Cold, Cold Kitchen

I haven't actually cooked anything this week. I've been far too lazy, and the weather has just been too cold, which spurs on my laziness. Bad Jessica, cause I can't put much in this here blog without cooking something up. I did however spend most of Tuesday night plotting out my menu plan for the next 2 weeks, and making the grocery list for said menu plan. It can be a struggle to put together a plan that is balanced. I strive for half vegetarian meals, and to evenly plan when and what meat we will eat. I am a waster when it comes to fresh ingredients, and I hate to be. I try to plan meals that use some of the same fresh ingredients, without feeling like we're getting too much of a good thing. But I never use the entire bunch of celery, or spinach, or lettuce. I often end up throwing away half a can of beans or chiles, because I need to divide down recipes and then have nothing to do with a half of this, that, or the other. But I'm learning, or trying to learn anyway. I feel really successfull when I can strike a good balance between all these components. Also, we tend to eat a lot of some things. Zucchini is the thing that comes to mind. We eat a lot of zucchini. We will be having zucchini twice in next weeks menu, although in very different recipes. Eggplant may soon become a popular item, as the parmesan bake went over well, and I got a recipe from Everday Foods on PBS this weekend for a lasagna-like eggplant dish. Tonight will probably consist of me making some pasta. That's just about it, pasta. I have the urge to bake something though, and am looking over cookie recipes online right now. Perhaps we'll see an update before I get to the grocery store afterall.