I love food. Always have. But as an adult, I really learned how to mix flavors and play with recipes to get what I want out of them. I love that. Sometimes, though, even when we’re comfortable with preparing food and managing our kitchens, we need help. Or inspiration. Have you ever gotten stuck in a rut? I have. It’s so easy to do. And last week I got a kick in the pants — something I desperately needed.

It’s easy to be lazy. Rely on processed, packaged foods. Buy what’s cheap. Convenient. After a long day of work & kid wrangling, I don’t feel like cooking. And don’t forget the cleanup afterwards. Ugh. I don’t have the energy. And that’s part of the problem. What I’ve been eating makes things worse. Low energy, lethargy. Weight gain. Oh, and don’t forget increased risk of diabetes! FUN! (Yeah, not really.)

What’s a girl to do? Lots of things, according to Chef Julie Frans of Dining Details here in San Diego. The biggest thing, which we all know we should do, but don’t, is watch what we eat. Use fresh ingredients. Avoid processed foods. Cut back on your sugar and caffeine (and stay away from those sugar substitutes). Use organic food when you can, especially when it’s food that is easily contaminated (“dirty dozen“).*

Julie cooked several dishes for us, including quinoa, millet, and lentils. As she cooked, she explained the ingredients and how they are good for us. Not only that, but watching the food you eat can naturally balance your body’s pH. And that can help you maintain better health, proper wait, and help strengthen your immune system. Did you know that? I did not. See why I said I liked what I learned?

It was just the kick in the pants I needed. No, really. Later, on Twitter, she asked if any of us drink Coffeemate. Oh, so guilty over here. I buy the 1/2 gallon at Costco. Hanging my head in shame. BUT, Julie gave an alternative. Try half & half, organic brown sugar, and a dash of real vanilla extract. So tonight I bought some half & half, mixed it with some brown sugar and vanilla in a jar. That will sit in my fridge and go in my coffee in the morning. You know what? I tried a little bit of it and it tasted just like vanilla ice cream (well, okay, melted ice cream. but still…). And I can’t wait to try it in my coffee in the morning. Not only that, I know it’s much healthier for me. Yes, even with the real fat and sugar. I may need to adjust the proportions (I did more than just a dash of vanilla), but that’s easily done.

See? Already trying to make healthier choices! I have a lot more to tell you, like a little more detail about the dishes she fixed, the awesome vinaigrette she made, and what else Dining Details does, like healthy, quality school meals for kids through their other company, Chickpeas. And personal chef services. Catering. Iron Chef-like competitions — how cool is that? Much more to come, but it’s getting late and I don’t want to make this too long. Stay tuned for more info!

*Julie includes meat & poultry, soy products, peanuts, eggs, dairy, and corn in her list, as they can contain hormones or be genetically modified (especially corn).

Disclosure: The cooking demo was provided at no cost to the attendees (that I am aware of). And while Julie asked us to kindly post about our experiences, she in no way indicated that the reviews need to be positive. I am not compensated for any posts about this event.

I ran to the grocery store today to get some last minute things. Milk, marshmallows, whole cranberries, stuff for green bean casserole (I wouldn’t care if NO ONE ELSE in the house liked it – I would still make it), whipped cream for the pie, and some more rolls. Here’s the crazy thing, in the grocery store I normally hate. No, really, I can’t stand it. But today they had a great big Thanksgiving display right at the front of the store. Most of the stuff I needed was right there. Right there! I almost fainted! Within a minute of walking into the store I had over half my shopping list crossed off.

I practically did a happy dance right there in the aisle. It’s the little things, y’all.

The house is clean. We have a few more dishes to wash in the morning. The turkey doesn’t need to hit the oven until about 9, but does need to come out of the fridge much earlier. So we’ll still be getting up early. But here’s what’s great about all we have to do. Much of it can be done at a leisurely pace. A little chopping here, a little sautéing there. I will not put pressure on myself, no matter how long our menu is.

And I actually made up a menu to help me remember what we need to do. Otherwise, I’ll forget the carrots or corn or something. Our menu:

• Turkey (duh)
• Dressing (duh) (cooking this in the crock pot)
• Gravy (DUH)
• Garlic & basil mashed potatoes
• Glazed sweet potatoes (recipe from my beloved Better Homes & Gardens cookbook)
• Green bean casserole (cooking this in the other crock pot & finishing off in the oven)
• White corn
• Brown sugar-glazed carrots (another recipe from Better Homes & Gardens)
• Rolls (simple brown-n-serve – doing the other rolls at Christmas)
• Pumpkin pie

I think that’s everything off of the top of my head – because I’m too lazy to walk into the kitchen and double-check (hey, it’s chilly in here & I’m snuggled under a cover on the couch).

I am cheating and using boxed stuffing because I still need to have my mom teach me how to make hers. But I’ll also be sautéing onions and celery to add to it. And lots of sage (I absolutely cannot have turkey and gravy without sage dressing). It really tastes pretty good that way.

Are you feeling ready for tomorrow?

