Stuffs

I've been so busy editing pics from the DC trip, wedding and my sister's graduation that I haven't had any time to fix up some of the food pics I've got in my queue. But stuff is coming- I swear. And I'm really looking forward to more cooking this summer. Is there anything quite as wonderful as summer produce? It's still a bit early yet, but just this week I've had zucchini, yellow squash, peaches and cherries. Heaven! We've got plans for a nice dinner on our deck this weekend which I will most definitely document, and I've already got ideas swirling around in my head for our planned outing to the Concerts In The Garden for this year.

Also I am super excited about a new food-related blog on the block. I think it's pretty fair to say that I have a bit of a blog crush on Joslyn at Simple Lovely. I often find myself quite envious of her style. And she has just started a second blog, Raising Foodies, to document the task of opening up the food world to her two darling daughters. I'm definitely looking forward to keeping up with their new adventure.

Thinking

Feeling a little low in the inspiration department. There seems to be fewer and fewer vegetarian recipes in my Everyday Food issues, and my list of recipes to try seems to contain an increasing amount of meat dishes. Trying to balance things out is getting a little hard. And taking into consideration that half the time Josh will be eating the meal the next day can complicate things. I need to start pushing myself to move out of my comfort zone. There are so many different things I've never cooked with. So many vegetables out there that I've never even tried. How do you convince yourself to push your food boundaries? As soon as I figure that out I might actually have something interesting to put here.

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.