Pantry Staples

I've been giving some thought to my other "resolution", which is to try a new food (or cook with a food I have never cooked with before) every week in 2011. Since I'm focusing on A) cooking healthier, B) cooking more consciously and C) cooking more economically, my thoughts naturally went to our pantry, and the things I feel like I always MUST have on hand for meal components. My list probably looks a lot like many people's, but I felt like reflecting on it anyway.

I love things in cans. I'm not ashamed. I know a lot of people cringe at sodium content, but not I. I think it comes from my days (now renewed) of counting calories. I wouldn't even look at any other numbers most of the time. Sugar, protein, and fat sometimes, yes. Not the best habit, not the worst, but there you have it. So don't judge my pantry, or if you do, keep it to yourself. I like it. :)
So here, in no particular order, are the things I can't live without in my pantry. No, really. If I run out, I feel empty inside until I get to the grocery store.

• Coconut milk (preferably lite)
• Diced tomatoes (some plain, some garlic, etc)
• Near East Rice pilaf - I stock up when it goes on sale for 88 cents
• Baked Beans - I prefer B&M over Bush's, cuz that's how I roll
• Kidney beans, pinto beans, cannelini beans, garbanzo beans
  
• Sauerkraut (with caraway seeds, if I can find it - Bavarian style)
• Lipton's Onion Soup Mix
• Condensed Soup - Cream of Chicken, Cream of Mushroom, Tomato
• Chicken & Beef Broth
• Pasta (Rotini, Bowties, Spaghetti)
• Egg Noodles (not to be included with pasta because they are just not the same)
  

I'm getting distracted, but that is really the barest essentials, the things that immediately come to mind. Coconut milk is great for curries and Thai or Indian inspired dishes. Diced tomatoes go in everything from chili, spaghetti, soups, and cassroles. Rice pilaf is great to have on days I'm stuck for a starch. Baked beans are a great pairing with kielbasa or hot dogs for a really quick dinner. Sauerkraut is my favorite pairing with kielbasa & pierogies. Mmmm, pierogies. I hadn't even heard of the Bavarian style til last year, but trust me. Eez gooood. The soups/broths shouldn't come as any surprise, because so many recipes call for them - especially crock pot recipes, and I live by my crock pot.

We have a pretty amazing spice cabinet (oh yes, they live in their own cabinet) that really deserves a week of dedication all to itself. So I am seldom without the spices I need. I always keep a jar of minced garlic in the fridge! I <3 garlic. Mmmm, garlic. From these thigns I feel like I can always build a meal I enjoy in a pinch.

Auld Lang Syne

Yes, yes - with new years, come new "resolutions". I typically stray away from making resolutions, since when I break them I beat myself up over it. But New Year's truly is the perfect time to start a renewed focus on healthy eating and exercise. Why stress yourself throughout the holidays when there is so much temptation and fattening food? Life is meant to be lived. January marks a cold gray stretch with no (food driven) holidays in sight. Well, Easter looms in the horizon, but I can handle a few chocolate bunnies.

Unfortunately, January also marks the beginning of tax season, aka the four months of the year I work my butt off so I can be home with my girls for the other eight. Working long and funky hours usually means lots of fast food, take out, and lots of late night eating. Hurdles. But acknowledging the hurdles that lay ahead of you before you start the race is better than stepping forward oblivious and tripping over them.

So, here we are. I'm the heaviest I have ever been, excluding my weight when I gave birth to Violet. That's kind of scary. No, that's REALLY scary. This also means I am over 115 lbs away from my previous 'lowest' weight. That sounds like a long uphill battle, and it is. But I've done it once, so I can do it again. Of course, the first time I did it I was unwed and childless and free to go spend two hours playing tennis. Oh, man, I miss tennis. I was terrible, but it sure was fun. I'm sure it'll feel like the blink of an eye before the girls are old enough to bring to the park and we can watch them play as we lob balls around, but right now it seems a lifetime away.

Since I am too self conscious to record my official weight for the anonymous interwebz, we shall mark today's weight as x, and all future as x-5, x-30... Until I feel comfprtable enough with where I am at too tell you what x was today. I know the last time around, I was way happy to tell everyone how huge I had been when I no longer was. Here's looking forward to that day coming again, and here's to everyone else's dreams for themselves in 2011, whatever they may be.

