Cooking and other excitements

I was so excited Wednesday because I made my first Chicken Stock from scratch...but that isn't the most exciting part. I found that in doing this, I recreated a smell from my childhood that reminded me of Fall at my mom's when she would make chicken stock for her marvelous chicken noodle soup. The smell is to die for. I was so extatic to find that I could recreate this smell myself for my house.

I have found that cooking has been the funnest way of keeping busy while I have been on sick leave. This new found want hobby of cooking new foods has also come from me being aware that I need to eat a more varied diet because of the pregnancy. In the past I have stayed to 5 or 6 dishes that Richard and I would have for dinner (spaghetti and sauce, chili, chicken stir fry, whatever we have bean soup, and whole chicken) but since I have been home to plan and needed to make lunch as well, I have found a few recipes that I have added to my repertoire. Here are a couple of things I have made:

Mediterranean Potato Salad using homemade Italian dressing
Pasta Salad using homemade Italian dressing
Curried Hummus

Home-made flat bread (just flour, water, and salt) to eat with:
Fajitas
Tacos

Pizza with homemade crust and sauce (just use the bread recipe)

And our most favourite, which I have decided to make my signature dish, a chicken, chickpea, tomato and pasta with a lemon and cumin sauce that started from a recipe in a cookbook that I have improved upon and made my own. I will include a recipe when I actually do the measurements for it.

I have continued to make bread and have even made some cookies:
Flour-less Peanut butter Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
My own Muesli breakfast cookies which I am still perfecting.

It has been allot of fun not to mention I have enjoyed eating it all. I am excited to get started on finding new recipes for my Thanksgiving dinner which I will probably host in October or early November since the baby is due at Thanksgiving.

So now onto the big news....

IT CAME...MY VISA CAME!! I don't know if I will be making it home though, but if I do it would probably be in late September. I am excited to say, however, that my mom is coming at the beginning of September. I am really looking forward to the visit.

The other exciting thing is I am getting my provisional driver's license. I am 1/4 of the way to getting the real deal. Now I just have to book a couple of lessons and take the tests. I decided it was stupid to not have a license. Driving here is so different to driving in the US though so I have to do the lessons and whatnot just to make sure I don't waste £100.