The Anti-Pioneer Woman...

I love the Pioneer Woman. She is truly awesome, her blog is awesome, and she makes some really awesome dishes. So when I say I am an anti pioneer women, I don't mean anti THE pioneer woman. I was just thinking the other day that you can find a recipe online to make anything you could dream of. That really makes us amateur cooks look like we have serious skills. When really the pre-blog, pre-pinterest chefs are the real Pioneer Women. Those are the people who had to come up with all the amazing recipes. They have to try and try and fail and try again to get all of the measurements right so that the rest of us can just google "peanut butter icing" and voila we have the perfect recipe for the perfect cupcake. I was making the afore mentioned peanut butter chocolate cupcakes a few weeks ago and it hit me that if I didn't have the internet I would have no idea how to make this icing. If I didn't have an amazing passed down recipe from my grandmother or a recipe given to me by a good friend I would just be out of luck. Hmm. I don't really think I have a point, just realizing the massive effects of the world wide web on every part of my life.

So last time I wrote, I spoke of my plan to change my outlook on food. I have been successful at this somedays and failed miserably on others but it is always in the back of my mind. I want very much to look at food as a means for survival but also look at it as a wonderful gift from God. These millions of recipes that I have access to by just the click of a mouse are examples of how we can take God's gifts and create something beautiful with them. A good friend who commented on my last post had it right when she said that we should "take our time with food because it and the experiences that surround it are a gift from God." That is a very delicious thought!!

And on that note, I would like to show off the beautiful Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcakes that I made for my niece Elzy's baby dedication. What a great way to thank God for beautiful babies and Christian families. Oh and I am also thankful for eggs, sugar, peanuts, cocoa and of course, butter!

I also made strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing which were even more delicious but I don't even have a picture of them because they were eaten almost immediately!

I should really round out this post with a few of the healthy options that I have recently made thanks to Pinterest. Does any one else have a irrational fear that one day Pinterest will disappear and with it all of the amazing things I have pinned? No? Yeah, me neither.

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese

I didn't like asparagus growing up. Perhaps because my mom didn't know it could be cooked like this. Poor mom, how did she survive with out Pinterest? To my surprise my kids are HUGE fans of asparagus. Couldn't get enough. Yum!

Oh and here is a nice light pasta salad that I found and love. Perfect for Summer. I am going to call it Pasta Primavera because it is very close to my favorite pasta salad by the same name at Whole Foods. Double yum.