Cooking Challenge for a Chef's Wife

I grew up in a household that contained a stay-at-home mom and a brother that aspired to be a chef. This fact was both a blessing and curse. There was always a scrumptious meal waiting for me however the opportunity to have "kitchen time" was limited. Fast forward to my college years where you will see many simple pasta dishes created and even a gingered lamb chop dinner attempted. Then on a blessed day I meet my future husband who also had aspirations to become a chef. Immediately, he began whipping up gourmet meals in my dorm room and I gladly handed him my apron in exchange for a fork. To say my cooking skills never manifested is quite accurate.

As a chef my husband specializes in Italian and other European genres of cooking which unfortunately does not know the meaning of low or fat-free (or at least his recipes don't). This poses a problem since I am competing in a pageant in a little over 6 months so I have to take things in my own hands.

I am Jamaican by birth so you will often times smell the aromas of curry powder, scotch bonnet peppers or ginger wafting around in my kitchen or be served a plate of steam fish with rice and peas and cabbage however my goal is to create it myself without the help of my mother, husband, sister, brother (or host of others.) Additionally, I am going to create "clean meals" out of my children's favorites normally prepared by my husband.

This is going to be an adventure for me...I am guaranteed to lose weight because Jamaican food is naturally low in fat and depending on how it comes out I might be eating smaller portions :)