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Saturday, July 10, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Cooking for one
Let me start off by saying that I hate cooking for one. I know that I am not alone in this feeling. Co-workers tell me they hate cooking for themselves as well. Even single parents hate cooking for themselves....they know they kids will be perfectly happy with tater tots and frozen chicken nuggets if you served it to them every night of the week.
What I'm talking about is the entire act of cooking which then expands out to the purchasing of the food it takes to make that meal for one. I am stuck in a rut of purchasing the same staples over and over and over again because I make those same comfort meals all the time. And by comfort I am not neccesarily talking about the comfort food we normally refer to like Mom's meat loaf or a mound of steaming hot, butter melting, creamy white mashed potatoes. I'm more referring to the ease and comfort of foods you could make in your sleep because they are now your automatic or auto-chef meals.
I cook the same meals over and over again because there is no one else in the household to impress so it seems selfish to make an elaborate meal just for myself. The act of cooking requires so much more than just the act of cooking...it begins with meal planning. That last word I balk at...I hate planning...it requires organization and I don't do organizing if I can help it. It's a trigger word for me...almost like housework...I go running and screaming from the room when either of those words is spoken.
All that beign said, I did some experimenting tonight and I have to say my meal came out tasting pretty good. I had been thinking about mixed fried rice ever since I read my sisters Blog (http://con-tain-it.typepad.com/ ) about her mix fried rice and it brought back so many good memoires of living in Taiwan. So, I thought I'd give my own hand a try at it ....yummy!
Mine came out more like the Thai version I have been eating lately with it's underlying sweetness and hot/spicy goodness. Here is the recipe:
Chicken cut very thin for stir fry (I used one very large 1/2 breast - use as much as you like)
1-1/2 cup zucchini and summer squash - thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup red bell pepper - thinly sliced
1/2 cup onion - thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced canned pineapple - reserve liquid
1 Tbls Cornstarch
1 Tsp. Chinese 5 spice
Red Pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp or to taste
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce - or to taste
2 eggs - slightly beaten (I used a little water)
Sesame oil
Take reserved pineapple juice and mix it with the soy sauce and cornstarch, mix well. Add the Chinese 5 spice and red pepper flakes and beat together with wisk. Pour over your chicken and set aside to marinate while you cook.
In hot wok, add 1 Tbls Sesame oil. Add onion and saute one minute, add red bell pepper and saute one minute.
Add remaining squash/zucchini and saute one minute.
Add Pinneapple and saute one minute.
Move veggies to outside of pan or remove from pan and set aside to return to pan later.
Add more Sesame oil as needed.
Add chicken to pan and saute till no longer pink and slightly browned.
Add back the veggies if you removed them at this point. Add rice and mix everything together, pour reserved marinade/sauce over rice mixture and saute till heated through.
Make well in middle, add eggs to center and scramble. When egg is done, mix together with rest of rice mixture.
Serve.
What I'm talking about is the entire act of cooking which then expands out to the purchasing of the food it takes to make that meal for one. I am stuck in a rut of purchasing the same staples over and over and over again because I make those same comfort meals all the time. And by comfort I am not neccesarily talking about the comfort food we normally refer to like Mom's meat loaf or a mound of steaming hot, butter melting, creamy white mashed potatoes. I'm more referring to the ease and comfort of foods you could make in your sleep because they are now your automatic or auto-chef meals.
I cook the same meals over and over again because there is no one else in the household to impress so it seems selfish to make an elaborate meal just for myself. The act of cooking requires so much more than just the act of cooking...it begins with meal planning. That last word I balk at...I hate planning...it requires organization and I don't do organizing if I can help it. It's a trigger word for me...almost like housework...I go running and screaming from the room when either of those words is spoken.
All that beign said, I did some experimenting tonight and I have to say my meal came out tasting pretty good. I had been thinking about mixed fried rice ever since I read my sisters Blog (http://con-tain-it.typepad.com/ ) about her mix fried rice and it brought back so many good memoires of living in Taiwan. So, I thought I'd give my own hand a try at it ....yummy!
Mine came out more like the Thai version I have been eating lately with it's underlying sweetness and hot/spicy goodness. Here is the recipe:
Chicken cut very thin for stir fry (I used one very large 1/2 breast - use as much as you like)
1-1/2 cup zucchini and summer squash - thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup red bell pepper - thinly sliced
1/2 cup onion - thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced canned pineapple - reserve liquid
1 Tbls Cornstarch
1 Tsp. Chinese 5 spice
Red Pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp or to taste
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce - or to taste
2 eggs - slightly beaten (I used a little water)
Sesame oil
Take reserved pineapple juice and mix it with the soy sauce and cornstarch, mix well. Add the Chinese 5 spice and red pepper flakes and beat together with wisk. Pour over your chicken and set aside to marinate while you cook.
