I had some weird food stuff going on as a kid. I’ve already mentioned my early love of beets. Things really got weird with breakfast, though. I HATED eggs, toast, juice, pancakes, freezer waffles, and thought cereal was only kinda “meh”. As an 8 year old, what else was even left for breakfast options? Luckily I had a nice mom who probably figured something was better than nothing, so she let me eat dinner leftovers for breakfast. Every single morning. Because some microwaved chicken with mashed potatoes or spaghetti sound appetizing at 7 am. Served up, of course, with a hearty helping of older sister eye rolling, because why did her little sister have to be so weird! Apparently my 8 year old self thought this was all just fine. My poor mom! A few years later once I finally got tired of leftovers for breakfast, I had a banana with peanut butter every morning for a whole year, then Special K with Strawberries the next. (I’m shaking my head just typing this.)

Confession: I have a really hard time paying money for pizza. Not much pizza goin’ on on my must-eat-in-Austin list. This is definitely not because I don’t like pizza, or that I don’t believe there is good pizza to be had in Austin (try here or here!). It really boils down to the fact that I’m cheap (I like to think of it as budget-minded). I have a really hard time paying $20+ for something that I feel like I could do a pretty dang good job of myself. For way less money. And I don’t have to pay an extra $1 if I want to add a scant few slices of jalapeno. (This is Texas folks, those little fiery gems should always be included.)

While Nathan was in Mexico, I was super intrigued to hear what people in Mexico did to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. In my mind, it was going to be some HUGE party. I mean, if we in America celebrate this Mexican holiday, surely people actually in Mexico really party it up, right? Well, wrong. I was informed that the vast majority of Mexicans don’t do a thing for Cinco de Mayo. I thought it was the country’s independence day – turns out it isn’t. From what I’ve since gathered, the “holiday” is more about Americans drinking tequila and eating a bunch of Tex-Mex. A day to celebrate tacos? That is something I could definitely get behind 🙂

One of my main goals with From Her Kitchen is to give you ideas that are real. Real ideas that you actually want to make. For your real family. On a real weeknight that’s more than likely real-ly busy. I want to give you recipes that are customizable because picky eaters happen, whether they are in the form of tiny humans or adult-sized humans. I want to give you recipes that can easily be made vegetarian because that’s the number two question I get right behind, “What do you feed your family?” I want to give you recipes that don’t have any crazy ingredients because not everyone can buy mascarpone cheese, preserved lemons, or sumac.