Weekly Menu

Sunday: Veggie Lasagna & salad

Monday: ; Curry potato and veggie wraps

Tuesday: left-over lasagna & spinach salad

Wednesday: Tomato soup, grilled cheese

Thursday: Greek rice pilaf

Friday: left-over pilaf w/salad
Saturday: Potato kale soup, & arugula salad w/roasted beets & pumpkin vinaigrette

Weekly Menu

Sunday: Veggies left over from making stock w/egg noodles, steamed broccoli from the garden & fall salad

Monday: Spicy tomato soup

Tuesday: Swiss chard, mushroom, feta & dill fritatta & hummos & fresh veggies

Wednesday: Italian bean & squash soup, fresh bread & arugula salad

Thursday: left- over soup, small plates & arugula salad

Friday: Pizza & salad
Saturday: small plates, left over pizza & salad

Shit, I can't keep up!!

Okay so I am venting tonight as I sit here and look at just one of my "to do" lists and I am feeling completely overwhelemed. At this point all I can do is pour a glass of wine (which I did) and hope for the best for this semester and this year. I am loosing tracks of the days and my kids have to remind me and I feel like I am loosing a tad bit of my sanity. I am sure many know this feeling at some point in their lives, but mammas know it REAL well and mammas who are in school know EXACTLY where I am at right now. I need a day off just to regroup yet I feel guilty as hell if I take it because I can't afford to loose a day of work. I keep hearing from others, "Don't worry, it all gets done." Yeah, when? Not unless I plan to go without sleep at least one night a week. But I will make it through and I will look back at this moment and one day say, "Shit. How the hell did I do that?" Just as I did in undergraduate; just as I did when I had a toddler and an infant; just as I did last year, my first year of graduate school with two children. I will get through this semester. I will get through this year. I may be a walking zombie, but I WILL do it!

All in a Day's Harvest!

Where did the summer go?

I am not too sure how the summer just disappeared, but in our household it ended faster than we could have imagined or have been prepared for. I barely got a chance to write or even take photos and every time I thought about doing either I really didn't feel like it so, instead I was much more content curled up with a book or trying out my new canning books with tons of tasty treats, Here are a few pictures from the summer and I hope that as the new school year progresses I have a chance to use this blog to flush out my ideas and questions for the thesis that I have now officially began writing.

These were the only red beets that I have harvested due to the family of bunnies that has decided to live in my yard this year! Hopefully they will not bother my fall crop of beets, but I am not too hopeful about that.

These are the first few purple carrots that I picked to use in a new recipe for spicy pickled carrots. Yummy!!

The first round of fargo yellow tomatoes getting ready to be oven-dried and below what was left of the fargos after being dried (I found my son swiping them handfuls at a time). In my opinion these are the best tomatoes to dry in the oven. It brings out an amazing sweetness and flavor that they do not possess when eaten ripe off the vine. I have dried and frozen them the last few years to have for salads in the winter but unfortunately enough don't make it into the freezer because we can't help but to eat them as soon as they get out of the oven. They are THAT YUMMY!!

 

These are only a few of my chiogga beets that I sliced really thin and baked in the oven for beet chips. I forgot how ugly these beets get when they are baked, but they tasted amazing with a dip made from yogurt and horseradish.

2010 Book List...

Looking at this list while getting ready to clear it to start over for the new year I realized I read A LOT of books last year so I decided to post it here so I could take some time look it over and meditate on what these books had to offer. While some were better than others, they all deeply moved me and left me pondering ways in which to improve my life and the world around me.

• Growing, Older by Joan Dye Gussow
• Gender Outlaw:On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein
• Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
• The Age of Grief by Jane Smiley
• The Death of Nature by Carolyn Merchant
• Earthcare:Women and the Environment by Carolyn Merchant
• Pedagogies of Crossing by Jacqui Alexander
• Intersecting Voices by Iris Marion Young
• Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Breeders: Read Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers edited by Ariel Gore & Bee Lavender
• Parenting from your Heart by Inbal Kashtan
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• The Monsters:Mary Shelly and the Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
• Her Own Woman: The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft by Diane Jacobs
• Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism edited by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman
• The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
• Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes
• A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
• Opting In: Becoming a Mother Without Loosing Yourself by Amy Richards
• A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
• Because I Said So edited by Camille Peri & Kate Moses
• The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
• The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Weekly menu

Sunday: Risotto w/ MI leeks & asparagus, arugula w/balsamic vinegar

Monday: veggie lasagna

Tuesday: left-over lasagna

Wednesday: caramelized cabbage w/egg noodles

Thursday: Spanish tortilla w/potatoes, peas & shallots, fresh greens from the garden w/ balsamic vinegar

Friday: personal pizzas, roasted MI asparagus

Saturday: ?? whatever the markets have to offer us!

Weekly Menu

Sunday: homemade mujudra, tabbouleh (with parsley & mint from the garden), spicy baba ghannouj and hummus

Monday: left-overs and salad

Tuesday: egg noodles & steamed broccoli

Wednesday: Southwestern corn & sweet potato soup

Thursday: Pasta Al Pomodoro (from last month's Bon Appetit) with canned garden tomatoes & fresh spinach salad

Friday: left-over soup, left-over pasta Greek salad

Saturday: Fresh corn on the cob, MI fingerling potatoes roasted in garlic & paprika, salad with local greens & many veggies & champagne vinaigrette

I'm back, at least for the summer...

