remember, even as a teen I can remember making hot dogs on the grill for a group of my friends that were over. I tried to season them with whatever my Mom had in her spice collection. Granted they were awesome! But one of my friends thought that they had fallen in the dirt!!

My Mom, sister and I are currently training for the Breast Cancer 3 Day walk here in the Tampa Bay. We did it last year and it was amazing!
As walkers we have to raise $2200 each.
Since my Mother and I both have such a passion for cooking, we decided to incorporate that into our fundraising efforts for this year. The three of us host, monthly, meal assembly sessions. We find the recipes, create the menus and make any changes because we have learned that not all things freeze well! We buy all the ingredients and friends and family come out (my Mom has a commercial size kitchen at her place of business) and assemble their meals for the month. It's really been fun! We are about 1/4 way with the monies that we need. In March we did 108 meals and and last month we turned out 165! Alot of you here at RecipeZaar are helping and you didn't even know it! So thank you for supporting me!
In the picture I am in the second row, on the right. I just completed 60 miles in 3 days....I think I look pretty good!!
For more information on the Susan G Koman Breast 3-Day and what you can do to support this great cause, log onto:
http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TampaBayEvent?px=1317372&pg=personal&fr_id=1190

When I rate recipes, here is my rating system:
*****(5 stars)This recipe is perfect as is and my family really enjoyed it. The directions were clear and easy to follow and it worked out well. These recipes are ones I would recommend and would make again. If the kids love it...it's a keeper!
****(4 stars) These recipes were good, but I would not make them again without changing something. Either something was missing or I thought it could just use a little something! My family gave it a "maybe do again."

If I wouldn't make it again there is no need in me rating it...who am I really to give my opinion on what might be your favorite recipe!

Favorite Foods:

I like everything really. There are some things that I won't eat, but I still love to use them in my recipes. I love to experiment and find new recipes, make changes to fit my family's taste.
I guess I can say I just have a passion for food!

http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TampaBayEvent?px=1317372&pg=personal&fr_id=1190