I was given this chicken this week. But I had been given a chicken last week as well. And I had a corned beef. Suddenly I'm looking up recipes in the leftover section of that Big Oven app. Rice, pineapple, chicken were the three ingredients. Sweet and sour chicken... obviously. Over rice.
So tomorrow I will have to cook ahead as well. Some jello with mandarin orange slice will be refrigerated. And some corn chowder, potato salad, egg salad, mashed potatoes and bread pudding. That's what's in the fridge that needs to be used up and I don't want to lose anything.
Oh yea...and the nachos with quinoa chips to use up the shredded cheese. Hmmmm. I've got that block of mozzerella I was given and the herb cheese block too. So, I guess, some of the mozzerella for mac and cheese and some for spaghetti casserole with one of the containers of frozen sauce in the freezer.
I wish, I really wish, that I approached the 'to do list' for the rest of my life with as much enthusiasm, focus and energy as I do cooking big batches of food and knowing that I had quick handy meals at hand throughout the week.
So I'm thinking tomorrow, I'm going to try to adopt that attitude towards the rest of my chores....We'll see.
Love,
Deborah
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
Like Waiting for Water to Boil.....
Twenty years is a long time to wait for something to work itself out. But that's how long it's taken in one particular situation.
Think about it. Twenty x 365 days, 366 some years, x 24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds....
How many of those increments of time do you think I noticed? All of them. Time hung. Time stood still. Time seemed like an eternity.
This I learned. Just as a casserole, cake or stew cannot be hurried by turning up the heat, so life's moments need the time to coordinate with other moments.
Remember Miracle Max in 'The Princess Bride' movie? His great statement was 'Rush a miracle and you end up with a rotten miracle."
Much has been made of 'mindfulness'. Equally important is 'back burner'. Let it simmer. Let it stew. Let it steep. Wait. You end up with a better miracle.
Love,
Deborah
Think about it. Twenty x 365 days, 366 some years, x 24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds....
How many of those increments of time do you think I noticed? All of them. Time hung. Time stood still. Time seemed like an eternity.
This I learned. Just as a casserole, cake or stew cannot be hurried by turning up the heat, so life's moments need the time to coordinate with other moments.
Remember Miracle Max in 'The Princess Bride' movie? His great statement was 'Rush a miracle and you end up with a rotten miracle."
Much has been made of 'mindfulness'. Equally important is 'back burner'. Let it simmer. Let it stew. Let it steep. Wait. You end up with a better miracle.
Love,
Deborah
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Eggs and Bacon
Somebody has been giving me bacon in some gift packages. I love bacon. I also want to live long and prosper. Remembering Phil's line about Curly from ' City Slickers' after Curly died :"The man ate bacon with every meal. You can't do that!" I've been pondering what to do with the bacon.
Ah....insight...use it as I would a seasoning. So tonight I cooked some up with some zucchini and put some in over easy eggs for dinner and packed the rest away to add just the right amount of naughty good taste to some potato salad I will make tomorrow using Saffola mayo.
Always the scales of nutrition must tip towards health, but there are some items that just plain add flavour and substance.
It's that way with how we spend out days too, isn't it? Most of the time we need to be on task and working towards fulfilling our responsibilities and caring for those we love and have made promises to. But daily, and I do mean daily or it builds up to a big deficit that can lead to bingeing, we need to experience a little richness, a little pleasure or recreation that lifts and encourages.
A counselor at an agency that frequently counseled clergy stated, "The flip side of social reform is hedonism".
Do 100% of everything in a good healthy way. And then add a little bit of colour and flavour and fun with something that feeds the soul and encourages the Spirit. Not an addiction that removes pain, a gift to yourself that moves you forward to the next big sacrifice with cheerfulness and wonder.
Best for today...
Love,
Deborah
Ah....insight...use it as I would a seasoning. So tonight I cooked some up with some zucchini and put some in over easy eggs for dinner and packed the rest away to add just the right amount of naughty good taste to some potato salad I will make tomorrow using Saffola mayo.
Always the scales of nutrition must tip towards health, but there are some items that just plain add flavour and substance.
It's that way with how we spend out days too, isn't it? Most of the time we need to be on task and working towards fulfilling our responsibilities and caring for those we love and have made promises to. But daily, and I do mean daily or it builds up to a big deficit that can lead to bingeing, we need to experience a little richness, a little pleasure or recreation that lifts and encourages.
A counselor at an agency that frequently counseled clergy stated, "The flip side of social reform is hedonism".
Do 100% of everything in a good healthy way. And then add a little bit of colour and flavour and fun with something that feeds the soul and encourages the Spirit. Not an addiction that removes pain, a gift to yourself that moves you forward to the next big sacrifice with cheerfulness and wonder.
Best for today...
Love,
Deborah
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The Buffet is Closed
Well friends, let's call it a year. Starts and stops. Changes and maintenance. Good and bad. It all rolled through 2013.
There is a time to move on. There is a time to build on what has been. There is a time to believe the future will be different.
Time to remove the foods from the table that have been over warmed and under eaten. Fresh new items need to appear in your lives. In the bleak midwinter, or the roasting sun of summer depending on your hemisphere, it's time to restart, reset, and reboot.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2014!
Love,
Deborah
There is a time to move on. There is a time to build on what has been. There is a time to believe the future will be different.
Time to remove the foods from the table that have been over warmed and under eaten. Fresh new items need to appear in your lives. In the bleak midwinter, or the roasting sun of summer depending on your hemisphere, it's time to restart, reset, and reboot.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2014!
