Pinterest Projects All in One Place

I know I've told you all about my Pinterest addiction and I've even shown off a couple of the recipes I found there. I attempt quite a few things that I pin and they don't always warrant a whole post. So, come follow me! I have a lot of boards, and you're welcome to follow all of them, but the one that chronicles my attempts at the goodness I find is here: Things I have Actually Done. Some of the pins link back to this blog. Others link to the original source. If I haven't done a post about a project, then I have made notes about the results I got. My notes are signed ~AL~, so you know which comments came from me. Come follow along!

Sunday Meditation

“While it is true that many people simply can't afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we've somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the internet and the money in the budget not only to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free. For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority.”
― Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Pinterest Project: Lasagna Soup

I've been pretty good lately about making things that I find on Pinterest, especially the recipes. Today, I could not for the life of me figure out what I wanted to make for dinner. Off I went to my board entitled "Recipes to Try" and there it was. A lasagna soup by the Deen Brothers. It's a lighter version of one that their mom, Paula Deen, makes. It was delicious! The only change I made was using mini-penne instead of broken up lasagna noodles since I didn't have any.

As you can see, Henry enjoyed it thoroughly!

To give it a try for yourself, just go visit the Deen Brothers. It was simple and you'll probably have a lot of the ingredients on hand. Or at least things you could substitute easily. Enjoy!

Sunday Meditation

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”   

~Friedrich Nietzsche

Silent Saturday: Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

Plans

I've been advocating "real" food for some time now. I've been trying to buy more whole organic foods, more natural, humanely raised meat, and less processed "food".  I have to admit, that I haven't always been as diligent as I should. Time for that to change! It's not always easy to find what you need in a grocery store. Even so-called organic groceries (please don't get me started on Whole Foods...) don't always carry real food.

What does this all mean, you wonder. You were wondering, weren't you? Well, it means that I'm going to start shopping in the European way. We've all seen the footage of the crowded market with its stands of locally produced goods. It's in that kind of place that you learn about your food, your culture and your neighbors. You shop for the week based on what is in season and abundant, not what's on sale or what sounded good to you while you were sitting at home. You buy the ingredients and then figure out the meals to use them. It's the reverse of every organizational/frugal living/meal planning site on the web. They all tell you to plan your meals months in advance and shop only when armed with the strictest list. Well, I'm not going to do it anymore! I'm going to embrace the seasonal market model of shopping. Once or twice a week, I'm going to venture to the market, pick out the products that look best that day and then take them home and cook with them. It will be difficult at first, but I love to cook and it's time to put my money where my mouth is. If I'm truly going to be a "real" foodie. This is the only way to do it.

I'm really excited for this new plan. I'll be sure to share my favorite producers and markets with you. Not to mention the recipes I use and create and the meals that come out of this grand plan. Stay tuned! The traditional markets will be opening soon and I will be the first one there. Until the seasonal markets open, I'll be using up the contents of my freezer and pantry to get them ready for all the good stuff that will be coming their way!

Spring?

Here in my neck of the woods we seem to have skipped spring and headed straight for mid-summer. I don't take these strange weather patterns lightly, but I'll save that for another day. For today, let's simply celebrate the awakening earth and blooming flowers.

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall."

  ~Nadine Stair