Whew! The fourth came and went with a
bang. I partied. There was food and drink had. It makes me want to hit
the rewind button and do it all over again. But since I can’t do that,
and because we are already on Tuesday, we must press forward
and make the best of it. Of course I am staring down the long barrel
of a six day work week, fresh off my three day weekend. As thankful as I
was for the time off, it’s harder to get back into the groove.
Now we are getting into the hottest
months of the year, it is becoming increasingly important that I have a
pool to soak in. Thankfully, my parents have one in their back yard that
fits my bill. (free) I usually have to share that pool
with a crazy 9 year old boy, but we make due. This pretty much sums up
my entire calendar for the next few weeks. Amazingly, I do not have
plans. There are no parties to attend or assemble, no holidays to fret
and fuss over. July and most of August should
be quiet by comparison to the rest of the year. This immediately makes
me want to start a project. Free time = Project time. Since my office
still hasn’t been touched, I believe that is what I will be working on.
Of course I would like to be working on our
bathroom, but sadly, we are still storing a garage full of someone
else’s worldly belongings. We have no room to store our items or work on
anything. It doesn’t look like these items are going anywhere, anytime
soon on their own accord. I hate to take action,
but once again, we are left with no choice.
With the coming of some additional
down time, I want to make it my plan to get my kitchen back into a
healthier state. While I am proud of the additional veggies we have
added over the past few years, I can’t help but notice how far out
of the lean meats and whole grain pattern we have gotten. While I still
occasionally buy ground turkey, I have been buying hamburger because of
the cost difference. I have also been trying to use up all the boxes of
hamburger helper we seem to have, when I
know I can make my own, tastier and healthier ”helper” with just a
little more effort. So I plan on keeping the addition of the kale, sweet
potatoes and, zucchini to our table, be reintroducing lower fat
preparations.
This reminds me that I haven’t cooked
anything for the pure enjoyment of it in a while. I cook to provide
sustenance more often than I cook for the pleasure. While providing
nourishment is the overall idea, I have a real love of creating
in the kitchen. Sometimes I get one off “franken-dishes” that I
couldn’t replicate even if I had a recipe. Other times I get meals that
satisfy, but don’t make me ring the proverbial bell. These average
dishes make me strive to make them into delicious victories.
This is how I fought the cheesecake monster and won. Same goes for the
bread beast. When something confounds me, I fight back until I win. I
need to go toe to toe with something scrumptious and come out flour
streaked and triumphant. I’m on a hunt for the
next contender.
