What’s For Dinner? And a Giveaway

As much as I love to cook, I’m pretty much a recipe-follower. This doesn’t always mean that I measure exactly and I do substitute now and then, but I don’t just start from scratch and make up a recipe. Then I met Courtney. Courtney is a busy mom of three young kids, a passionate locavore, and is one of those people who can open up your pantry and fridge and put together a four-course meal without breaking a sweat. She loves food, she knows food and she’s constantly finding creative, delicious and healthy ways to combine ingredients together for her family. “I love to cook,” says Courtney. “I grew up with a father who was and is an outstanding cook. I sat and watched him cook and many times got to act as his sous-chef as he prepared dinner – chopping, grating, stirring. Menial tasks but none the less it gave me a passion for cooking.”

About a year ago, Courtney started offering hands-on cooking classes in her home where she shared her shopping strategies, food prep tips, recipe ideas and menu plans for saving time and money and eating foods that are healthy and local. I was fortunate enough to attend a class and learned a number of ways to make my cooking simpler, easier and packed with local fruits and veggies. While you might not be able to attend one of her hands-on classes, you can follow along on her blog Whole Diligence which includes notes on all things Courtney is passionate about – family, faith, and food.  She posts seasonal recipes and shopping tips and always includes a round-up of her weekly menu every Sunday.

Recently she also added something that peaked my interest – for $3, she’ll send you a complete package of the recipes for her weekly menu. That’s right up my alley. I’ve been reading Courtney’s weekly menus for a while now and am always impressed with how simple, healthy, varied and packed full of veggies they are. “I love to share tricks of cooking delicious food in a realistic manner – keeping in mind the time and budget you have as a mom,” says Courtney.  And now her delicious recipes can be mine! All mine! (insert evil laugh here) (And all yours – see below for the giveaway!)

Some of my favorite food posts from Whole Diligence:

Lots of easy ideas for what to do with veggies (Courtney gets veggies from TWO different CSA, plus her own garden – that’s a lot of veggies to consume!)

A yummy stuffed jalapeno recipe (Do yourself a favor and double the recipe – they are that good.)

Homemade Granola Bars

GIVEAWAY! Courtney is offering one free week of menu recipes to three (3) lucky MWS readers. You can choose the weekly menu you like best! To enter, browse through Whole Diligence and leave a comment here with one of your favorite posts from the site. Earn an extra entry by subscribing to Whole Diligence (leave a separate comment here saying you did.) Three winners will be chosen at random. Entries must be received by 11:59pm on Friday, October 1st.