I needed to get some laundry done today, which I did. Yay! Last night I made stock, and this morning I finished it off (boiled it down a bit) and put it in the fridge. So that’s done. It’ll be used for gravy and dressing (oh yeah, I already mentioned that).

I still have a lot of cleaning to do. We need chairs for everyone. And to put the big table together. The menu is not finalized. I’m not even sure what time I should start cooking on Thursday!

The good news is, I got most of tomorrow’s work done today. And that means I have time to work on the house. Clear out some of the clutter. Make some progress.

I really need to feel like I’ve made some progress. *sigh* Tomorrow I think I’ll look for some carrot recipes. And sweet potatoes, too.

Hoo boy, it’s going to be a crazy week. Our place is tiny, as I’ve mentioned numerous times. So we have to clear out the dining room and see if we can bring up the bigger dining table from downstairs. And I just realized that I don’t even have a tablecloth to cover the old, scratched surface of the table (it was my parents’ table when they got married, and it has two leaves to expand the table quite nicely).

And I need to clean. And vacuum. And make up a menu. And cook. And hubby may have to work Wednesday and even Thursday. We’re not sure yet.

I’m going to work ahead as much as I can. I’ll cook the sweet potatoes a day ahead and just reheat them. I could probably do the same with the mashed potatoes (but I love them fresh). I’ll be heating the dressing in the crock pot, so that’s not a huge deal. Tonight I have a chicken carcass in the crock pot to make broth, which I’ll use in the dressing and gravy.

Rather than make rolls, we’re just going to get some heat and serve. I need to do that tomorrow. And figure out where we’ll get enough chairs. And get some more milk. We have plenty of butter.

Whew. This is why I’ve never had Thanksgiving meal at my place. Did I mention I need to clean? Looks like the next several nights will be filled with rearranging, deep cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, and trying to see if any of our friends have some chairs we can borrow.

It’s going to be a long, crazy week. But it will be so nice to have the family together. We haven’t done that in a while.

I’ll try not to stress too much. No one expects it to be perfect. They’ve all been over so they know our house is crazy. And crowded. But I think we can do it. Hubby helps, so at least it doesn’t all fall on my head. He’ll be right in there with me.

How’s your week shaping up?

Since meeting my husband, I think my cooking has vastly improved. I’ve learned a lot more about improvising, making a recipe my own, and how flavors go together. I’m a much more adventurous eater and cook since I’ve known him. I am a much better cook due to him.

Along those lines, I made soup tonight. I took the broth left over from the pork roast I made Sunday, and also tossed in all of the leftover veggies and some of the shredded pork. Then I sautéed some veggies, starting with a mirepoix, then adding cubed potatoes and Cremini mushrooms. After the veggies softened up, I added them back into the broth. Then it was a matter of tossing in some more spices and about a cup of already cooked brown rice.

I love building upon flavors. Starting with a broth from a previous dish, adding more ingredients and increasing the depth of flavor. It’s different every time. I don’t always write down my recipes and it can be hard to recreate a dish. But that’s okay because it’s always an experiment with us.

This time, I added a little bit of oregano, some basil, garlic, sweet paprika, pepper, and cayenne. Of course, there was salt & pepper in the fresh veggies, too. Next time I might toss in a pinch of ginger. Or cumin. It depends on my mood. Or what sounds good that night. But I’m really happy when something turns out well, and the soup definitely turned out well. Making soup has become one of my favorite ways to experiment in the kitchen.

Maybe I should ask for a French cookbook for Christmas? Branch out a little more? What are you learning in the kitchen? Anything?

Remember the roast prep I did yesterday? This morning I put all of the veggies, the roast (which I had seasoned and put back in the fridge last night), and a bit of stock from the last roast, in the crock pot. I put it on high for a couple of hours and then turned it down before we left the house.

And when we got back, it was divine walking back into the house. I wish more weekends were like that.

It was a really relaxing weekend. I didn’t make my stock, but the carcasses are in the fridge for later. Probably tomorrow. I really love having a fridge full of yummy food just waiting for us to nosh on during the week.

How was your weekend? Did you make any progress toward some household goals? What were they?

That doesn’t always work when you have a toddler running around. Or deadlines.

But fortunately, today wasn’t one of those deadline days. So I took it easy in the morning and tackled some chores this afternoon. Once again, I roasted two chickens so we’ll have meat for the week. Only this time I went a lot heavier on the spices — and you can tell. The meat was a lot more flavorful this time.

While the chicken was cooking, I chopped veggies for tomorrow’s roast. I’ll pop it in the crock pot tomorrow morning and by the time we get in that afternoon from our errands, dinner will be ready. And I’ll also start stock from the chicken bones tomorrow, too.

Here’s what works the best for my stock:

Roasted chicken carcass, after taking off the meat.
Giblets.
Skin & pan juices from the roasting.
One onion, cut in half or quarters.
A couple of celery stalks.
One carrot, or a bunch of baby carrots.
Several garlic cloves.

The cooking time varies depending on how much time I have, but I at least cook it two hours. Preferably four or more.

