Kitchen & Cooking {the basics}

I love to cook.

Trying new recipes are among one of my favorite things to do but it hasn't always been this way. Before Drew and I dated I went to school full time and worked at a golf course full time. I pretty much lived on Lean Cuisines and Smart One with unhealthy amounts of hot dogs from the golf course. 

Then came Pintrest.

Pintrest sparked my interest in cooking and once Drew and I started dating I really started appreciating being able to cook and not always go out. When I first started cooking I had very few "supplies" and really didn't know what I was doing. After plenty of recipe fails I've slowly got the hang of how to cook. Now I still have my oops moments but they aren't nearly as frequent as they use to be.

The basics I would consider are:

-Olive Oil, this is great for veggies, grilling, and more. I love having it in this easy pour bottle and close to the stove.

-Salt and Pepper Grinder, I swear by these! Fresh salt and pepper add so much to all recipes and I also love some fresh pepper on our salads. Not to mention these last forever, I seriously by a set maybe twice a year and we use these on a daily basis!

-Italian Grinder, I found this at my local Food City on sale this past fall and it is by far one of my most reached for spice. It has all the yummy Italian spices in one place that gets freshly grinds on demand. We love Italian food and this grinder helps keep dinner delicious with a few simple turns of the wrist.

We have a ridiculous spice cabinet that could probable use my attention but these are the other "non-basic" spices that we use most often and are great to keep around for cooking:

basil, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, veggie spice, Lawry's seasoned salt, and rosemary

If it wasn't for my parents for getting this for an amazing wedding gift we wouldn't have one but this Kitchen Aid mixer is everything and more. We mix meat loaf, sausage/meatballs, cookie dough, icing, sauce, pizza dough, fresh bread, etc with this sweet mixer. It is very user friendly and really helps create some amazing dishes. Also, you can notice my Pioneer Woman cook book that I would also suggest to any cook with any ability! Finally, again it was a wedding gift, but a good set of knives. Drew insisted on this when we were registering and I didn't object but I was thinking, "the ones we have cut." Well after using nice knives I can tell such a difference. Worth the investment!

I hope you have had a great day and a great week.

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