My name is Mallory and I love food.

Yes, it's true. I love food. All things food. Not just eating it, but creating it. I love planning, purchasing, prepping, cooking, and then finally eating it. And I really don't even mind cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. It's what I love to do. It's my therapy. It comes from my mom and mother (my grandma). Their both phenomenal cooks. I definitely learned from the best. My mother-in-law is also a fabulous cook and she always shares the good recipes she finds with me. For the past 2 hours, I have been sitting on the couch several recipe books next to me, the Pioneer Woman website on my computer, Bachelor on in the background, planning meals for the next 2 weeks. With the craziness of the holidays and my wisdom teeth ordeal (another story for another day), I haven't really planned any meals lately. I pick the things I want to make and then make a grocery list which means I'll have to go to the store, which is always a real bummer to the whole thing but you got to do what you got to do.

It's funny how much food is a part of my life. Probably 50% of the phone calls to my mom and mother-in-law are recipe related. You may think that is a sign of cooking weakness, I just think it shows my commitment to perfection when I cook. I have to call the experts when I need a little coaching. Then there's my homegirls at work, while I'm certain that each of them is a precious gift from my God who blesses me with them everyday, we are totally bound by our common love by P-dub. Pioneer Woman that is. We constantly share recipes and leftovers. And when P-dub comes to town, you'll find me with them in line for 3 hours waiting to get her signature in a cookbook. I also talk food withe my boss quite often. You can sometime find us talking back and forth, her sitting at her desk in her office and me across the hall at my desk, talking recipes. I remember most recently discussing different techniques for a roast. I had never made one before, I needed some extra encouragement. Most of the time you'll find us talking (maybe yelling) back and fourth about Women's Bible Studies, the Gathering of Girlfriends or something else work-related, but occasionally we might also be talking about roast techniques.

I also worked at a bakery for 4 years. I loved my McLaren's years. They were so fun. The perfect job for a senior in HS/college girl. My boss even gave me back my job after a 9 month adventure in Stillwater at OSU (my freshman year of college). That job was a huge blessing to me and only made me love baking/cooking more.

So, you get the idea. I love food. Good food and good restaurants. But I think the best part about food and eating, is that most every meal I eat, I get to share with someone I love. Whether it be my husband, my family, my homegirls at work, old friends, or new friends, breaking bread with the people I love is such a blessing to me. Just tonight, my husband and I had an awesome salad (his request and yes it's weird) for dinner. We ate, we chatted, we talked plans for the week, talked about work, and it was great. Good food brings good conversation and that is such a good thing.

I know all my foodie friends out there are wondering what is on the menu for the next 2 weeks. In no certain order (I always figure that out after the shopping part), here you go:

Tortilla Soup-from PW a couple days ago
Cheesy Chicken-an old recipe from a good friend's mom
Hobo dinners-my mom's recipe (Any recipe I have written down that I don't know where it came from, I give my mom the credit)
Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika-from PW last week (forgive me for the beer, the alcohol cooks out :)
Taco Pie-a new recipe I've been wanting to try from a cook book I was given when I got married. All recipes from my husband's family and recipes from family friends of theirs, such a fun gift!
Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread-also from the recipe book I mentioned above

Don't judge me based on nutrition facts. Notice I didn't post them. I don't know the nutrition facts of any of them, but even if I did I wouldn't post them. You would for sure judge me then. And yes, there are more than 5 dinners in the next 2 weeks and I know Banana Nut Bread is not a meal in itself, I guess.
But cooking 5 meals in 2 weeks is pretty good for me. We are lucky to be home 5 nights in 2 weeks and a couple of those nights (again, don't judge me) we'll probably be eating fast food or if were feeling real fancy, you'll find us at one of our favorite restaurants. I'll let you know how the above recipes turn out. Most of them are new for me, so we'll see. They may not be repeats (I doubt it, but maybe).

In conclusion, in case you've just been skimming: I love food. All things food. I love eating food with people I love, making meals for people I love, and talking food with anybody especially the people I love. Now, I'm going to finish my grocery list.