Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Feeding Our Families

..
























I sometimes wonder how it is that I don't post much food or kitchen stuff here considering that it is what occupies most of my hours, days, years…

Even when I'm not in the kitchen my mind is still often contemplating the days meals, the baking list, the weeks' menu, the grocery list. 

Good thing all this food stuff makes me happy.

Here above is a collection of almost every food photo I have ever shared on my blog (minus birthdays cakes, and more garden salads). This despite the fact that I have obviously cooked thousands of meals and baked hundreds of loaves of bread in recent years! (Wow!)

I would really like to be sharing more here about that wonderful work we all do of preparing food for the ones we love. So to help motivate myself I decided to invite some special blog friends to join me in a series of posts on feeding our families. At the beginning of each month we will share some of what is on our kitchen hearts, and I very much am looking forward to the conversation and inspiration!

Now I will be honest and tell you that, oh my, this first post just snuck on me! Yeah, you might think I would have had something prepared ahead of time, but no. 

At least I remembered to get the oats soaking last night! Porridge for breakfast. Probably with only butter and honey as I usually cannot get the girls to add any fruit or nuts to their bowls. Unless it's peach season. And sometimes apple. I guess it's really more the dried fruit they are opposed to. 

For dinner there is leftover pinto beans and brown rice, creamy from coconut milk, yummy from the addition of sautéed onion and green peppers. Surprising that the girls liked the coconut milk part. The first night it was served with roasted winter squash, tonight… oh phooey, I just realized I didn't buy the cabbage I meant to get at the market yesterday. Well, so I guess we won't be having roasted cabbage for dinner… 

(Simple and good… Roasted cabbage… I cut a head of cabbage into wedges, sprinkle with a little olive oil or coconut oil, sea salt and pepper, into oven at 400 degrees until it's done to your liking. That's about as good as I can do at recipe sharing for now…)

We actually don't eat rice very often, but beans, plenty, and my family would likely say more than enough. Later this week I have a garbanzo bean dish planned. It's just onion sautéed in lots of olive oil, garbanzo beans (I cook ours in a crockpot) and lots of cilantro. And lots of pepper, which must be freshly ground according to my sister, but we're always out of peppercorns…

Well there, that was almost like sharing two recipe ideas!

Today's baking list is scones in the morning and then the several loaves bread that will last us the next few days. The girls will probably help with the scones. 

Oh, and Jason is feeling like he is up for the challenge of cooking dinner one night a week! It's the time part that will be challenging, as his kitchen skills are really quite great. Last week he made some delicious chili with ground elk. (Oh, and last autumn he hunted elk, his first successful year, and how great it is to have meat put away in the freezer!) (A long way from vegan! But we are still as particular as ever about our food choices!)


See, it looks like I will have no problem at all finding all kinds of food stuff to ramble on about!


Please feel free to share any food thoughts you may have…
and please visit my dear friends who were kind enough to take up this little project with me…





5 comments:

Mama Ash Grove said...

Dear Renee,
No problem talking about food stuff at all! I totally enjoyed reading all of this, even though I knew most of it. Your conversational way of writing sounds just like the way you talk.:)
And I am going to put the chickpea sauteed recipe on one of my lists. .. !
HUGS and love, Mel

Jules said...

My goodness, sweet Renee, those are such beautiful loaves you make! I cannot seem to manage such lovely baked prettiness with gluten-free! My husband also does not like beans so I save those meals when he is in the mountains...I love the hearty, homey bean meals. Renee, this is so inspirational to me...I'm happy to be along for the ride.
xo Jules

Tonya Gunn said...

Thank you so much for this wonderful idea Renee. It is something that I wanted to focus more on this year as well as we work a little less at our business and a little more on our homestead (which food is the number 1 priority behind firewood).
We also eat very simply like you and thanks for the great idea with cabbage!
Love, Tonya

Sarah-Our Island Home said...

I really enjoyed reading this post Renee. Thanks for the recipe ideas. We also eat lots of beans. Your bread looks amazing! Perhaps you could share a few of your bread baking tricks in a future post? Thank you again so much for this idea and for inviting me to join in. I loved reading all of the posts this week and can't wait for the next ones...

Old Gates Farm said...

Just discovered your blog and looking forward to these monthly food posts! Warmly, Kris