Recipe Selection

So out of the masses of recipes, how do I choose recipes? Especially if there are 15 recipes for mashed potatoes? I have two general rules for choosing recipes when I'm trying to keep things simple
1- If I don't recognize one of the ingredients, I don't pick that recipe. I'm not spending hours running to specialty grocery stores looking for one random ingredient that I will use for this one recipe and then never use again
2- I like a small list of ingredients. I don't count salt and pepper and other seasonings or common pantry items, but if I can make the chicken recipe that calls for me to buy 5 ingredients instead of the recipe that calls for 13 ingredients, I'll pick the shorter recipe. Not only does it save me money at the grocery store, it saves me time in preparing the meal
It's also super helpful to read the recipe all the way through first. If it calls to marinate overnight, or requires some special cooking tool or pan that you don't have, it's good to note these things.

Finding Recipes

Cookbooks are not my best friend!
Sure I love to look through them, turning the pages and seeing the pictures (when I do buy cookbooks, I always try to get ones that have lots of pictures. I've tried several recipes that don't sound appetizing by their title, but the picture looks so good!)
But when I am looking for 4-5 dinner recipes, who has time to sit down with 5 cookbooks and flip the pages?
Hello internet...
There are several websites that I visit when looking for recipes. A lot of websites have recipe boxes where you can save your favorite recipes. I have a job where sometimes I can browse the internet while working, so I've been lucky to be able to do some recipe browsing during the day. Whenever I am watching the Food Network and see a recipe that looks yummy, I run to the computer and look it up so I can save it in my recipe box. I try to pay special attention to Rachel Ray (30 min meals), Robin Miller (her show is based on meal planning), and Paula Deen (just plain yummy). I haven't had much luck with Ellie Krieger. She's uber healthy, and I just don't break out the granola and quinoa as much as she does.
So, my favorite websites are:
foodnetwork.com - Quality food and a good selection. You can search for something as grand as your next Thanksgiving meal and as simple as mashed potatoes. They feature some recipes on the main page, and I always like to look there.
pillsbury.com - Good for desserts and appetizers, but it has some main dishes too. The catch here is the recipes are designed to make you buy their products
kraftfoods.com - Same catch as Pillsbury: the recipes are designed to make you buy their products. This is a good place for semi-homemade meals. They don't taste as good as some meals made from scratch, but they are quick and easy
eatingwell.com - Healthy recipes that taste good!
allrecipes.com - This is my fallback website. If I can't find it anywhere else, I can find it here. You have to sort through a lot of junk to find a recipe you really like, so I don't come here unless I'm looking for something specific.
And besides, where do you store all those cookbooks anyways? I'm running out of room...

A new direction for this blog

So the reason why I struggle with a blog so much is I don't know what to write. I don't have many interesting things to say, and a diary of my daily activities seems very boring to me.
But I was thinking as I was cooking dinner last night about all the little tips and tricks that I've adopted over the past 5 months since I've been married. When you are single, you can get away with eating a bag of popcorn for dinner (I did it once and swore I'd never do it again). Now that I'm cooking for someone else, I've encountered the problem of cooking healthy and tasty meals on a budget. I'd like to share what I've discovered and I'd like to hear from you about your tips and shortcuts.
I love to cook, or at least I thought I did before I got married. When I cooked as a single person, I picked random things I'd like to try, and cooking was a major production, using lots of ingredients and taking lots of time, but I always just wanted to see what I could do. Could I actually be able to make baklava (the answer is yes)? Can I make my own whipped cream (failed!)? Can I cook a whole ham (I will find that out soon)?
But now that I'm married, dinner has become more of a chore. I have to cook almost every night, and I can't spend 3 hours a night cooking. So I've had to learn to make dinners that don't take as long to prepare and cook. I'm not as willing to sacrifice the taste aspect as my husband is (he'd be happy with spaghetti, but I want the homemade sauce). So where's the balance?
I've taken lots of suggestions from family and friends and watched a lot of Food Network. And this blog will tell you what I've learned.