I am back and I must admit I have missed blogging. This last year has been full of changes and it has been very difficult for me to find the time or the energy to keep up with this blog. Back in the fall of 2010 I started graduate school and with all of the reading and writing that it requires on top of my other responsibilities to my family the blog was put on the back shelf. Now that it is spring and I am close to being done with classes I hope to be on here sharing my thoughts on food, feminism, motherhood, gardening and living sensibly & simply much more often. I will also try to keep up with weekly menus and recipes to share some of our favorite things to chow down right now. Because the weather has totally SUCKED these last few weeks I find that I am getting back into my cooking and baking groove and I am enjoying the art of cooking once again. Although I am loving graduate school I must admit I was not ready for it to take over my life and leave me little time to enjoy the things I love to do most. But my spring semester is well underway, easy and is giving me time to enjoy those things once again. And with all of the rain I have been at a very leisure pace and spending time getting back into my groove of life which has been so wonderful, although I am SO done with the rain and find myself singing "Rain, rain go away" along with the kids way too often. But it is giving me the pace of life I need right now and I must acknowledge it and for that I am very grateful.

When Life Hands you Lemons...

Make Lemon Creme Sauce for Pasta! Okay so if you are like me, there are certain staples that you always keep in your fridge and pantry such as pasta, egg noodles, canned tomatoes, veggie stock, lemons, coconut milk, canned beans, etc. (you get the picture). Well, this last week I had one of those days where my fridge was almost bare and the pantry was getting low and I wanted to make something simple and yummy. I decided to pull out my Simple Suppers cookbook by Moosewood Restaurant and see if there was anything I could make since this cookbook has easy meals with small ingredient lists. And one of the first meals that caught my eye was a recipe for "creamy lemon pasta." I scanned the ingredient list and knew right away everything it required was staples that I always keep around. I also knew that one of the only veggies in the fridge was fresh MI asparagus and so I decided that I would pull that out and blanch it and then add to the pasta and sauce. OH YUM, YUM!!! This dish was amazing! It was easy, fast and the kids devoured it. SO...I thought I would share the recipe with you all, enjoy!!

CREAMY LEMON PASTA:

1 lemon

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup of heavy cream or half and half

1 pound of pasta

1 cup of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Bring a large covered pot of salted water to boil. When water comes to a boil cook your pasta to your liking.

Meanwhile grate the lemon peel (you will need about 2-3 tsp). and then squeeze the lemon (you will need 3 Tbsp. of juice). In a small skillet or saucepan melt the butter. Stir in the cream and heat gently. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Turn off the heat.

Place the drained pasta in a large serving bowl or on a serving platter and add the lemon cream sauce and toss. Toss in the Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

*I also tossed in the asparagus with some fresh chives out of the garden and next time I make this I plan to do the same with fresh green peas from the garden.

WHO IS READY FOR SPRING???

I AM, I AM!!!!! And so I am posting pictures that take me to a warm, sunny moment in the garden in the anticipation of a spring that is hopefully just around the corner!

Cutting up the Pumpkins

Lately I have been cutting a LOT of pumpkin and making everything I can think of to make with pumpkin puree! Here is what I found some of the pumpkins and squash to look like as I cut into them...I can't believe how gorgeous the color is! And I can't believe that my warty girl and Cinderella pumpkin's seeds were starting to sprout.Amazing!!

Weekly Menu

Monday: Left-over veggie chili

Tuesday: Greg's cooking night-Chickpea spinach curry w/yogurt, cucumbers and mint, naan & mango chutney

Wednesday: caramelized onion & cabbage w/egg noodles & broccoli

Thursday: Greg's cooking night

Friday: homemade pizza night or baked mac & cheese

Saturday: pastry puff topped with roasted veggies

Sunday: Savory bread pudding w/kale & butternut squash

Weekly Menu

Okay so a little late, but I am still going to post it! My schedule is crazy intense right now and so over the next two weeks I am sure you will see my menus reflect the realities of life right now. But, no complaints, life is GOOD!

Monday: Chilean stew w/quinoa

Tuesday: Veggie taco night and left over stew

Wednesday: Pasta w/ delicata and a Parmesan cream sauce (wanted to make this last week, but kids insisted on their favorite sauce, which is green and oh so yummy)

Thursday: Greg's cooking night

Friday: Individual pizzas and salad

Saturday: Date night!!!

Sunday: Greg's Birthday Dinner

Weekly Menu

It was very difficult for me to find the time to post my menus last fall. I am going to try to get them on here with recipes more frequently with the winter because it helps me keep on track and it also keeps me from getting stuck making the same dishes and burning my family out on what once were favorites. So Happy New Year and here is the first menu of 2011!

Monday: Sweet potato, winter squash & caramelized onion lasagna & salad

Tuesday: Tunisian stew w/couscous, roasted root veggies & salad

Wednesday: Black bean soup, homemade guacamole & chips

Thursday: Greg's night to cook

Friday: Pasta w/green sauce & salad

Saturday: Chickpea & sweet potato stew w/couscous, sauteed kale w/golden raisins & pine nuts

Sunday: Leftovers and salad