Day One

I've always enjoyed cooking. I admit I also enjoy starting crazy projects, like making our own soap. Our soap is really better than store-bought versions, by the way. I've had an idea percolating in the back of my head to write a cookbook. It's hard to enjoy cooking so much and try to eat a variety of delicious, healthy meals. There are so many delicious recipes that are not "Weight Watcher friendly", as we say in our house.

I lost fifty pounds before having this baby who's laying against my chest right now. It took eighteen months to lose that weight. Now I am thirty pounds away from my goal weight, a mere six pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight. Calling it a mere six pounds makes me feel better since I've been hovering there for about a month. Our son is two and a half months now.

So, here we are. I want to make healthy, delicious meals for my family without using too much onion, garlic, salt, or high-cholesterol ingredients. My husband's stomach doesn't tolerate too much onion or garlic. Besides, I think that adding a bunch of onion to a recipe is a cheap way to add volume and flavor. I'd rather add more other vegetables.

The Assignment: Write a delicious cookbook for people who want to eat a variety of healthy foods, cook with easy-to-find ingredients, using a minimal amount of salt, onions, fat, or cholesterol. By the way, the dishes need to be robust enough for a chef to pause during the cooking or just before serving to tend a baby. He's hungry a lot...