Day 28 Big day...

 

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back. 

~William D. Tammeus

Son moves out=UHaul=Long day=Bare New Apartment=Golden Arches=Home is wherever family is!

Day 27 Nothing beats comfort food!

 

Some sensible person once remarked that you spend the whole of your life either in your bed or in your shoes. Having done the best you can by shoes and bed, devote all the time and resources at your disposal to the building up of a fine kitchen. It will be, as it should be, the most comforting and comfortable room in the house.~

Elizabeth David

Pot roast. Slow cooked for 8 hours in the crock pot. Noodles and carrots and potatoes and green beans and rolls...oh my. A feast for a crowd of men. I nibbled and enjoyed their joy. That's what it's all about anyway. I used a simple recipe adding carrots, quartered red potatoes and onions to the bottom of the pot. Layed chuck roast over. Then mixed two packets of brown gravy with one cup water. Poured over all. A sprig of fresh rosemary to satisfy my culinary sensibility. Comforting. Good. 

Day 26 Again with the pasta...

 

This is the best pasta in the world! I took advantage of some Lemon Pepper Fettuccini sent to me as a wonderful gift. You can order online. All natural and handcrafted. Located in Ohio, I have been a fan for years! Check out the website!

Rossi Pasta

 

Day 25 Pasta-bulous!

 

Life is a combination of magic and pasta.~
Federico Fellini 

This dinner wins no awards for healthy eating. And considering I added a basket of Il Fornaio Rosemary Rolls to the table, it can be called that old heart-attack-on-a-plate. It definitely can also be called delicious. Why this choice? This weekend, one of my sons will be moving to his own apartment. And that means losing my taste-tester and eater extraordinaire. My son runs in marathons...after he goes to the gym. He can eat whatever he wants! So for the next three days, I am trying to fill his plate in my best motherly way. And that means pasta tonight. Yummy small ravioli filled with butternut squash bathed in a cream-walnut sauce with a pinch of nutmeg. Fresh parmesan grated over the top. Maybe he won't move....

Day 24 Deli Day

He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart

~C.S. Lewis

Tonight I committed breakfast not only with my heart but with my order. I had a fabulous omelette from my favorite deli. Sandwiched in between work and errands, it was still a better choice from my perspective when cooking in wasn't in the realm of possible. Shout out to Brent's Deli! A Zagat top pick for 2010!

Brent's!

Day 23 Accompaniment: something added to complete or embellish or make perfect

 

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.~Mark Twain

Grilled chicken and this. Curried Rice Salad...warm. The perfect accompaniment. I kept the grilled chicken simple. Just a dusting of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. Perfect flavor. Grilled the breasts slowly and straight from the freezer. No time to defrost after work but ends up done to perfection. As an add, baked up frozen Il Fornaio dinner rolls. Fabulous. Out-of-the-bag perfection. Bake for 10 minutes. The rice recipe is in Robin Robertson's book Vegan Fire & Spice: 200 Sultry and Savory Global Recipes. So many good recipes in this book!

Get the book!

Day 22 Gobbled up dinner

 

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity ~Louis Pasteur
Tenacity is Mondays. When you have to get back on track. When you are fighting a cold. But I did it. I came home from work and moved right in to creating these fabulous Turkey Couscous Meatloaves. The recipe link is below. I baked the loaves for about 45 minutes instead of the recommended 30. Almost no need to crisp under the broiler. And I used a Granny Smith apple as I had one on hand. I doubled the recipe for a hungry group. Otherwise, I stayed true to the recipe. Moist. Delicious. And the Cranberry-Walnut-Apple Relish was more than a garnish...it really made the flavor burst! If you make the loaves, take the time to make the relish. Turkey Couscous Meatloaves Recipe

Day 21 Starve a cold, feed a fever?

Or is it the other way around? Either way, it's toast and Zicam for me tonight. I have my shopping list and plans for some interesting meals this week. So I better get better and quick! In the meantime, here is an interesting take on sous vide...

Really, Really Slow Food

Day 20 Conscious Carry Out

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.~ Aesop

I ate this in peace. Promise. No white squiggles on my cupcakes last night and no white wrapper on my burger tonight. Counter Burgers. The conscious choice for take out burgers. Divine.

Hormone and anitbiotic free; humanely raised and handled. 

http://www.thecounterburger.com/menu/ 

 

Day 19 Decadence for a Friday

 

Las cosas claras y el chocolate espeso." (Ideas should be clear and chocolate thick.) ~Spanish proverb 

Vanilla bean cupcakes virtually crushing under the weight of thick, rich chocolate frosting. Now THAT is a Friday night treat. Fresh and Easy has a great Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cupcake Mix which made these a breeze. Topped with my favorite easy Chocolate Frosting recipe...and indulgence is mine!

Chocolate Frosting

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

4 T. butter

2 t. vanilla

3-4 cups (1 lb. box almost) powdered sugar

1/4-1/3 cup whole milk

Melt chocolate and butter together in microwave. Add vanilla. Alternately add milk and powdered sugar, mixing well. Stir vigorously by hand. Add milk to desired consistency.

Day 18 Repurposing Food

 

When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take--choose the bolder.  ~ W.J. Slim

Where is the burger in the white wrapper? Not here! Instead of going for the bag and burger, I repurposed my ingredients for the Caprese sandwiches and reheated my sweet potato soup. Lovely!

