Blessings of a small kitchen

My kitchen isn't the smallest kitchen.  It isn't the biggest, either.  Sometimes while I cook, I can find myself grumbling about lack of counter space, lack of cupboard space, or the fact that more than one person in the room starts to feel crowded.  Admittedly, I can get wrapped up in our culture's "bigger is better" mentality.  I can fall into comparing what I have to what others have, breeding discontentment in myself and my circumstances.  I know it's silly, but I do it anyway.  

This mindset takes away from the enjoyment I get when I cook.  Not just that, - it takes away my thankfulness for the MANY good things I have, not just in my kitchen.  For me, when discontentment starts in one place itdoesn't stay there.  It leaks into almost everything else.   And it can happen so fast, yet so quietly, that I hardly even notice until I'm grumpy and irritated at things that I didn't care about a half hour ago.

So, this week while I cooked, I decided to focus on why my kitchen is great.  As I thought about it, I realized there are benefits to a smaller kitchen.

1.  I can close the oven door with one hand while also using a foot to close the dishwasher.
2.  I can get something out of the fridge while still stirring something on the stove.
3.  Any ingredient that I might need in a hurry (which I often do because I realize at the last second that I forgot something) is only an arm's length or a few steps away.
4.  It forces me to be creative in the ways that I use the space.
5.  I can help kids with homework or easily carry on a conversation with someone at the kitchen table while I cook.
6.  I don't have to carry the food very far from the stove or oven to a counter or table. (This works well for me because I sometimes over estimate the toughness of my hands and how much heat they can handle)
7.  When I play music I can hear it from anywhere in the  kitchen without it having to be very loud.
8.  If (when) I burn food, I only have to turn around to dump it in the sink.
9.  Less counter space means I HAVE to clean as I go - which means less clean up at the end :)
10.  My favorite - it's easier for my husband to sneak up on me and surprise me with a hug and kiss.

In my small kitchen, I made another soup.  Yeah, I know - I already posted on soup.  But I found this one and had to try it.  It's hearty and filling, with a good mix of meat and veggies.  Here's my Butternut Stew with Pork and Spinach.  (Only I didn't have pork so I used ground beef instead.  It was still delicious!)

Music of the week:  Caedmon's Call.  Another old favorite and where we got our oldest son's name.

Until next time, my friends....live well.

Becky

Soup! It's what's for breakfast!

One of the biggest adjustments for me in this new way of eating has been what I eat for breakfast.  I have always loved breakfast.  As a kid I would eat two huge bowls of cereal every morning for breakfast.  On Saturdays, we had pancakes.  On Sundays we had waffles.   And, I would sometimes have another bowl of cereal at night for a snack.  Ah, yes - the glorious carb loaded, high sugar breakfast.  I loved it.  So, when I cut out grains and sugar from my diet, the big question was, "What on earth do I eat for breakfast?".

The first answer is:  eggs.  They are so good for you.  They've got plenty of protein, you can cook them a zillion different ways so you won't get bored.  My kids eat them every morning for breakfast.  Here is my problem.... I have never liked eggs.  No matter how you cook them, I just can't get past the taste and texture.

But, I recently decided it was time to grow up, put on my big girl pants, and eat some eggs.  So, one morning I made fried eggs.  About 30 minutes later my stomach was cramping and feeling sick.  I thought it was strange, but didn't know what was causing it yet.  Then next morning, I had the same breakfast, and the same thing happened.  I started to wonder if it was the eggs.  The next morning I didn't eat any eggs and my stomach felt fine.  Just to be sure, I tried eggs one more time and, sure enough, I felt sick until lunch time.  So, it turns out that my dislike for eggs wasn't just preference after all.  It seems that I can have them in limited amounts - like as an ingredient in something else when the amount of actual egg I consume is very minimal - but I can't have them as a main part of my meal.

That left me with a big, gaping hole in my breakfast menu.  What was I going to eat now?  I tried fruit, but there's no fat or protein, and hardly any calories in fruit.  By itself, it could barely hold me for an hour after I ate it.  Plus, once the sugar rush wore off, I was crashing big time.

