Food is my love language
Hash browns, pan roasted heirloom tomatoes, over medium eggs with smoked salmon and dill, pancakes, and – last but not least – Bloody Mary. Then football and a long run later. It’s days like today that I’m glad I know how to cook because we are able to enjoy a great meal while still in our pajamas, no makeup, no shoes, no lines, and no snooty severs. Just good food and even better company.
Happy Sunday!
A perfect light lunch after my grocery shopping today. Everything you see here is from Trader Joe’s. no, they don’t pay me to say that although I wish they would.
Here’s what it took:
Sourdough bread slices
Sliced goat milk Brie
Sliced pear
Drizzle of olive oil
Broil for few minutes
Then drizzle honey
And a few grinds of black pepper
Check out this really great article and recipe ideas that use zucchini.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/08/magazine/bittman-zucchini-recipes.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=MG_ZA_20130904&_r=0
Zucchini is super cheap right now and can be used in so many different ways. My personal faves are grilled (simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil), as fries (especially from Zinburger – yum!), and grated and turned into pancakes. I have yet to use them as noodles but it is on my list of things to try out. How do people get them all curly and noodle-y? I’ll figure it out. Probably some cool kitchen tool is all I need.
Using chopsticks helps me eat my food slower because I am forced to take teeny tiny bites!
1617 RIP Prospero Alpini, An Italian physician and botanist; said to have introduced coffee and bananas to Europe.
1685 RIP Charles II, king…
View original post 62 more words
Ok, it’s day 2 of the new year and I’m starting out on a good note. It was a vegan dinner tonight made with a no-recipe recipe because they were almost all leftovers! Yes! On the right side of my plate, I have leftover couscous from the lunch I made on Saturday (see previous post). After I stuffed those acorn squash, I had a bunch leftover and I couldn’t let it go to waste. In the middle are some lovely green beans that I bought at Sprouts yesterday. I steamed them in the microwave (about 5 minutes) then melted some Earth Balance over the top and added salt and pepper. Then, on the left, are leftover Brussels sprouts and potatoes from our New Years Eve dinner at Union Public House. It was hearty and satisfying and delicious and I am feeling good about myself right now! After eating these Brussels sprouts tonight, it reminded me how much I absolutely love them. I am going to have to get some to make more this week.
YES!!!
1763 John Molson was born. Founder of Molson Brewery, Montreal, Canada.
1869 William Finley Semple patented the first chewing gum, although he never commercially manufactured any gum.
1886 Josephine Garis Cochran patented the first commercially successful dish washing machine. It became a huge hit at the 1893…
View original post 30 more words
Like mother like son. My son, Manny, loves to cook. Today he made his famous hash browns for an afternoon snack. He used three large russet potatoes, bell peppers, hatch chile, garlic, green onions,white onions and cilantro. We cooked them first with the top on the skillet and then the last few minutes with the top off to let them crisp up. I enjoyed mine with a Blue Moon and it was awesome.
Does this mean I should be cooking and blogging for the rest of my life? Sounds good to me!
I work at an outpatient clinic for seriously mentally ill adults (SMI) and today was our annual Thanksgiving lunch for our clients. On this day more than any other day, I felt proud to be a part of this organization. Today was yet another example of how to show people love with food.
There were about 15 turkeys cooked, about 10 trays of stuffing, crock pots full of mashed potatoes, green beans, ham, gravy, bread, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Everything was donated and prepared by staff such as myself. It was a group effort, totally organized, and a huge success! About 100 of our clients and their family members were in attendance.
For some, today was the only Thanksgiving they were going to have. Some people have no family to spend the holiday with. Some people have a very limited income and food stamps making Thanksgiving dinner almost impossible. Others just came to get a free meal and socialize which is sometimes really difficult for people with Agoraphobia or Schizophrenia- Paranoid type. For some people who came, the food we provided may be the only meal they will have today.
When I hear some of my clients’ stories about the daily struggle with symptoms, medications, putting food on the table, of being homeless, of being abused, I have a whole new perspective on what I am grateful for. I am grateful for having life’s basic necessities at my fingertips – heat, electricity, clean running water, and a stable home. I am grateful for my car and the money I have to keep it gas in the tank. I am grateful to be able to go to the store whenever I want to buy food. I am grateful to have healthy relationships and a loving family. I am grateful that I am healthy. I am grateful for a job. I am grateful to have the opportunity to help people lead happier lives.
I have a lot to be grateful for and I only hope that my SMI clients know how much I care. Tomorrow is the big day and I plan on cherishing the time I am going to spend with my family that I am so grateful for.
I encourage everyone to take a moment to recognize something that you are grateful for. There is so much that we take for granted that lots of people just don’t have. These people may be all around you without you knowing it – at the grocery store, at the bank, at the movie theatre, or at the bus stop.
Smile, and give thanks.
I really enjoyed Jeanine’s tip to keep citrus and herbs readily available to freshen up any recipe. I get the bag of lemons at Trader Joes every time I go shopping. Citrus an herbs are a great way to add flavor without fat or calories. In my Mexican family, we squeeze lime on just about everything. I love a squeeze of lemon in my soups.
P.S. Love and Lemons is a really great blog if you haven’t checked it out already.
In honor of my current book tour visit to the Lone Star state, here is this key to the kitchen interview with Jeanine Donofrio of Love & Lemons.br/a href=”http://www.aidamollenkamp.com/2012/10/jeanine-donofrios-keys-to-the-kitchen/” class=”more-link”Continue Reading: emJeanine Donofrio’s Keys To The Kitchen/em →/a
The Love Language of Food 