Okay, so I have to admit... I'm more of an "eater" than a "cooker". I enjoy a nicely done up, home-cooked meal... as long as I'm not the one forced to do the cooking. Don't get me wrong, I'll cook for my kids (who doesn't love a good ol' artery clogging corn dog, made with questionable parts), but when it comes to just me, I get all the ingredients I need in a beautifully packaged Lean Cuisine meal. Honestly, you'd be surprised at the variety they carry. Really!

Yesterday afternoon my darling hubby was tired and laying on the couch and the kids were being babysat by the television, so I thought I'd conjure a lovely family dinner. I went to allrecipes.com and found a wonderful "Chicken and Broccoli Braid" meal. Chicken and broccoli and cheese, plus other stuff, all piled inside a huge loaf of bread--a dieter's dream come true! Hey, it's got veggies in it, and lean chicken, so it's got to be good for you, right?!

It was heavenly to smell and more divine to taste! While I was prepping my ingredients and my house was slowly filling with the aroma of "mama's ol' fashioned home cookin'", my husband slowly got off the couch and came into the kitchen. And what to his wondering eyes did appear, but cheese and garlic and chicken and broccoli... and me, his lovely wife, with knife in one hand and onion in the other, hard at work. The poor guy was probably thinking, "this is the best smelling frozen casserole she's heated up in a long time." He actually said, "Wow! It smells amazing in here! I love the smell of a good home cooked meal!"

So with tears on my face (I'm convinced they're from the onion and not from my overwhelming joy that nothing was burning and all the ingredients were coming together without a hitch) I look at him through blurry eyes and say, "I'm glad you're excited for it"... all the while thinking, "keep your fingers crossed buddy, it isn't even in the oven yet."

But low and behold, there it was, 25 minutes later in all it's glory... beautifully golden brown and baked to perfection. I've included some photos more for my glory then for anyone else's approval. I'll go back to allrecipes.com tonight see what other brilliant contraptions I can conjure this evening. Maybe I'll reconsider the life of a chef... NOT!