What's Cooking Wednesday, March 8th

I have a confession to make...until last night, I'd never made a traditional lasagna.  I made one several years ago in the crockpot, but I decided that I wanted to prepare a traditional lasagna for my family.  It was much easier than I expected it to be.  I will say that mind did not look nearly as pretty as the picture to the left.  I am thankful that I had some help though.  We all came together and handled different parts of the meal.  I wish I'd paired it with a big side salad, but to be honest, I was so preoccupied using my Ziploc Vacuum Sealer for my salad, I didn't think about reserving some lettuce for a salad for the family.  It was definitely a popular meal and I will have to do it again.  

I realized something while I was on the hunt for a recipe the other day.  While I have quite a few cookbooks, I found myself more inclined to look for a recipe on Pinterest.  There are so many recipes that I know are in my cookbook, yet I find myself repeatedly heading to the computer to search for a recipe.  Do you find yourself doing the same thing?  I am going to start making a point to check my cookbooks first.  The fact of the matter is that if I want to use higher fat cheese or things like that, I can.  For me, recipes are just a beginning guide to the recipe.  I love that I can change things up for my family and making things my own.  I learned to cook by using a Better Homes and Garden cookbook that was bought for me by a very special woman in my life.  Wynema was my oldest son's great grandmother.  She truly understood my concern about going into a relationship and then marriage (as I was engaged to her grandson at the time) and not knowing how to cook.  When I first started, I felt that the recipes needed to be followed exactly.  One big thing that I learned from that time in my life is that I really enjoy baking.  Thanks to her investment in me, I discovered a joy and love for baking.  I really hope that I can pass that on to my children.