I already know that cooking, movement and the seasons will play major roles in my story of 2014. The theme for this year's posts will be acquainting you with the theories behind why I make what I do. This may encompass things I learn about myself, books I've read and that resonate with me, podcasts I've heard that inspire and/or educate me, and other blogs and articles I read on the interwebs. But more than that, it will help you see the tapestry I weave with my health choices, from food, to exercise, to education to relationship development, etc. I want to share as much as I can with you, while still maintaining my friends' and family members' relative anonymity. So, forgive me if I'm vague on occasion, but know that the lessons I'm learning are the point, not the who/what/when/where of the matter.
My camera will attempt to keep up, because blog posts can get a little dry when there's nothing pretty to look at and punctuate the theme. My photos do not do the subjects I photograph justice, as the world is too vibrant for me to capture behind the lens. I prefer to be in front, or at least on the sidelines, making things happen, being a part of the action, or taking it in with all my senses. My eyesight is possibly my weakest sense, even with lasik surgery, although my hearing is starting to go, from years of playing live music, and likely some family history of degenerative hearing. But I digress...
So, for this, my first week of writing, I'll just dive in and share with you what's happening in my kitchen this week. Some stuff I post may be confusing, but my goal is to clarify in upcoming posts.
Today is Wednesday, February 5th. It's blisteringly cold outside (for this town, anyway) but the sun is shining like it's spring. We are prone to strong winds here, and they are making themselves known as well. I hate the wind, and being cold realllly does a number on me, so this is not my favourite time of year. However, my days go infinitely better if I can get a walk in first thing in the morning. So, thanks to my dear friend for knocking on my door this morning to encourage me to come out walking on the ol' trail with her.
Upon my return, I launched right back into this week's cooking projects. On the docket are recipes highlighting as many foods on my Phase One list as possible (See Alissa Vitti's book, WomanCode). Some of the foods listed in her book are not a part of my food plan, so I have a more specific list I keep on my fridge as reference, and also so my husband can see what phase I am in, and understand where I am at emotionally as well (although I don't know how much he uses this).
When I get into this cooking mode, I try to make at least double or triple batches of everything. That way there's some backup for when I'm not in the mood to cook (I believe I've written about this concept before). I whipped up a batch of breakfast bites for my boys (that'd be my husband and my 21 year old son who is staying with us while he goes to school full time). I was recently diagnosed with an egg allergy, so these were sadly not for me.
Avocados are on my phase one list, as are limes, so I made a simple guacamole this morning. Included were the following:
Two avocados
1/2 c. cheap and chunky salsa
1/4 c. minced fresh onion
Juice of 1 lime
1 t. minced garlic (1 or 2 cloves)
1 t. jalapeno hot sauce (I don't really like my guac very spicy)
pinch of salt
dash of cumin
I slather this on just about anything, but it also is great as a dip for celery and carrots.
I also made a lovely barley and green lentil stew using this recipe from Food.com as a template: (click here) As always, I use what I have on hand, and err towards more simple flavours, as I tend to mix my recipes together later in the week (as you may see coming up). I used water because I was out of my usual bouillon recipe from one of my stand-by cookbooks that focuses on seasonal cooking.
Lastly, I made two chicken items: one was just 6 chicken breasts, brined in white balsamic vinegar and salt and then oven roasted with butter, fresh parsley, herbamare and smoked paprika. cooked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes was perfect, as they were pretty thin pieces of meat.
The other chicken was made in the crockpot. The ingredient list is as follows (here's where I totally failed to take pictures!):
1 whole chicken fryer, cut up, skin removed
2 carrots cut in rounds about 1/2" thick
1 onion, sliced in 1/2" rounds and quartered
2 slices of celery
1/4 c. fresh parsley
2 c. white wine
filled to the brim with water
herbamare and pepper
I let that stew on low for about 10 hours, then on high for 2, then on low again for another 10-12 hrs. I just kept on going until the bones would disintegrate in my fingers. I then strained the broth from the big chunks. Once the chunks of meat and veg were cool enough to touch but still warm, I started the process of picking over the chunks. I pulverized the veggies, meat and bones, removing any chunks of bone that were not able to be pulverized between my fingers as well as onion and celery chunks that were too stringy to squish. I then added these chunks to the broth and stored in my 1/2 gallon jar in the fridge. I can use this to just boil veggies in for soup, I can mix it with the lentils and barley for another kind of soup, or drink it plain in the evening as a nourishing evening tonic before bed.
I suppose I could have put it all in the food processor, but when you're crushing bones, you really don't want those big chunks in there at all, so I find them better by literally kneading it between my own two hands.
I took breaks throughout the day to do clubbell yoga, do some housekeeping, take a shower, and do some bookkeeping. I'll be making cookies
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