Then, I read on a recipe blog that soup can make a good breakfast.  Soup?  At first it seemed so weird to me.  The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  Something smooth and hot and flavorful to start my day?  Yes, please!  So, each Saturday, one of the things I make for the week is a big batch of soup to have for breakfast.  I really love the creamy soups - it's almost like having oatmeal or cream of wheat, but with broth and veggies instead of dairy and grains.  Sooooo good!

One of the first soups I made, and the one that I think might be my favorite is the Silky Gingered Zucchini soup.  It's seriously amazing.  The first time I had it, I literally let out a contented sigh when it hit my taste buds.

That's what I made for myself this week.  It was so cold here and there's a bit of heat to the flavor of this soup.  It was perfect!

By the way, that orange thing on the plate with the sausage is an orange that I managed to completely mangle while peeling it :)

Here are a couple of my other favorite soups that I will make for breakfast:  Sweet Potato Bacon soup,
Golden Cauliflower soup.

Breakfast is, once again, a wonderful, beautiful meal that I look forward to each day.  I know, I'm getting sentimental over a meal - but seriously - it's so good!!

Music of the week:  After the craziness of the holidays, I decided to cook in quietness this week.  (That is, until the kids got home).  It was very refreshing to work quietly in my kitchen - just me, my thoughts, and my food.

Until next time, my friends.... Live well

Becky

An Executive Pardon for Supermom

So, there's this article that I've seen floating around the Facebook world a couple of times now. "Killing Off Supermom".  When I first read the article, I wanted to cheer.  "Yes!  Down with Supermom!"  It is so validating to hear how not-perfect other people are- because really we all are.

As I thought more about it, though, I realized something.  "I'm being super-judgmental right now.  Why should I want to rid the world of someone who's really good at throwing parties or keeping their house clean?"  Now, I'm not saying that most people who read the article were being judgmental - I'm saying that I was.  I am also not saying that the author was being judgmental.  I am reasonably sure that her intentions were not to create judgment.  But, for me - that's what happened.

So, here's how I'm thinking about it.  There may be some women in the world that really thrive as a mom.  They have personalities that lend themselves to structure, so they can make a cleaning schedule and stick to it.  Maybe they really, really love throwing parties and taking their kids all over the place.  Maybe there are some moms who aren't trying to prove anything - they just really like that stuff and love to do it.

For those moms, my hope is that they are doing it because they really, really do love it.  That they aren't thinking that they have to do those things so that the rest of us moms don't think less of them.  My hope is that they can be super all day long and then put their feet up at night and enjoy some down-time.  That "being super" doesn't mean "being perfect".  And if you're a mom who still struggles with the whole "perfect" thing - that's okay, too.  Truth be told, I think we all do - at least sometimes.

So, Supermom - if you're out there and you're supering-it-up all day because you feel great doing it and you genuinely enjoy doing the things that I might think you're crazy for doing - then I say "Way to go!".  I will allow you to do what you enjoy doing without judging you for it.  I will work on my own insecurities that might make me feel jealous or "less than" when I'm around you.  I will recognize that, in each our own way, we are all Supermom at something.  My Supermom ability might not be as visible as yours - and that's okay.  My Supermom ability isn't for your benefit - it's for my family.  Just like your Supermom abilities aren't for me - they are for your family.  So, I will not judge -  you or myself.

And so, whether you fall in the category of organized, tidy, and on top of it - or you fall more so in the category of "What day is it?", "I don't remember the last time I cleaned the toilet.", and "I'm pretty sure that basket of clothes is clean - I think."  - or if you fall somewhere in the middle... Here's what we all have in common - WE LOVE OUR KIDS.

Supermom or not-so-Supermom, we all love our kids to the moon and back.  Whether you're the party throwing kind, the taxi cab kind, the pack healthy lunches kind, the buy hot lunch kind, the let's-make-a-craft kind, or the let's-sit-and-watch-a-movie kind...  The one Supermom ability we all have is to love our kids with a love we didn't know we possessed until we held our little ones for the first time.  If you ask me, that is by far the best kind of ability to have.

Until next time, my superfriends.... live well.

Becky