A new hobby I never thought I'd have..

Left: Home made pizza, base included.
Right: Sugar and Dairy free Caramel Slice.

 I have found a new passion over the last 12 months, cooking. Both dinner/lunch meals and baking sweets, I can't decide which I like more to be honest. It all started with cooking for the wedding. The week leading up to the wedding I cooked and prepared; sausage rolls, party pies, quiches, brucsetta, ginger bread, salads, potatoe bake, pasta bake, fairy bread, sandwiches and lastly, our wedding "cake", a tower of Lamingtons - enough for 150 people. It was hard work, to say the least and I am not in any hurry at all to go and start my own cooking business of some sort (nor am I good enough for that!). However, it did spark a desire to cook from scratch, where time and money permits. Benn fell in love with the sausage rolls at the wedding and I have been making up a huge batch each month for his morning tea at work. I bake cupcakes or muffins every weekend to last the week and often search for new things to try. 

Lately, I have become more aware of what I put into my body and how it was made. I'm not obsessive however, trust me, I have my fair share of chocolate and naughty take-away. But through the week I try to cook from scratch at home, using less "jar sauces" and frozen veggies etc - it ends up saving us money too (which is always a win)!

I have made a new pledge to myself to try 1-2 new recipes each month. Which I will post here to inform you guys of the good/bad and how I may have altered it. I have to admit.. I also have a habit of being a bit "creative" with my cooking. I think I inherited my Mother's "what's in the fridge..." when it comes to dinners and tend to mix things up from the generic recpie. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.. But that's what the three furr babies are for, and man do they love those failed creations! 

You can check out my first creation, Pumpkin Pasta, here.

I am excitedly anticipating the day we finally own our own home and I can have my ultimate dream kitchen!