In hot wok, add 1 Tbls Sesame oil. Add onion and saute one minute, add red bell pepper and saute one minute.
Add remaining squash/zucchini and saute one minute.
Add Pinneapple and saute one minute.
Move veggies to outside of pan or remove from pan and set aside to return to pan later.
Add more Sesame oil as needed.
Add chicken to pan and saute till no longer pink and slightly browned.
Add back the veggies if you removed them at this point. Add rice and mix everything together, pour reserved marinade/sauce over rice mixture and saute till heated through.
Make well in middle, add eggs to center and scramble. When egg is done, mix together with rest of rice mixture.
Serve.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Today I began to play....
I have long wished that I was artistic enough to just pick up a pen or a paint brush and could create whatever came to my mind. I had a conversation with my sister the other day and had an AHA moment where I realized that I had been telling myself "I can't" for so long, that I have never even tried.
I've started watching shows about drawing, reading books about being artristic and reading other peoples blogs about the creative process. All the while hoping that I could just absorb their talent. Paulette Insall, Donna Downey and even my own wonderfully creative sister, Roberta Philbrick, have all been saying (and I have not been listening) that you have to play in order to be creative. Let yourself explore.
So today, while I was home and feeling peckish with the flu, I did a couple of things: First, I didn't turn the TV on - now that is just HUGE for me. I always have the tube on, even if it's just background noise. But we all know what happens when we do that - you become distracted and your creative juices cannot flow!
Oprah has been asking people what can they do without right now with the economic times being what they are. At first I thought, I'm already doing without so much, what more could I give up? I already reduced my cable to just basic cable, no extra fancy schmancy stations, TIVO or DVR options...just 16 channels (I know, even that sounds like a lot to me right now). So, if I don't turn it on, what can I do with my time?
There are so many options that at times it can be overwhelming. It's like watching a child who has too many toys to chose from and play with - what do they do? Nothing! Most will cry or have a temper tantrum because they are overshwhelmed. They will fight with their friends and siblings because someone is using their toy. When you keep the choices limited, you help to create a more calm and peaceful atmosphere. You give the kids an opportunity to use their imaginations instead of creating the environment for them to play.
So, today I kept the TV off, I kept the music off and I began to play. You know music can be an inspirational tool sometimes, but other times, it too can become another distraction. If we never shut it off, then how can we ever hear our own thoughts? (AHA... so that's what meditation is all about - hearing our thoughts!)
Now while getting on the computer can at times become such a distraction that you never accomplish anything, today it was actually an inspiration for me. I took the time to read some blogs,then I created a slideshow of my creative "wares" to post to my blog, email to friends and family and put on my etsy web page. I actually accomplished a lot for one morning!
When I was done with that, and had eaten a decent lunch, I took out my drawing pads and pencils and sat down on the couch and began to doodle. And I created a face with color pencils.
Now, I am my own worse critic, so I had to stop myself from critisizing my drawing for what it wasn't. Instead, I came here to the computer, scanned a copy of it and began to take pride in the fact that I have actually committed to paper something that I had been afraid of doing - I drew a face! Hey, this was kinda fun! And I have to say that I'm proud of myself!
I've started watching shows about drawing, reading books about being artristic and reading other peoples blogs about the creative process. All the while hoping that I could just absorb their talent. Paulette Insall, Donna Downey and even my own wonderfully creative sister, Roberta Philbrick, have all been saying (and I have not been listening) that you have to play in order to be creative. Let yourself explore.
So today, while I was home and feeling peckish with the flu, I did a couple of things: First, I didn't turn the TV on - now that is just HUGE for me. I always have the tube on, even if it's just background noise. But we all know what happens when we do that - you become distracted and your creative juices cannot flow!
Oprah has been asking people what can they do without right now with the economic times being what they are. At first I thought, I'm already doing without so much, what more could I give up? I already reduced my cable to just basic cable, no extra fancy schmancy stations, TIVO or DVR options...just 16 channels (I know, even that sounds like a lot to me right now). So, if I don't turn it on, what can I do with my time?
There are so many options that at times it can be overwhelming. It's like watching a child who has too many toys to chose from and play with - what do they do? Nothing! Most will cry or have a temper tantrum because they are overshwhelmed. They will fight with their friends and siblings because someone is using their toy. When you keep the choices limited, you help to create a more calm and peaceful atmosphere. You give the kids an opportunity to use their imaginations instead of creating the environment for them to play.
