What's cookin'?

I love to cook. Never thought I would--the most intense cooking I used to do was to unwrap a frozen burrito and nuke it for a minute or two. But I got into the Pampered Chef scene (and trust me, it IS a 'scene') and I found out that cooking is a lot of fun! Perhaps it's my love of eating that feeds (get it? 'feeds'?) that love. I don't know. I just know that creating something out of loose ingredients is cool. That said, I think it's funny that I make a lot of things that we, as a family, eat, from box-mixes. Y'know, Hamburger Helper, jambalaya, pancakes, mac 'n cheese, cakes & brownies, etc. It's not for lack of recipes, though, trust me! I absolutely LOVE gathering new recipes! At my family's "white elephant" gift exchange this Christmas, I got a box of paperback cookbooks--and I was THRILLED! I'm always searching on-line for new recipes. I buy way more cookbooks than I have space for, and I ask for more as gifts. (Hint: the one I really want but haven't found/received yet is "The Wise Guy Cookbook..." by Henry Hill.) The ironic thing about all that recipe collecting is that I rarely try any new recipes out. My kids are picky eaters, and when I make up my weekly menu, I'm usually in a hurry.... So I don't usually take the time to sort through recipes that look good to me ('good' meaning tasty, not too time consuming, not too many--or too strange--ingredients) AND look like food my girls will try. Let's face it, if it's not hot dogs, cheesy tortillas, or mac 'n cheese, there's a good chance they won't eat whatever it is! (Even if they've eaten it and liked it in the past!)