I'm just a mom who needs to make dinner.

I don't like to cook and I always feel like I should apologize for it and I don't know why.  Some people don't like to drive.  Some people don't like to read.  Some people don't like to cook.  I do like to drive and read, but I've never been a fan of cooking.  I feels like a chore and perhaps that's because it really was a chore for me back in high school.  I used to have to start dinner before my mom arrived home from work.  She commuted in and out of Boston and we all know how that goes.  If we wanted to eat at a decent time, someone had to start dinner.

After I stopped working, I vowed to cook more meals for two simple reasons.  It saves money and it's healthier.  Summer is atypical for us, but a typical week during the school year looks like this:

• I cook four-five nights a week. 
• One night a week, we go out or order take-out.
• Friday night is usually pizza night.  (Sometimes Rich makes pizza instead of take-out or frozen.)

Here are a whole bunch of recent dinners.  Keep in mind I'm not a cookbook author, nor am I a food blogger.  I'm just a mom who needs to make dinner.  These are quick photos taken with my phone because no one has time for plating and making it look pretty.  (Real deal - these are terrible photos.)

Panko-crusted chicken, mashed potatoes, baked zucchini, and tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.  That is Allie's plate.  Mine looked similar except I had more of the salad.

Lasagna with caesar salad and garlic bread.  To make spinach lasagna, I cook down a bag of baby spinach (simply saute it) and then mix it together with the ricotta cheese before layering the lasagna.  If I have a tomato available, I like to slice it up and add it to the top of the lasagna before I pop it in the oven.

Stuffed shells.  Again, with the tomato.  I love the taste of baked tomato so I add it to the top of pasta dishes when I can.  Also, these shells are vegetarian, no meat.

The same stuffed shells above, served with caesar salad and garlic bread.

Chicken, broccoli, ziti. Super tasty but takes me over an hour to make.

Mexican casserole.  This was from a recipe I came across in a magazine and it wasn't so good.  I've made a better one in the past, but unfortunately, don't know what I did with the good recipe.  That homemade guacamole was perfect though.

Tomato, mozzarella and basil frittata with skillet potatoes.

This was a bit of "let's eat what's in the house."  I had some leftover homemade cacciatore sauce (red peppers, tomatoes and garlic) in the freezer so I heated that up for those who like it.  I also had a pan of regular tomato sauce (not homemade.)  This is my plate.  On top of the cacciatore sauce are sliced tomatoes and parmesan cheese.  Also, sauteed asparagus.  The kids would never eat that much asparagus!

Sauteed chicken (I know it looks super boring), baked zucchini and cheesy rice.

Greek pasta salad.  The base, which you can't see, is cheese tortellini.  Add in kalamata olives, artichokes, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese and Greek dressing.

Chicken fajitas (my favorite!) with mexi-beans.

Blueberry (I also made plain and chocolate chip) pancakes, scrambled eggs and home fries.  And yes, I took too many potatoes.