So, today I kept the TV off, I kept the music off and I began to play. You know music can be an inspirational tool sometimes, but other times, it too can become another distraction. If we never shut it off, then how can we ever hear our own thoughts? (AHA... so that's what meditation is all about - hearing our thoughts!)
Now while getting on the computer can at times become such a distraction that you never accomplish anything, today it was actually an inspiration for me. I took the time to read some blogs,then I created a slideshow of my creative "wares" to post to my blog, email to friends and family and put on my etsy web page. I actually accomplished a lot for one morning!
When I was done with that, and had eaten a decent lunch, I took out my drawing pads and pencils and sat down on the couch and began to doodle. And I created a face with color pencils.
Now, I am my own worse critic, so I had to stop myself from critisizing my drawing for what it wasn't. Instead, I came here to the computer, scanned a copy of it and began to take pride in the fact that I have actually committed to paper something that I had been afraid of doing - I drew a face! Hey, this was kinda fun! And I have to say that I'm proud of myself!
Today, I began to play.....
Saturday, October 18, 2008
And so we begin
And so I begin this terrifying journey. I have jumped in with both feet and there is no turning back now (really! ARGH!!!).
I don't even have a topic to discuss here except that my fear in starting this blogging adventure is HUGE!!
I have dabbled in creative arts my entire life, from watching my mother color with my sister and I as we were growing up; her teaching us to embroider and also watching my grandmother do the same. Gram lived with my Aunt and Uncle's house for many, many years and would go to Florida or California to stay with other family during the long cold, winter months. Going "home" to New Hampshire, we always stopped to see Gram at my Aunt and Uncles home. Gram lived in her tiny room most of the time, and during our visits we'd find Gram in her favorite rocking chair in front of her black and white TV (many years later it changed to color) watching her soaps and game shows and watching the world go by her window.
Gram would always have something in her hands that she was either sewing or embroidering. She made table scarves and pillow cases, table cloths and bed covers. She loved to make stuffed animals out of store bought patterns - you know the kind you just cut out and sew the edges closed after you have stuffed them? Gram's work was not perfect, but it was done from the heart and she loved to give the items she made as gifts to her grand children and children when they visited.
I started to really enjoy being creative when I was in high school and would embroidery words of "wisdom" on my pants - it was the early 70's and we would use our favorite colors of embroidery thread to make wonderful patches on our jeans. To this day I cannot go by the sewing section of a store without checking out the colors available. I learned to sew with a machine in junior and senior high school and learned enough to be able to sew some outfits for myself during leaner times when monies were short and my wardrobe needing expanding. Why didn't someone ever tell me that using plain and printed cotton material intended for quilting to make "gouchos" wasn't cool?
I was taught how to crochet by two different aunts when I was growing up. One taught me the mechanics, the other taught me a better hold of the needle so I could make the yarn fly! Avis and Jeannie both made lots of afghans and baby sets. I made afghans, afghans and more afghans. I never quite learned the knack for following a pattern to make a baby set. I sure wish I had - I know that some day I will have grandchildren and would love to make them something special. One of my favorite things when I had newborns was to put them in their special sweaters and blankets that were made with love. There is something about home-made that just lends itself to feeling safe and loved? Wouldn't you agree? I am laughing now as I rember two different sweather sets that Avis made my kids - my son who was first born had a lime green sweater, booties and hat set that had loops of yarn all over it - cutest thing ever - well at least I thought so!! And my daugher who came along 17 months later had a verigated white and lilac set just like it! Both sets make me smile as I remember them and visualizing my two babies in them.
I am such an eclectic creative person that the really is not one thing that I like to do more than another. I am enjoying learning new things and the process of doing them. I have improved as time goes by, just ask my sister - she'll tell you that the sighing and complaining has gotten much less over the last couple of years. That's a joke between she and I as I hadn't realized that when I was being "creative" I was fighting the process - my fear was getting the better of me. I expressed that fear with lots of heavy breathing, complaining and just not doing. I am still learning how to let go and let it be - just do it! That should be my motto - Just do it - oh wait, I think Nike or Addidas already has that catch phrase.
I guess I'll just remain - the Woman Behind the Curtain - that is what I am. I don't like to draw attention to myself, but I want to show off what I have made. So I will attempt to put the spot light on my products as I create them and I will remain behind the curtain - perhaps showing myself a bit here and there.
I look forward to more posts and comments from people as I go forth on my journey into the creative realm and the world of the written word. (Did I mention that I always wanted to become a writer? perhaps another time).
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