Love,
Deborah
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Beginning the Season of Feasting
Here it comes....in America we go from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years, and in our house finish with Orthodox Christmas. It's a long season of eating!
Every year the news magazines and print media and our own repeated history tell us how to put limits on the celebration so there won't be any damage.
But this is my brief question for today..........
What if I sank deeply into feasting and celebrating and rejoicing and giving thanks and buried myself in creating rich and wonderful memories of celebration?
What if I put no limits on visiting with friends and spreading the love with relatives and just had a blast for ten whole weeks? What's so wrong with feasting? What's so wrong with celebrating?
Would it energize my New Year? Would the highs and lows of other people's stories that so impact my life be more easily ridden in the middle in the year 2014 if I took the time and made the effort to say, "hey! Life is a grand delight! " at the beginning of winter?
Maybe a way to better my life is to embrace the depths of each season more fully. Maybe I need to surrender to the rhythm of nature and the ways of the sun's rotation and eat fats during winter, vegetables during Spring and Summer and Fruits from June to October.
The lack we feel inside and then fill in ways that seem unfufilling may happen because we do not sink deeply into each season with gusto and limitless participation.
Just for fun, I'm going to try it!
Love,
Deborah
Every year the news magazines and print media and our own repeated history tell us how to put limits on the celebration so there won't be any damage.
But this is my brief question for today..........
What if I sank deeply into feasting and celebrating and rejoicing and giving thanks and buried myself in creating rich and wonderful memories of celebration?
What if I put no limits on visiting with friends and spreading the love with relatives and just had a blast for ten whole weeks? What's so wrong with feasting? What's so wrong with celebrating?
Would it energize my New Year? Would the highs and lows of other people's stories that so impact my life be more easily ridden in the middle in the year 2014 if I took the time and made the effort to say, "hey! Life is a grand delight! " at the beginning of winter?
Maybe a way to better my life is to embrace the depths of each season more fully. Maybe I need to surrender to the rhythm of nature and the ways of the sun's rotation and eat fats during winter, vegetables during Spring and Summer and Fruits from June to October.
The lack we feel inside and then fill in ways that seem unfufilling may happen because we do not sink deeply into each season with gusto and limitless participation.
Just for fun, I'm going to try it!
Love,
Deborah
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Meal plans
I put together my list of possibilities with what I have. Actually there's an app I discovered called Big Oven that I just love. Enter three items and it sends you a choice of recipes.
How much of life do I plan and how much of life is trying to make the most of three ingredients? Which is the better skill?
The old way, I sat down on a weekend and wrote out long complicated well balanced meals and then got tripped up when somebody had a soccer game rescheduled or a last minute parent meeting at school.
Granted now it's just me, but putting in tuna, rice, and celery can mean add an apple and onion and there's a salad, or carrots and a bay leaf and there's soup.
When I feel like I need to be really on top of my life, I can look at the biggest three items going on in my life at the present moment and focus on combining those. I call it Big Life!
Love,
Deborah
How much of life do I plan and how much of life is trying to make the most of three ingredients? Which is the better skill?
The old way, I sat down on a weekend and wrote out long complicated well balanced meals and then got tripped up when somebody had a soccer game rescheduled or a last minute parent meeting at school.
Granted now it's just me, but putting in tuna, rice, and celery can mean add an apple and onion and there's a salad, or carrots and a bay leaf and there's soup.
When I feel like I need to be really on top of my life, I can look at the biggest three items going on in my life at the present moment and focus on combining those. I call it Big Life!
Love,
Deborah
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Candy and Baked Goods
Like millions of Americans, I won't be home for Halloween. Like millions of Americans, I bought Halloween candy. Brachs assorted marshmallow candies, which aren't really marshmallows but chewy little pumpkin shaped corns and pumpkins and bats, sit beside me on my desk even as I write.
Losing weight for me has been the wonderful discovering that if I eat the good stuff like veggies and fruits and protein and nuts and grains, it is possible to have some treats.
My favourites? Well...ice cream, of course, and chocolate is a constant. Krispy Kreme glazed filled donuts, French toast, kruellers, and these donuts that are served at The Hardware Store on Vashon Island.
What was important for me to realize was that there are sweets I never eat. While I beat on myself about not being a purist about food, but blending nutrition and treats, I observed I do not eat things with frosting much. I'm not really a cupcake person. Pies are holiday related. You get my meaning.
The question I extrapolate from my food habits is this: what is the balance between work and play, have to's and want to's , self care and self indulgence?
Asking good reflective questions is the key to growth. Encouraging ourselves to continually observe, grow and change for the better every day is the strongest act of self love we can extend to ourselves.
Happy Halloween!
Love,
Deborah
Losing weight for me has been the wonderful discovering that if I eat the good stuff like veggies and fruits and protein and nuts and grains, it is possible to have some treats.
My favourites? Well...ice cream, of course, and chocolate is a constant. Krispy Kreme glazed filled donuts, French toast, kruellers, and these donuts that are served at The Hardware Store on Vashon Island.
What was important for me to realize was that there are sweets I never eat. While I beat on myself about not being a purist about food, but blending nutrition and treats, I observed I do not eat things with frosting much. I'm not really a cupcake person. Pies are holiday related. You get my meaning.
The question I extrapolate from my food habits is this: what is the balance between work and play, have to's and want to's , self care and self indulgence?
Asking good reflective questions is the key to growth. Encouraging ourselves to continually observe, grow and change for the better every day is the strongest act of self love we can extend to ourselves.
Happy Halloween!
Love,
Deborah
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