Back to life, back to reality. Back to the here and now, yeah.Show me how, decide what you want from me. Tell me maybe I could be there for you.
However do you want me. However do you need me.
Back to life, back to the present time. Back from a fantasy, yeah.Tell me now, take the initiative. I´ll leave it in your hands until you´re ready, oh.
However do you want me. However do you need me...Soul II Soul
“Where are my shoes?"
“I don’t need soup in my lunch box.”
“Can I take this cookie to school?”
“My portfolio handle is broken.”
“Where are my glasses?”
“Will you take a picture of my sandwich?”
…and then:
“Peeeeewwwwww, I smell FISH,” says Number One as we attempt to get out the door on time for the first day of school.
“What do you mean you smell fish,” I reply as I scurry frenetically around the kitchen wearing an apron and doing my usual June Cleaver meets Sharon Osborne.
“It stinks. Like Fish. Come over here, you’ll smell it.”
“Peeeeeewwwwwww. I smell it too,” chimes in Number Two with The Husband nodding in assent from the background.
Now the whole family is in on it.
With four noses engaged in the mystery, a discovery is made: Number Two dripped “juice” from the canned cat food in a slug trail from the pantry to the sink.
And so it goes. Says Soul II Soul: Back to life. Back to reality.
Summer is officially over and the calendar is filling up faster than an Atlantic City Casino Bus on $5 senior day. But like all times of transition, there is a bittersweet moment between the past and the present when change is in the air and possibility is the only certainty.
For a temperament like mine (high on creativity, always busy, praying for the organization fairies to come to my rescue) trying to stay on top of the escalating pace requires a whole lot of discipline. I rely heavily on my iCalendar and have learned to say “no” whenever the blobs of commitments overtake the white space.
I also find myself focusing a lot on the one place that satisfies my soul, my passion and our bellies: food.
Over the years, I have come up with a few tricks that keep me from losing my cookies (both literally and figuratively)…
On weekends I try to plan the meals for the week and buy as many of the ingredients as possible at the farmer’s markets. On Wednesdays I get eggs from my friend Pat and raw dairy from an Amish farmer. On Thursdays, I get a delivery from Farm Fresh Express, a service that specializes in local food and relationships with Farmers.
On Sunday, I try to make a “pot of something” (soup, chili, stew, etc) that can be frozen in individual servings and heated up for lunches during the week. Doing this frequently ensures that the freezer has at least three or four different options in rotation so that nobody gets tired of the same ol’ same ol’.
I do this with breakfast too. A triple batch of home-made pancakes or French toast freezes really well and is easily turned into a fast hot breakfast when defrosted in the toaster oven.
But the thing that I really couldn’t do without is my “menu journal.” Intermittently over the last 15 years I have kept a log of meals I have prepared. It’s nothing fancy, and I don’t even do it consistently, but when I am trying to figure out something to cook and my mind is drawing a blank, I know I can grab a week’s worth of meals in a flash.
I also dig cutting out recipes from magazines and newspapers to supplement my already absurd cookbook collection. Over tea, I like to browse for inspiration and jot down an idea or two in the recipe journal for future reference.
While we’re on the subject of menu planning... To minimize complaining and maximize variety, I try to get each person in the family to decide on a menu for one night of the week. My dear friend Tami (who happens to be an AMAZING Homeopath) has taken it one step further and her sons actually each prepare a meal. From what I’ve heard, they are dang good at it!
Tami says,"They both seem to enjoy the simple tasks of meal preparation – slicing, shaking, braising, stirring – as a way to wind down from the intellectual demands of the school day. While one son cooks, the other son sets the table so that both are involved in the process. This gets them into the groove for table time cutting down on an otherwise rowdy transition."
I love Tami's idea and hope to take my Revolution one step further in the near future. But for now, we held our noses and jumped into the school year with both feet.
