Wednesday, February 22, 2012
by Jennifer
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I am experiencing cabbage harvest happiness right now because I just picked my first cabbage and it is a beauty! I almost can’t believe that I grew it myself in my square foot garden. I posed my dog next to the cabbage in the picture to show size perspective, I think it is hilarious that a vegetable can be bigger than my dog.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
by Jennifer
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I posted this at my cooking site, www.jensnaturalcooking.com today and I feel like it is equally appropriate here so I am posting it here as well.
I just read a really interesting article in the New York Times about the concept of mindful eating. It is a very simple concept, the idea behind mindful eating (or mindful anything) is simply to slow down and completely focus on the food in front of you. How does it look? Enjoy the contrasts of colors and shapes. How does it smell? Try to pick out individual spice smells, then smell it as a whole. How does it taste? Eat each bite slowly and fully absorb the flavors and textures. Pause between bites to experience the complete process of each bite from when it enters your mouth to when you fully swallow the food. Think of eating this way as a meditation and a way of more deeply tuning in to the nutrients that you are putting into your body. Take a moment to be aware of how the food you are eating will nourish and energize your body so that you can do all of the other things in your life.
One of the benefits of eating this way is that is slows you down. As most of us know, it takes at least 20 minutes for the stomach to signal the brain that it is full. Most of us eat too quickly for the message to arrive so we end up eating everything on our plates or even second servings before we realize that we have over eaten. This leads to problems with digestion and to weight problems as well. The practice of mindful eating will slow your meal down quite a bit and will allow you time to realize when you are full but not stuffed.
It may be impractical to think that you could or would want to eat everything this way, but sometimes it is good to slow down and connect your mind to what is on your plate. I encourage you to read the article that I linked to in the first sentence and to try out mindfulness for yourself.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
by Jennifer
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My new vacuum sealer is great!
Because I cook three meals from scratch every day for a family of four, I rely on having really good kitchen equipment to make my life easier. I love finding great new kitchen gear at the store and unlike many wives I would be thrilled to receive a blender for my birthday, but, it better be a Vitamix or a Blend-Tec.
Although I love kitchen gear and equipment I don’t acquire it lightly, I am always conscious of my budget and the space limitations in my storage closet. I don’t buy an item unless I have thoroughly researched it and have satisfied myself that it can be of tangible help to me in the kitchen. I don’t want an automatic potato peeler that takes up a whole shelf, when a good quality handheld peeler fits in a corner of the utensil drawer and can do the same job plus peel anything else I choose.
One piece of kitchen equipment that I have had my eye on for a while now is a vacuum sealer. I like the idea of being able to securely store items in the freezer without the problems of freezer burn or funny tastes. There are some items that I buy in bulk when the price is right, and proper freezer storage protects the investment I have made in the purchase. I also like to cook double batches of certain dishes that freeze well so that I can have quick meals on hand for those busy nights when the lure of takeout food can be very tempting. There are also items that make more sense to cook in large batches and then freeze in recipe sized portions such as cookie dough, pie crusts, and beans, which taste infinitely better when home cooked than out of a can.
Once I compared prices and reviews on the various models of vacuum sealers, I made a choice and then let it slip to my husband that it would make a very good Christmas present. Dependable as clockwork, I found the FoodSaver V2244 Vacuum Sealer
Click on picture to play video
Although quite loud, the vacuuming cycle is quick and surprisingly powerful. It is obvious from the way the bag collapses in on itself around the food item that virtually every bit of air is being pulled out before the heat sealing cycle quietly and quickly finishes the process. The heat seal function can also be used separately to re-seal cereal or chip type bags in order to help keep the contents as fresh as possible.
So far, the vacuum sealer is proving itself to be worthy of shelf space in my kitchen although I have chosen to keep out on the counter because I find myself using it more than I even hoped. It may just be the novelty of packing food items so securely that they seem Space Shuttle ready, but I suspect that this device is going to be a solid kitchen performer for years to come.
This post is participating in the Patchwork Living Blogging Bee #17.
Monday, January 9, 2012
by Jennifer
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I am finally posting a new menu after my long break! It isn’t that we haven’t been eating, its just that I get wrapped up in the holidays like everyone else and I don’t have time for everything I want to do, which translates to lots of socializing and not lots of blog posts. I had a great time during my time off and I am so grateful that my work schedule coincides with the kids’ school schedule so that I can really slow down and enjoy my time with them on these breaks.
I am not including breakfast and lunches in this menu, just dinners. I went to the store without a planned menu and just bought what was on sale and/or looked extra fresh and delicious. I ended up with 2 pounds of beautiful small red potatoes, 1 lb of fresh and local Key West Pink Shrimp, 1 lb of organic Quinoa (& 1 lb of organic Farro because it was buy 1 get 1 free with the Quinoa), 1 package of organic smoked chorizo, 18 cage free organic eggs, 5 enormous turkey legs (on sale for 99 cents per lb) and 2 turkey wings (same 99 cent sale). I also bought staple items like milk, cheese, fruit, lunchbox snacks and flour. I didn’t buy any veggies besides the potatoes or greens because my garden is generously supplying us with a homegrown bounty at the moment.
