In this part of the world, we have an expression about good food that goes something like this, "Oooo-weee! That'll make ya slap yer mamma!"
I'm into food that'll make ya slap yer mamma. Especially if it's healthy. As friends and colleagues head back to their teaching jobs or classes this fall, and for the first time in six years I do not, I am so grateful to have a little extra downtime before things get wild again in which to wallow about in my home, take care of my darling husband, and COOK LIKE A MADWOMAN.
It's very clear that this more-or-less unscheduled time is very important for rejuvenation on many, many levels. I've done a major decluttering of the house, I'm working hard on shoring up my health and fitness habits, I'm working on my musical projects (two brand new roles, one old one that requires freshening, an another audition season looming), and I'm doing a lot of cooking, mostly healthy. Cooking is a creative endeavor for me, which feeds both body and soul, and also is a special way of taking care of people I love.
So, I was excited to find, via Food Renegade, some fun blogs with lots of yummy recipes! Like Heather Eats Almond Butter, which among other things tells you how to make your own almond milk and coconut butter, which is TO. DIE. Use it anyplace you'd use peanut butter. Bonus: it's SO easy to make and so much cheaper than what you'd buy in the store. Can't wait to try these recipes.
It was a big cooking day. In the morning, I made Greek yogurt so thick it's really cheese. For lunch , I made a wonderful classic Southern dish ---- okra with onions, garlic, and tomato. Sautee some chopped onions and garlic until they're soft. Throw in some chopped okra and a couple of chopped tomatoes. Cover and let it simmer for about half an hour. That's good eatin', y'all.
For dinner, it was the Southwestern Sautee from the August issue of Eating Well Magazine. I made my own salsa to use in the cheese grits and added a lot of extra garlic, because, welll, garlic cheese grits are the yum. The salsa gives a nice extra punch. The recipe calls for frozen corn; we skipped that because we grilled chile lime corn along with some zucchini. This is an amazing, really quick and easy meal --- leave out the grilling and it will take you all of fifteen minutes to throw together --- and quite satisfying. And you can scramble some eggs and have the leftover cheese grits --- if there are any --- for breakfast. Make little patties out of 'em and cook them like savory pancakes. For dessert we had homemade berry shortcake --- not terribly sweet, but delicious. I basically made sweet biscuits and topped them with mixed berries macerated in a little bit of sugar (if you want to get fancy, add some lemon zest) and whipped cream. There were no complaints at my table tonight.
I got my Yoga X in this afternoon --- so funny how the body's abilties change from day to day and session to session. My balance wasn't so great today and my hips were not in the mood to get open, even with all the stretching. But I did really well with the abs work. Monday is a free day of yoga in Austin, and I am looking forward to checking out a couple of classes.
We're going to be eating leftovers for the next couple of days, but I have more slap-yer-mamma cooking up my sleeve. Just wait and see!
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