Beating the Heat and The Budget

It's been a while since I've had 8 or 9 people living in my house at once, in fact we are down to just 3 at this moment (it could change), but one thing has stayed constant; Summer is hot and the budget is tight.

I've managed to keep a good grip on the budget tiger by becoming a big fan of our market's Manager Specials. This also means that my freezer is kept full of items from the specials and my meals can be just a little more odd... no, make that more creative than your standard Betty Crocker family dinning fare.

Yesterday I visited the freezer to give my daughter the benefits of my latest Manager Special harvest, mozzarella and other various cheeses (I don't do the cow). While there I noticed my stock pile of Naan and brought some in.

Today's summer temperature just begged for a zero cooking tolerance. Alas, the family begged to be fed. Then it hit me..

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you :: drumroll :: Hot Day Pizza!

In just minutes, I had sliced the last two Roma tomatoes in the fridge and lay them on the Jalapeno Goat Cheese topped Naan. The added bonus to this all was that "the Boys" were as impressed with the shared meal as I was with the ease.

Did you notice the mason jar glass of green goodness? More Manager Special ingredients; 1 marked down bag of salad greens, 2 red apples, 6 ice cubes in a blender. The slight splurge was also from a previous Manager's Special purchase. I added a splash of Zeta Olive Oil with Lemon.

All in all, a happy mom. One who has more time to jump on the bike, I might add ;)

Everything Old is New Again (at least to me).

I am so glad juicing has found it's way into America's kitchens.

Back in the day, I would come home from work and too tired to cook, or just not interested in cooking for one, I would throw any veggie within reach into the blender with ice (I have no idea why I used ice instead of water).

On a few occasions I might use fruit and yogurt. Those were the throw-caution-to-the-wind days since it took more effort to clean the blender afterwards. As a single woman living in San Francisco, it was more likely that you would find me leaning over the sink at midnight, rushing to finish the yogurt before it's expiration date.

After a while, I traded in my whole-food-wheat-grass-vegetarian life for one that was just a little more acceptable to my new life of being evolving wanna be gourmet chef as the perfect wife slash mommy. During my attempt to bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan with all the ease of Martha Stewart, I hid my pregnancy cravings of large quantity of lettuce and dined on a steady supply of Burrito Supremes. While my then husband would make his pilgrimage to Taco Bell, I would greedily consume complete heads of lettuce in secret.

Confessing my shame to my OB/Gyn he pointed out that your body often craves what it needs. I needed more Chlorophyll which I was getting from my leafy greens and the beans assisted in my body's desire for protein. All good things that the baby would like too.

Fast forward to my recent years which include a new and improved husband,  I've returned to my old ways. The meatatarians in from life might ridicule me just a tad but over all they're jiggy with it, as long as I still throw some baby backed ribs their way every now and then.

Last week I was watching one of "those" documentaries Fat Sick & Nearly Dead and my husband pulled up a seat to watch. This was monumental. On most occasions, he'll stand in the doorway, heckle some or pause slightly as he walks through the room on his way to the kitchen - pausing only for that little wink at his wife.

As I said, he pulled up a seat. He sat forward and watched, really watched. He stayed. the. entire. time.

The next day, he watched Forks Over Knives with me and told over people about it!

Today, I didn't feel like getting up early and making our traditional family breakfast that could feed a few farm hands.  On his suggestion, I threw some vegetables into the blender for a long lost feeling of nostalgia. Why, oh why, did I ever give this up? I wondered out loud.

Then I heard it, those magic words, "You know honey, I bet you'd like a juicer". After that, he took me to the Farmer's Market where I bought goat cheese with glee (and not one snicker). I love this man.

Which Are You?

Grandmother Says... Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee; "Which are you?"

A young woman went to her grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her granddaughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft.She then asked her to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The granddaughter then asked. "What's the point,grandmother?"

Her grandmother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity--boiling water--but each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her granddaughter.

"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?

Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

---AUTHOR UNKNOWN

It was a sad day in Mudville

It's no secret that we're a football family.  We have High School football, NFL Football and Fantasy Football all around us. In the off season, we are fundraising for the Athletic Boosters.

But what you might not know is that I am merely an onlooker. After years of raising girls who have moved out, the boys have now become the vocal point of the household while I shake my head in amusement at how wrapped up on can get in a sport.

What I did not know is that I had become a participant. After countless dinners and Sunday brunches where salaries, staffing and play after play had be discussed I had absorbed some of it - and formed opinions.

Being the wife of a die hard Eagles fan it is not always easy. We have ups and downs. This year was more downs then usual. For the rest of you, it can't be hard to imagine what this day in history is like. After 14 years the NFL's "winningnest" coach, Andy Reid, has been fired… with one year left on his contract.

I did not see myself getting getting caught up in this, I also did not see it coming. Why? Because I look at the NFL from a business perspective. Apparently, so does ‪Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie‬ - the only difference is that he is in the business of winning NOW.

From where I sit Reid had a tremendous record from joining the Eagles in 1999 until this less than stellar year. That has value. Add that to the fact that this year kicked off with a personal devastation of losing his son and that value of 14 years could still be at status quo. maybe. But what really made me feel that we'd see our beloved Andy Reid around for one more year is $15 million. $15 mil is what it would have cost the Eagles to buy out his contract and let him go. Now that has value.

It is possible that in my absorption and interest of the business side of the game I did not realize how little value $15 million might be to Lurie. What is more possible is that as much as he claimed to love and respect his head coach, he valued a winning season far more, at what ever the cost.  He wished him well, he wished him a big win ahead but still he wished him gone. It felt like the end of a marriage.

For me, this Eagles family wife, I wish Andy Reid the dignity of a first wife. He moulded them, shaped them, and at times rode the roller coaster with them. After 14 years, I hope he looks forward to his next chapter as much as I look forward to seeing it.

What's to eat? Go ask Alice.

Just yesterday, I was telling my email partner (you have one of those don't you?) that I come from the Alice Waters (Chez Panisse) practice of seeing what is fresh in your garden or at the fresh market before deciding on your meal plan. Moving to the city and away from my gardens has not been any less inspiring and in fact, like having a whole new playing field to discover. Now I attack the local Ralph's and seek out the bright orange stickers for Manager Specials or enjoy sales at the Japanese Market, weekend Farmer's Market or even Trader's Joe's. Filling my kitchen with specials of the day as I meal plan on the spot.

This method also means that many recipes "evolve" over time based on what one has available… and if you're trying to get something into your football worshipping family that resembles real food sans pretzels and cheese whiz. 

December 30 is generally a Grilled Cheese type winter day no matter where you are, and I had just the stocks for it, kinda. What I had in mind was grilled gouda cheese and Anjou pear on Sourdough.  Instead, my fridge had .98 lb ham that got sliced and layered on the $2.99 a dozen croissants. Gouda was out, I didn't feel like going to the market when I had picked up white american cheese yesterday, all sliced up and ready to go at an affordable $3.99 a pound. Affordable for LA, I might add. Now about that pear, what to do? aha! I had 2 large Fuji Apples on my kitchen desk - perfect.

Slicing the apples thin, I placed those in between the cheese, on top of the ham and set the croissants into the electric skillet.

My son was a bit hesitant about the apple thing going on in his grilled cheese (surprisingly, no one minded the adulteration by adding the ham), but his first bite yielded 16 year old eyes rolling back in his head and nummy sounds. My husband walked out of the kitchen with his plate, took a few steps and came back with a mouth full, and OK symbol of his thumb and forefinger and something about "the apple adding just the right snap".

Touchdown.

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.  
  -- W. Somerset Maugham

"Cultivate excellence by coming from a position of helping. "