Linked | {in the} Quiet {time}

This afternoon I stepped away from my computer and work to take a break and make some lunch.

I remembered the brussel sprouts waiting for me in the fridge, so I turned on the oven and pulled out a cutting board to prepare them for roasting.

That’s when I became inspired to photograph them.

As I took in the kitchen preparing and photographing those little green brussel sprouts, I realized something –

It was quiet. I mean REALLY quiet.

I had been so busy creating that I wasn’t even cognizant of it at first.  But it struck me as I stood in the warm sunlight of the kitchen; my home was empty and quiet. I breathed in the contentment of that moment. 

Sometimes I forget just how powerful and healing the quiet can be. When there is no TV, no music, no family members talking and most of all – no noise in my head of what needs to get done, where I should be, what is next, who needs to be where. Just   QUIET.

I prepared the brussel sprouts for the oven by marinating them in a couple table spoons of olive oil, some Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. 

They roast in the over at 400 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.  It’s ironic, I've gone from swearing I would never eat brussel sprouts – ever again, to loving the smell of them roasting in the oven. 

They end up dark and crunchy outside, flavored by the salt and pepper and soft on the inside with a more mild taste when roasted long enough.

Within the hour I was back to work, the noise in my head turned  back up  to full, albeit I longed for more of those yummy little balls of crunchy green. I’m telling you, it’s a serious new love affair! I actually make a conscious choice to BUY brussel sprouts!

Brussel Sprouts?
Seriously, I’m not in my right mind.
But I just want MORE!

 

 

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linked | breakfast

When I think of breakfast I think, “The Most Important Meal of the Day”. I’ve spent most of my life eating cereal – hot and cold.  The older I get the less of a morning person I become.  The more tired I am, the less chance  I have at making a good bowl of hot oatmeal until I’ve had my first cup of coffee and awoken a bit more.  Heck,  just the other morning, in my tired state, I poured orange juice over Harrison’s cereal.

Now if I’m starving when I first wake up I can always manage a bowl of cold cereal (as long as there is no orange juice near by).  But I love breakfast and I always eat more later… when my body is awake.

Some mornings when I’m really lucky, the G.I.D. will make us eggs (once he’s first-cup-of-coffee awake). Let me tell you, he makes Awesome eggs.

Still, I tend to romantically wish every morning started out relaxed and tranquil, sitting at the table bathed in soft sunlight, drinking tea and eating homemade toast with fresh strawberry jam.  Then I realize where that sweet dream comes from. Mornings at my grandparent’s house during childhood. Precious memories that I want to recreate with my own child.

And for a long time I really tried to make Harrison well-round breakfasts. Then Grade School happened.  The rush to get ready, to get him breakfast, dressed, shoes on, teeth and hair brushed, lunch made and out the door for school.   He eats his fair share of cereal.

After all that, I quickly grab my coffee mug (which has been lovingly filled by the Guy-I-Dig with coffee he set to brew that night before). The one I use EVERY day, day-in, day-out.  It’s not a cool photographic retro mug or a colorful, fun mug that doubles as a food photography model.

Oh no…
it’s an old travel mug that I am literally lost without. I mean go-through-withdraws lost without. Like OCD lost without.

Lovely, isn’t it.

Luckily, we have a backup copy.

Oh wait, I LOST that one.

 

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“They had me at Fresh” Part II

I finally came clean about my passive relationship with the kitchen and how that all changed back in September. 

Looking back, here’s a few things I discovered after only one month of pre-planned meals:

• I REALLY am a messy cook .
• My fridge is  chuck-full of fresh, unspoiled vegetables, herbs and fruits for the first time in… EVER.
• Electric burners really do have more than two settings {HIGH and LOW}.
  Who knew cooking over MEDIUM  heat would do wonders in saving my food AND pans.
• I can make food fly.
• I can still burn a decent sauce even over medium heat .
• I can MAKE a decent sauce.
• That REALLY BIG knife in the block {that I rarely used} is NOT just for psychopaths in horror flicks – it’s FREAKIN’ AWESOME!
• I ♥ kitchen gadgets
• Fennel!
• For the first time in my life, I have made dressings, lasagna, chicken dumpling soup, beef stew and alfredo sauce - from scratch.
• COOKING FROM SCRATCH – GET OUT!
• I still don’t like brussel sprouts, period.
• On any given evening my kitchen is an even balance of Ratatouille
  

  tasting fireworks
• and Julie & Julie
  
• I want NEED more BIG, sharp knives! Bwahaha!!
• How have I lived without a salad spinner this long? 
• Apparently three sets of measuring spoons are not enough for me. 
• blanching – who knew?! I love fresh meat and fish wrapped in brown paper
  
