Food!

Oh how I love food! I am so glad that I am not a picky eater because there are so many wonderful flavors out there I haven't even tried yet. I try just about anything except for fried bugs! I love ethnic foods too! Chinese, Italian, French, Indian, Thai, etc you name it and I just might like it. My taste buds always look forward to anything new and exotic.
Last week I decided I would start making my own food. Not just your original chicken casseroles and salads, but HEALTHY homemade bread, muffins, granola bars, WW pancakes, and several other recipes that have just good old wholesome ingredients. No sugar added! My goal for the next 6-8 weeks is to eat only foods that are unprocessed. I am no longer buying Quaker granola bars (even though I never bought those in the first place), or boxed cereal, pancake mix, store bought bread or box mix muffins. If I want to eat it I am going to make it from scratch. I am very excited about this challenge because not only will it force me to expand my recipe book, it will, I hope, help me feel better on the inside and look better on the outside.
I have already made a couple batches of WW bread and my Dried Cherry and Walnut Oatmeal Bars are now cooking in the oven and they smell so good!  Both batches of bread turned out so yummy. Way more tasty and wholesome than store bought bread. I tried two different recipes and love them both! I told Joe yesterday that we need to try and control our cravings for it because I didn't want to have to make bread every single week. If we could get by on a loaf of bread per week that would save me having to knead bread every week. That is hard work! I wish I had a Kitchen Aid Mixer! One of these days I will.  If anyone knows of someone that wants to get rid of theirs let me know.
I have been searching online for recipes to try. My favorite blogs to get recipes from is one by orangette and another by Simple Kneads.  These blogs have great recipe ideas! I am going to also make my own Chipati bread this week as well. It is an African non-yeast bread made with very simple ingredients. They end up looking like WW torillas. You can find that recipe on Simple Kneads as well as the WW bread. I also love the Food Network channel. I watch Giada and Home, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Kreiger, and for the unhealthy side of me I love Paula Dean. If I could meet one person and hang out with for a day it would be Paula Dean. I hope to one day go visit Savannah Georgia and eat at her restaurant. ( Just tried the bars I  made and they taste pretty good. I think I will add more applesauce next time for a little more moister).
Anyway! If anyone has any great healthy, non-processed recipes for any kind of meal pass them on to me! I am pumped about all the endless possibilities. My taste buds are already watering!