My New Year's "Resolution"

Ok, so A) it is a little early for this and B) I generally shun resolutions, having broken so many in my life. But here goes:

52 New. My goal is going to be to try 52 new foods, one every week, in 2011. I'm going to aim to make many/most of them new fruits, vegetables, spices, or other non-processed foods that I can incorporate into family meals. It doesn't count if I don't KNOW I've eaten it before. :)

My inspiration? Comes from a couple places. This summer, I enviously listened as friends got their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes every week. They'd joke how hard some things were to recognize, or figure out what to do with. I thought that was pretty cool - after all, you've paid for it, so you'd darn well better figure out how to cook it, right?

More recently, I was at the grocery store, picking up fresh veggies to make a beef & vegetable soup. Can I say that I LOVE our Market Basket's produce department? It is big, diverse, and affordable. Mmm, I love you Market Basket. Anyway, I found myself drawn to the aisle with greens. My parents never did a lot of cooking with greens, aside from spinach. Generally from a can. (Please contain your jealousy). So aside from a nice mesculin salad mix, or watching them as a secret ingredient on Chopped, I've got very little experience. I knew SOME of them must go well in soup, but no idea which ones. I ended up choosing escarole and dandelion greens. As I was prepping the soup, I thought - I could do this. Something new every week. Expand my horizons in a culinary kind of way. So, that is what I shall aim to do. :)

Our Christmas Card

I'm really super happy with our Christmas card. Thank you Shutterfly. Now please get them here in a timely fashion, so I can in turn mail them before 2012 and the Mayans come for me.

Oh What Fun Christmas Card

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MIA

I suck at blogging, kinda. The truth?

PPD is kicking my ass. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. I get lazy with my meds and my brain turns to mush. I'm working on it. I'll get my umami back, no worries.

I won a blog giveaway!

I never win anything. Seriously. In elementary school, when it was sticker day at lunch I never ONCE found one on the bottom of my tray.

..Ok, I did win amazing Red Sox tickets from work once. And I won a spot to play on a charity softball game on Fenway Park's field. So I'll be quiet. But still!! I won something!!

More specifically, I won a super cute onesie given away by Mama of All Trades in conjunction with Etsy shop Morning Star Loft. Eeeeeeeeeee. So excited. Thanks, ladies!

The Wiggles

Last week, the Wiggles were in town, and we were lucky enough to take Pip. She was in Heaven - or, in Heaven once she recovered from the overwhelming noise and craziness that is a live performance with another several hundred people. I can't thank them enough for putting on such a great show. Two of the Wiggles actually came up into the audience. And not just into the audience. Like, up into the back-arse balcony where we were sitting. For a bunch of guys that have been doing this for 19 years, that's pretty commendable.

About, oh...7 years ago (eek), I was the Children's Lead at your friendly neighborhood bookstore. That meant, among other things, I was responsible for storytime twice a week. I remember having a Wiggles themed storytime and thinking "What the Sam Hill is this all about?" Oh, how I wish I'd had the psychic foresight to buy every Wiggles- themed item and store them in anticipation that my future spawn would appreciate them. You might laugh, but uhm... I did that with Olivia merchandise. This was well before the TV show, mind you, but the books were popular enough to spin off several items. And when those items were marked down marked down marked down, I bought them. Pretty fortuitous since Olivia now rocks Nick Jr, and Ms. P loves her.

On a Mommy-themed message board I used to frequent, people would turn their noses up at The Wiggles. I've seen people swear up and down they'll avoid them at all costs. Sympathetically pat others on the shoulder (virtually of course) because their kid likes them. Well, I am here to announce that I love the Wiggles. Mock me if you will. I'd choose Wiggles over Dora ANY day of the week. Or that God-awful Caillou - I have not yet met a parent who likes that whiny little French twerp. Maybe somewhere on a blog out in cyberspace, there is a mom right now pronouncing her love for him. She's obviously insane.

(And if you are a snooty mom whose child only gets 20 minutes of TV a week because TV poisons your brain and therefore your child doesn't know who an of these people even are - you and I would never, ever, ever be friends.)