• I have  never chopped so many onions in all my life.
• I make soup from scratch!
• Okay, maybe I like brussel sprouts – a little bit –  roasted in the oven with Sea Salt and Olive Oil.
  I know I like how they come on a stalk...
  
• And Above All – I REALLY need an apron before I ruin all my clothes!! (told ya I was messy)

 

Seriously though, we are eating better, fresher less processed foods and Harrison tries everything put in front of him.

That’s what really counts in the end.

They had me at “Fresh”

On our wedding day, I had promised the Guy-I-Dig that I would learn to cook – it was written down on the little index card that was clutched tightly in my joyfully, nervous hand – my vows {in addition to  traditional vows} that I read to him like a laundry list: I promise to always cheer for Florida State, I promise to laugh at all your jokes, I promise to learn to cook for you...
At that moment I think I heard a chuckle rise in unison from those sitting in the church who knew me too well, as if saying , “yeah, like that will ever happen”.

But let me clarify, I really did KNOW how to cook.

For the most part.

My mother was a great cook and had taught me a thing or two in the kitchen,  my brother is also a self-trained chef and I picked up some tips from him along the way.  And I love cooking.

Until I HATE it.

So skip ahead a decade from that day to four weeks ago today.  I came home from a long day at the office - tired, with no plan for dinner, no back-up… and NOTHING in the freezer to fall back on in a pinch.  An all too-common phenomenon in recent months.

I was in a bad way. 

I served up a nice heaping on the self-loathing, guilt and shame for myself; but that doesn’t feed the  family.  Although a quick trip to Del Taco by the hubby did.  {But let’s NOT go there.}

You see, I  STINK at meal planning…  and forget it if I don’t have a recipe in front of me for anything other then spaghetti!  I’m a rules girl – give me EXACT measurements, please!

So as I sat down and got online that Friday evening, over-stuffed from Del Taco burritos  - I stumbled onto a blog, that led me to another blog that led me to a website that moved me to a different website and that’s when I discovered it…  The Fresh 20. [insert angels singing here]


I really wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said the Fresh 20 saved my life! (Okay maybe just a little… but not much.)
I had checked out other meal planning services in the past, but they just didn’t capture me. I either didn’t want to pay the large  fee or I didn’t like the how the planning was laid out.  Then I would forget about the whole idea of pre-planning meals for the week and continue my fantasy of winning the lottery and paying a person to cook dinner every night.

But let me tell you when I got to this website, they had me at Fresh. It’s a clean, inviting website with pictures of beautiful food in the home page. [I LOVE pictures of beautiful food!] They offer Classic plans, Gluten Free and Vegetarian Meal plans. I love the convenience of the shopping list that breaks down the items by what day they are used and an estimated price. The menu page includes a prep guide that can be done ahead of time and then the recipes for 5 days.  All this for a great LOW price! Best of all, REAL ingredients, REAL food, no short cuts.

I had been CRAVING, I mean CRAVING!,  more vegetables in our {my} diet. We had become so sloppy in recent months with our eating – not UN-healthy,  just not healthy enough.  And with the exception of an occasional roasted asparagus, vegetables had been reduced frozen green beans or corn. 

We have moved into our fourth week of planned dinners, the Guy-I-Dig darts into the kitchen excitedly asking, “what’s for dinner tonight!?” Harrison has tasted everything, complained less and eaten more plus I have been completely stressed-free in the kitchen, even enjoying the process of  shopping for and preparing my fresh ingredients for dinner.

In fact,
I think I LOVE cooking!{again}




























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