The chicken was done just in time for supper, so we had some of that with some brown rice and sweet white corn (cooked from frozen in a bit of chicken stock from the last time).

I also did a bunch of dishes while waiting for the oven to heat up. And before I chopped veggies. Go me!

If I could only feel this productive every day, I might have a clean house. Let’s not get carried away now. A girl can only handle so much work in one day.

What makes you feel like you accomplished a ton that day?

So that means TIRED. And while I made a ton of food on Sunday so I don’t have to do a lot of cooking this week, even putting a meal together has been an effort. Yet the already prepared food helps. Truly. It doesn’t help my sink, but that’s another post entirely.

Tonight, I took some of the chicken I’d already cooked, sauteed some mushrooms (baby portobellos, yum!), and put them both in some roasted red pepper and tomato soup (premade). Pop in the microwave and heat. Easy peasy.

Some nights, you just need easy.

So instead of a strict list where we eat this on Monday and that on Tuesday, we make a list of dishes that we’d like to eat during the week. I make my grocery list from that. And then we have everything on hand that we need to fix meals, which saves last minute — and expensive — trips to the grocery store.

If we’re sick of chicken, we can switch to beef or fish that night. If we’ve already had roast beef two nights in a row, we can pull out something else. I’m already finding that just having a general list of meals in mind for the week helps a LOT. I’m less likely to cast around for a meal and settle on something unhealthy (like ice cream and candy bars for dinner. Ahem.).

I’ve also found that having meals (somewhat) planned out is actually easier on me. If I know in advance what we’re going to eat, I can plan ahead. Have things out of the freezer and thawed. That has been my downfall so many times. I fail to plan and then we have nothing thawed. So we eat out, order in, or do something else that’s detrimental to our budget and health.

I really don’t want to set my son up with bad eating habits.

So this week, I’m cooking a roast. It’s already in the crockpot with some onions and beef broth. Later on I’ll add some more liquid with some potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. We can use the leftovers in soups, sandwiches, and pasta. And later on today I’m going to roast a couple of chickens in the oven, then take all of the meat off the bones to use in a variety of dishes this week. Shredded chicken is pretty versatile and SO easy to throw in a dish when it’s already cooked.

Also, I’ll take the chicken bones and make stock to use for soups later in the week, too. Since I bought some celery and carrots yesterday, I’ll throw some of them, some garlic, and half an onion in with the bones when I make the stock. Homemade stock is much tastier and better for you anyway — you know EXACTLY what goes into it.

So reading Steph’s book has been a huge help. I can follow her recipes exactly or use them as a stepping off point. Having a basic recipe, though, really helps me. I don’t have to come up with something off the top of my head, yet I’m free to tweak it to suit our family. And I love that.

When I was younger, I stuck to recipes exactly, not understanding how to tweak them. But over the years, with lots of practice and experimentation (my hubby has been a huge help in that area – without him I’m not sure I’d know how to improvise as well) I have found that I know what will work and what won’t. What I can substitute or add. And I love it. It makes me feel good when I experiment and it works. It’s so much fun!

But I still hate the dishes that result. Oh well, you can’t win them all, right? And maybe I won’t hate dishes so much once we get our own place with a dishwasher. Maybe.

Photo credit: grafixar from morguefile.com

Disclosure: I requested a review copy of the book because Steph is my friend and I wanted to take a look at the recipes and post about it. I receive no compensation for doing so. A more thorough review of the book is coming later, after I have a chance to cook a few more recipes. But so far, so good.

So how do I cut down time in the kitchen without sacrificing food quality and healthiness of my selections?

I’m working on that. So far, I am doing the following:

1) Bacon in the microwave.
I thought those little microwave bacon trays wouldn’t work. But you know what? They totally do. Instead of spending 10 minutes watching and turning bacon – not to mention avoiding grease splatters – I toss it in the microwave, stopping to turn it once. That’s it. It still tastes great, is perfect for sandwiches, and has minimal cleanup. (I know what you’re thinking. “Didn’t she mention health?” I did, but I’m not giving up bacon, just cooking time. Bacon is a high maintenance food in my book, but sooooo tasty.)

2) Crockpot.
It was probably this past summer at BlogHer when I heard about Stephanie’s “A Year of CrockPotting” site. I’m finally getting back to using a crockpot more, and her tips and recipes will be a big part of that, I’m sure. My husband improvises a lot more than I do. I like to have a general idea, and tweak from there. Less time in front of the stove equals more floor time with my rugrat.

3) Pressure cooker.
This is not your mother’s pressure cooker. These babies have come a long way. I have a German model that I LOVE. Artichokes, quick and tasty. Risotto, in a surprisingly short time (not a perfect risotto, but good enough that your family will enjoy it, a lot). And roasts that are fork tender, in record time. If you don’t have time for a crock pot, then you need a pressure cooker.

I’m still working on other ways to reduce my kitchen time, yet still provide tasty meals. Of course, cleanup is a whole ‘nother issue, especially when you don’t have a dishwasher!

What are you doing to cut your kitchen time? Is that something that’s important to you, without sacrificing too much quality or healthy ingredients?