Inspired to...?

I go in complete waves when it comes to inspiration in the kitchen...wait this also applies to blogging...and, now that I think about it, also to cleaning...hmmmm, something to ponder!

Anyway, the freezer delivery has inspired me to be in the kitchen a lot in the last few days; first with the intent of filling it and now just with the desire to cook. My lovely, caring, and beautiful running partner and friend visited with me for an hour while I worked yesterday. While she was here, I took the meat off the bones and started the turkey stock, got the granola dehydrating in the oven, soaked quinoa, chopped some dried mango for the granola, and popped open a bottle of homemade kombucha. She said something to the effect of, "wow, your husband is a lucky man." Now, I don't disagree, mind you, he and I are very lucky to have each other and count our blessings all the time, BUT she said it with an air of "you have this whole homemaking thing figured out." She didn't realize that I was "playing" in the kitchen, not unlike a child who thinks naught of outcome. Nothing I was making was going to help get dinner on the table last night. I wasn't even thinking about dinner or cooking with some sort of organized purpose, I was just cooking.

I'd like to get better about cooking with purpose, but sometimes it takes the fun out of it for me when there is a) a deadline, b) discriminating critics who don't mince words (gotta love 3 and 5 year olds!), c) the chance that once "b)" kicks in, I will have to scramble to make something palatable even if I'm tried or ready to enjoy my masterpiece, and d) the fact that I tend to concentrate on ONE new dish/recipe/etc and often forget to create a whole meal. :-)

I got Sink Reflections (The FlyLady's book) for Christmas and I'm going to implement ideas on reducing CHAOS around here (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). I have been working at keeping the dishes OUT of the sink (wash it right away of put it in the dishwasher, do not set them in there...it's a black hole!).

Another step I want to take is meal planning. Maybe I will still putter around the kitchen and create nourishing foods/snacks, but I will try testing recipes in small quantities so I can add them to the "approved for whole family" list. :-) *Maybe* that will work.

Here are a few pictures of today and yesterday in the kitchen:

breakfast yesterday:




(Leftover sauteed chard chopped up and heated with nitrate-free ham and then scrambled with eggs...yum!! Grant ate a lot off my plate! He who "doesn't like eggs" whoo hoo)








turkey stock yesterday:
















turkey stock today:




(I just threw in those rainbow chard stems so that's why they're still very vibrant)










granola yesterday:
















granola today:





(Mango-Coconut-Almond-Raisin Granola in the front two, Almond Granola in the back)













cherry kombucha:



(I'm working on perfecting the second fermentation to create more fizz...this bottle overflowed when I opened it...whoo hoo! This picture was taken of the last cup from the bottle, about 4 hours after I opened it...still has a little fizz, but not much.)








roasted cauliflower (today):



(tonight for dinner I am going to puree this and serve it as a side. I like to add cream cheese, parmesean, and S&P in the food processor with the cauliflower, but I've made it with lots of different mixes and it's delicious as long as you make sure to dry out the cauliflower so the puree is not too watery.)







cooked quinoa (today):



(some of the quinoa will be served as a side tonight, the rest went in the feezer so I can make some breakfast porridge for the boys...especially Grant since he is tired of yogurt and doesn't like eggs much)








par-boiled ribs (today):


(we like to par-boil, or partially cook by boiling, our ribs to make sure they are juicy and cooked through and then season the outside and finish them on the grill for a crust...mmm I got these delicious ribs from Full Quiver Farms and they are from happy, pastured pigs...their bacon is amazing, too! You can buy their pork through Burgundy Pasture Beef - home delivery! - or direct from Farmer Mike.)