Today, two items on the menu were:
Pancakes (I doubled the recipe to have extras to freeze*)
2 1/4 cups organic, unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp maple sugar (or any unprocessed sugar)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup organic yogurt or kefir
1 1/2 whole milk (raw if possible)
2 tablespoons melted butter
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk together wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix them together with as few strokes as possible. It’s OK if its still a little lumpy.
Let the batter rest for a few minutes before cooking.
Cook in the usual way… and serve with melted butter and pure, organic maple syrup.
*Freezing pancakes or French toast is easy when you separate them with parchment paper; this way they don’t stick to each other and it’s easy to grab and defrost however many you need each time. My friend Leslie (THE most fabulous pastry chef) rolls re-heated pancakes with peanut butter and/or jelly for a yummy snack.
Kitchen Sink Minestrone topped with Pesto
There are so many possibilities with this soup and that’s what I love about it. In August, when produce is plentiful, this soup gives you the opportunity to pick whatever looks good in the garden, add what’s left in the vegetable drawer of the fridge, throw in the rind from a piece of Locatelli Romano… you get the picture.
This soup is traditionally vegetarian but is sometimes flavored with some sautéed bacon or prosciutto. It almost always has some kind of bean and pasta in it too.
I had a hunk of nitrite free bacon from a farmer in Western PA that I decided to chop and add to the soup base. You’ll need less salt when using ham or bacon.
In summertime Italy, minestrone is often enjoyed at room temperature.
- Chop all veggies into bite sized pieces. Amounts given are just a suggestion...
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 large onions
- 4 carrots
- 4 stalks celery
- 6-8 small potatoes (red or Yukon gold)
- 1/2 lb green beans
- 3 small zucchini or yellow squash
- 2 cups shredded green or Napa cabbage
- 1 cup of corn, steamed and sliced off the cob
- 6-10 medium ripe tomatoes or 3 cups crushed canned tomatoes
- 4 cups broth (beef or veggie)
- 4 cups water
- a nice handful of chopped fresh herbs (thyme, parsley, rosemary)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups dried beans cooked and drained (about 3 cups cooked) or the equivalent canned
(If you choose to use bacon or prosciutto, sauté it in the olive oil until just about crisp, otherwise, start here...)
Saute onions for about 20 minutes until wilted and starting to caramelize.
Add onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and green beans and sauté for about 10-15 minutes so veggies are just softening and the kitchen starts smelling really, really good.
Add zucchini and cabbage and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add corn, tomatoes, broth, water, herbs, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or up to 2 hours over low heat. Add beans and cook until warmed through.
Serve over a bowl of cooked pasta and top with a dollop of fresh pesto.
(Easy pesto: put about 3 nice handfuls of basil leaves, 1-3 cloves of peeled garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup pignoli/pine nuts and 1/3 cup grated parmesan or locatelli cheese into a food processor and spin until it forms a loose paste.)
Back to life, back to reality. Back to the here and now, yeah.Show me how, decide what you want from me. Tell me maybe I could be there for you.
However do you want me. However do you need me.
Back to life, back to the present time. Back from a fantasy, yeah.Tell me now, take the initiative. I´ll leave it in your hands until you´re ready, oh.
However do you want me. However do you need me...Soul II Soul
“I don’t need soup in my lunch box.”
“Can I take this cookie to school?”
“My portfolio handle is broken.”
“Where are my glasses?”
“Will you take a picture of my sandwich?”
…and then:
“Peeeeewwwwww, I smell FISH,” says Number One as we attempt to get out the door on time for the first day of school.
“What do you mean you smell fish,” I reply as I scurry frenetically around the kitchen wearing an apron and doing my usual June Cleaver meets Sharon Osborne.
“It stinks. Like Fish. Come over here, you’ll smell it.”
“Peeeeeewwwwwww. I smell it too,” chimes in Number Two with The Husband nodding in assent from the background.
Now the whole family is in on it.
With four noses engaged in the mystery, a discovery is made: Number Two dripped “juice” from the canned cat food in a slug trail from the pantry to the sink.
And so it goes. Says Soul II Soul: Back to life. Back to reality.