Sometimes I shop this way because I am stumped for dinner ideas and I need the visual stimuli at the grocery store to inspire me. Sometimes I shop this way for the challenge of trying to make meals on the fly with what I know I have in the pantry at home, what is growing in the garden and what I see at the store, while staying within my self imposed budget of $125 per week for all three meals. This week it was a little of both.
| Dinner | |
|---|---|
| Monday | Tortilla Espanola Garden Salad Fresh Sourdough Bread |
| Tuesday | Turkey Noodle Soup Cornbread |
| Wednesday | Black Beans & Rice Tostones Avocado Salad |
| Thursday | Crispy Red Lentil Balls Quinoa/Veggie salad Homemade tomato soup |
| Friday | Garlic Shrimp Parsley Potatoes Garlic Bread Green Salad |
| Saturday | Homemade pizza night |
| Sunday | Tea & Toast |
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
by Jennifer
4 Comments
Winter gardening in the sub tropics is a delight! Yesterday I harvested approx. 3 1/2 pounds of veggies from my garden and then immediately turned part of it into a delicious stir fry. Everything tasted so fresh and good that my green bean hating children were asking for seconds “and make sure to get some of those green sticks too. Those things are good, what are they?”
As yummy as the meal was, harvesting the veggies was even better! The carrots gave off a sweet perfume as they were pulled from the earth that was surprising and enchanting. My kids loved the hide and seek of searching for ripe green beans on the leafy bush, while I happily discovered beautiful balls of ruby red radishes pushing their shoulders up through the soil.
Tonight there is a freeze warning for my area so I am heading out to put sheets over all of my precious plants. Thankfully for us, temperatures are supposed to climb steadily after tonight so this is just one of maybe two times in a season that I have to create a tent city for the veggies!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
by Jennifer
2 Comments
Here is my menu for the week of Dec 12. I have been pretty busy with all of the holiday events for my kids’ school, holiday parties, work related holiday events and trying to keep up with all of the other stuff I do so my posts for the past few weeks have pretty much been only menus. I will get back to more content and articles when the holiday pace slows down again, but for now I am concentrating on enjoying all of the special events and traditions of the holidays. Even my weekly menus reflect the busyness of the season, most of the recipes are simple and relatively quick to make.
I am guessing that most people are in the same situation, all caught up in the bustle of the holiday season and I hope that you remember to actually enjoy your holiday events and traditions instead of getting lost in the pressure of pulling off a perfect Christmas. Perfection is cruel taskmaster and anyway the truly fun, funny and memorable occasions are usually the ones where something unexpected, weird or wacky happens! Continue Reading →
Monday, December 5, 2011
by Jennifer
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Here is my menu for the Week of Dec 5. I couldn’t get to my computer last night to post because one of my kids needed it to finish up a school project.
Like everyone, I am finding myself a little pressed for time right now because of all of the fun holiday events that are going on around me so I probably won’t get a chance to link up any of this week’s recipes until Wednesday at the soonest. The busyness of the season is reflected in my menu, most of the meals are super simple and don’t require extensive prep or cleanup. I scale back on the complexity of my menus when my life gets busy, otherwise I would find myself stressed and anxious from trying to prepare elaborate meals while meeting all of my other obligations and fun events. Continue Reading →
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
by Jennifer
4 Comments
This holiday season I feel compelled to speak up in defense of fruitcake. I know most people hear fruitcake and think of those awful, too sweet concoctions filled with tragically neon mystery fruit, but I wish the world would try a REAL fruitcake just once. When I was a kid I remember my Grandma making fruitcakes for the holidays and I loved how they tasted. She used lots of fruit, lots of super fresh nuts and plenty of liquor to make a dense, delicious cake that was the perfect accompaniment to the cups of coffee that she would serve us when my parents weren’t looking. Continue Reading →
Sunday, November 27, 2011
by Jennifer
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I hope everyone had a chance to spend some time with family and friends this past week. I really enjoyed taking a little break to count my blessings and to re-connect with my loved ones.
One thing I didn’t do was holiday shopping, I don’t like shopping that much to start with and the idea of fighting crowds of bargain hunters for those hard to find deals is very unappealing to me. So of course that leaves me in my usual predicament of wondering what on earth I am going to get for all the people on my list, it will probably turn out to be a mix of homemade and store bought items that I hope will make everyone happy. Continue Reading →
Thursday, November 17, 2011
by Jennifer
2 Comments
In my green daydreams I have a solar power system installed on my roof that provides my family with all of our electricity and a large cistern so that we can harvest and store rainwater to use in the house and the garden. In reality, I can’t afford to build a huge cistern or to install the solar panels – or can I?
My husband sent me this article link from Bloomberg about the expected future costs of using solar power. Basically the costs for solar power are moving steadily downward while costs for traditional energy continue to rise. At some point in the near future, solar power’s cost per watt will fall below traditional energy’s cost per watt, at that time it will make sense for homeowners to invest in solar panels.
I am very excited to hear this news as I have been particularly frustrated that I live in “the sunshine state” but can’t afford to harness the plentiful energy that shines down relentlessly on my home day in and day out. Now that solar energy seems to be less of a dream and more of an inevitability, I will revise my daydreams to include an electric car plugged into the house being charged by the solar panels on the roof!
What about you? Do you use solar power, wind power or any other type of alternative energy? I would love to hear about it, please feel free to comment below.
This post is participating in On My Mind.