Recipe: Flatbread sprinkled with nigella seeds

Recipe: Flatbread sprinkled with nigella seeds

Day 17 Kids n' Fried Rice

 

I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.~Dr. Haim Ginott

I am a preschool teacher. And today, once again, the children taught me. While making fried rice, they each became involved in the full process...

Day 16 Sweet Potato Soup and Caprese Sandwich

 

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.~Leonardo da Vinci

It's highly unlikely that da Vinci was thinking of soup and sandwich when he said that, but it applies here. After three days of dining out and celebrating holiday and vacation days, it was time to return to cooking...

Days 13, 14 & 15 A three day weekend and a holiday...

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright

Jack's Deli for Valentine's Day breakfast and a trip to 3rd Street on Monday and, yes thank you, Doughboys re-opened! Hallelujah! Each bite made the wait worthwhile!
http://www.doughboyscafe.com/

Day 12 Pizza Salad: The Organic Choice

It's Friday, gotta have pizza! But this time, all organic and all good!

PizzaSalad

Day 11 Vegetable Heaven

 

I don't like gourmet cooking or "this" cooking or "that" cooking. I like good cooking. 

~James Beard

My grandmother used to say "pretty is as pretty does". This dinner was pretty is as pretty does. It is beautiful to serve but behind the beauty is amazing taste...

Can't wait to try this wonder!

Recipe: Momofuku's Crack Pie - latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Day 10 Chili Part Deux

"Can implementing the three R's - reduce, recycle, reuse, save you money? If you only implemented the three R's in your kitchen, you would save money."
Catherine Pulsifer

This one is sheer yum! Today no temptations tried to lure me as I really was looking forward to this uber-easy and delish dish.  I remembered a recipe I found a while back in my Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer for a Chili Cornbread Casserole. Originally, I made it with TJ's Turkey Chili. But tonight, I had leftover Three Bean Chili Mole (see Day 7 for the recipe) and a plan...

Day 9 Tortellini Soup Redux

 

 Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.

To drive by Wendy's drive-thru tonight, I had to grip the steering wheel with a vise grip. This is the night, I was sure, that I would cave in. Who would know? The rationale was flawless...

Day 8 Chili'n yesterday, Roast'n Today

 

Art must take reality by surprise.

Francoise Sagan

So not long before the holidays, I was watching some guilty pleasure TV...you know, the 'reality' show about that great chef Kendra? OK, it wasn't a show about cooking nor is she, by her own admission, able to cook (she is actually the former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner). But to prove to me that great ideas come when and from where you least expect them, there it was...

Day 7 Chili'n on Super Bowl Sunday

“Who among us hasn't envied a cat's ability to ignore the cares of daily life and to relax completely?”
~Karen Brademeyer

 

Super Bowls and family traditions and...

Day 6 Soupy Saturday

"Let the rain kiss you.  Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
  ~Langston Hughes

Lots of rain in the west and snow in the east! It is a perfect Saturday for soup. Big bowls of steaming vegetables and tortellini! This one cooked in the crock pot so I enjoyed the wonderful aroma of simmering soup with a hint of garlic. I paired the soup with simple bagel chips. Topped it with bits of fresh basil and sprinkled fresh grated Parmsan cheese over the top. Oh, yum. Highly recommend this recipe! And climbing under the covers and listening to the rain.

Gold Standard Food & Wine Event

Gold Standard Food & Wine Event

Funny Food for Friday

It's not nice to neglect your spice...

YouTube - Live at the Apollo - MICHAEL McINTYRE - HERBS & SPICES

Day 5 Good Morning, Sunshine: The Haute 5 Breakfast Spots in Los Angeles

No cooking for me tonight. I'm off for a glittery Hollywood night. A movie opening and late night noshing afterward. I'll be home in the wee hours of the morning and hope for a late Saturday morning sleep in. Saturday morning brunch, here I come!

Good Morning, Sunshine: The Haute 5 Breakfast Spots in Los Angeles

Day 4 Forge on...

 

"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still." 

~Franklin D. Roosevelt  

So today would have been a day when I typically would vote for something fast and easy. Specifically, so fast and easy that it is obtained from a drive-through! I thought about it, but...

Day 3 Surprise, surprise,surprise...

A thing seriously pursued affords true enjoyment.
Seneca

Yay! Day 3...and it held three surprises...

Day 2 Digging in

 

 "There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting. "

First days can sometimes be the hardest, right? So easy to come up with an excuse, any ol' one will do...

Day 1 An introduction and an explanation...

 

To wish to be well is a part of becoming well...

I am a woman in her 50's (well into, actually) who lost her way along the path to good eating. I've raised a family, participated in pot lucks, read and used all the basic cookbooks (my Joy of Cooking is stained and dog eared) and considered myself once a semi-gourmet.  Yes, I once turned the pages of Julia Child's cookbook long before that wonderful movie. My kitchen hummed and good things to smell and to eat came from it. Fresh breads and muffins, tart pies, bubbling casseroles and everything chocolate. Flash forward...I work, I grab, I stuff. The faster the food, the better. I not only lost my love of cooking, I began to loathe my kitchen. If a kitchen could gather dust, mine did. Eating became as empty as the foods I ate...filled with calories but no satisfaction. And so I ate more. And more. Too tired to diet. Too stressed to challenge myself. And, really, wondered what would be the point. Each day I got through was a success in any form. And then...