For a temperament like mine (high on creativity, always busy, praying for the organization fairies to come to my rescue) trying to stay on top of the escalating pace requires a whole lot of discipline. I rely heavily on my iCalendar and have learned to say “no” whenever the blobs of commitments overtake the white space.
I also find myself focusing a lot on the one place that satisfies my soul, my passion and our bellies: food.
Over the years, I have come up with a few tricks that keep me from losing my cookies (both literally and figuratively)…
On weekends I try to plan the meals for the week and buy as many of the ingredients as possible at the farmer’s markets. On Wednesdays I get eggs from my friend Pat and raw dairy from an Amish farmer. On Thursdays, I get a delivery from Farm Fresh Express, a service that specializes in local food and relationships with Farmers.
On Sunday, I try to make a “pot of something” (soup, chili, stew, etc) that can be frozen in individual servings and heated up for lunches during the week. Doing this frequently ensures that the freezer has at least three or four different options in rotation so that nobody gets tired of the same ol’ same ol’.
But the thing that I really couldn’t do without is my “menu journal.” Intermittently over the last 15 years I have kept a log of meals I have prepared. It’s nothing fancy, and I don’t even do it consistently, but when I am trying to figure out something to cook and my mind is drawing a blank, I know I can grab a week’s worth of meals in a flash.
I also dig cutting out recipes from magazines and newspapers to supplement my already absurd cookbook collection. Over tea, I like to browse for inspiration and jot down an idea or two in the recipe journal for future reference.
While we’re on the subject of menu planning... To minimize complaining and maximize variety, I try to get each person in the family to decide on a menu for one night of the week. My dear friend Tami (who happens to be an AMAZING Homeopath) has taken it one step further and her sons actually each prepare a meal. From what I’ve heard, they are dang good at it!
Tami says,"They both seem to enjoy the simple tasks of meal preparation – slicing, shaking, braising, stirring – as a way to wind down from the intellectual demands of the school day. While one son cooks, the other son sets the table so that both are involved in the process. This gets them into the groove for table time cutting down on an otherwise rowdy transition."
I love Tami's idea and hope to take my Revolution one step further in the near future. But for now, we held our noses and jumped into the school year with both feet.
Today, two items on the menu were:
2 1/4 cups organic, unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp maple sugar (or any unprocessed sugar)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup organic yogurt or kefir
1 1/2 whole milk (raw if possible)
2 tablespoons melted butter
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk together wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix them together with as few strokes as possible. It’s OK if its still a little lumpy.
Let the batter rest for a few minutes before cooking.
Cook in the usual way… and serve with melted butter and pure, organic maple syrup.
*Freezing pancakes or French toast is easy when you separate them with parchment paper; this way they don’t stick to each other and it’s easy to grab and defrost however many you need each time. My friend Leslie (THE most fabulous pastry chef) rolls re-heated pancakes with peanut butter and/or jelly for a yummy snack.
Kitchen Sink Minestrone topped with Pesto
This soup is traditionally vegetarian but is sometimes flavored with some sautéed bacon or prosciutto. It almost always has some kind of bean and pasta in it too.
I had a hunk of nitrite free bacon from a farmer in Western PA that I decided to chop and add to the soup base. You’ll need less salt when using ham or bacon.
In summertime Italy, minestrone is often enjoyed at room temperature.
(If you choose to use bacon or prosciutto, sauté it in the olive oil until just about crisp, otherwise, start here...)
Add onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and green beans and sauté for about 10-15 minutes so veggies are just softening and the kitchen starts smelling really, really good.
Add zucchini and cabbage and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add corn, tomatoes, broth, water, herbs, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or up to 2 hours over low heat. Add beans and cook until warmed through.
Serve over a bowl of cooked pasta and top with a dollop of fresh pesto.
(Easy pesto: put about 3 nice handfuls of basil leaves, 1-3 cloves of peeled garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup pignoli/pine nuts and 1/3 cup grated parmesan or locatelli cheese into a food processor and spin until it forms a loose paste.)