Kitchen Table

Our kitchen table is small
 but perfect for our kitchen and our life style.
We spend many hours at our kitchen table.

Our table is our gathering spot. I have had many friends at my table. I have shared many stories.

We have our meals at the table.

We discuss,

 make plans,

we make our lists and plan our meals
 while sitting at the kitchen table.

We play games at the kitchen table.
We often do crafts at the table.

Every morning I write
at the kitchen table.

I read and take notes at the table.
Family and friends are always welcomed at our
kitchen table.
My kitchen table is a busy table.

Commitment to Green Living

While searching in the online card catolog for my local library I came across this 2009, copyright marvel.

Within the first twenty-five pages I learned many new to me ways to reduce my cooking print.

Our garbage disposal broke after 28 years of service. I had just read on page 24 how we do not need garbage disposals.

We do use our compost bins but have thought a garbage disposal was a standard kitchen small appliance. After much discussion we decide rather than replace we would eliminated the garbage disposal.

We are saving water, electricity and the resources that would have been used to build a garbage disposal. Plus we are saving all the processes involed in sorting out any solid matter that would have gone into the drain and the sewage system. All in all a good thing is to scrape plates into our green bin for the compost. This is one of hundreds of tips and explanations for becoming mindful in the kitchen. After many years of mindful living I am shocked at how much more I can do. 

My husband and I have made a commitment to living green. Everytime I read another green tip that helps in my green way I am so pleased. It is a joint affair that is fun and we are finding elegant ways to live in harmony with natural.

We are working towards waste free living, my goal for 2011! This means I will be mindful of all the useage of my resources. I shall follow my products back to their sources. I will make informed decisions. If you can request this book from your library I strongly recommend reading and putting into practice as many of these green living ways as possible. Some things I have been doing for years. We use cloth napkins and no paper towels. We have an indoor recycle bin so we do not have to open the door to the unheated garage in the winter very often. I noticed yesterday morning I was opening the refrigerator every time I wanted some co-conut milk for my coffee.
My solution was to use a pretty creamer, fill it with co-conut milk once and place it by the coffee carafe.  Pretty and a greener way to live.

Diane MacEachern's Big Green Purse is another amazing book. She covers many aspects of our lives. I especially like the way she reveals "green washing" marketing techniques. Now that green living is popular we must be aware when a company is only using the green movement to sell products.
Knowing what you are really buying is worth reading the labels and being informed. Making smart purchases will also save you money.

We are enjoying our smoothies.
We are having a great time cooking together.

Denny Waxman, a 30 year veteran of living the micro-biotic way of live has reminded me of how important being in harmony with nature is for health.
Macrobiotics comes from the Greek words meaning "great life."

This seven step approach to living is life transforming.
I am on step one, "take time for your meals everyday."
It is advised to spend twenty minutes at the table for each meal.
I have a timer.
We are spending more time at our kitchen table.
We are having kitchen table time.

Tasty

This salt is the finest I have ever used.

I enjoy my grapefruit peeled with a sprinkling of salt.
Just thinking about how delicious this is makes me hungry!

I had a bowl of peeled grapefruit for breakfast while on vacation in Texas a couple of years ago. The grapefruit was freshly picked.

It was wonderful. I decided I must learn how to peel a grapefruit.
I looked on u-tube for a demostration video
on how to peel a grapefruit. It is easy to do. I have been practicing. I think I am ready to serve peeled grapefruit for Christmas breakfast.

We bought a slow cooker in November.

I have used it at least once a week.

My favorite slow cooked dish is soup.

Seems as if Sunday has become soup day.

Yesterday's soup was:

Potato Carrot soup

12 small golden potatoes cut into chunks

1 red onion diced

sliced carrots I used 12 small baby carrots.

sliced celery

salt and pepper

parsely

I covered the vegetables with water and slow cooked them for 6 hours.

I added salt and pepper right before I served. I sprinkled parsley on top for garnish.

There is enough soup for three dinners.

Tonight I added rice to our soup.

It was so tasy. Nice to have a quick hot soup when it is so very cold outside.

Soup is comfort food for me.

The cowgirl has entered the kitchen.

We eat a few eggs each week.
The shells we are using in our drip coffee
before sending them to the compost.
I do think it makes for a smoother cup of coffee.

We enjoy the good sweet potato.
I think for Christmas breakfast I will make
sweet potato hash browns.
The Fleur de Sel and white pepper will be
all they need.

I am learning how all the appliances
in my kitchen work.
We cleaned out the cabinets and drawers
in the Kitchen.
We organized our baking things.
We organized the pantry.
We organized the spice cabinet.
The Kitchen is ready to start the New Year.

I am going to do
meal planning in 2011.

I will be using different cookbooks,
that I check out from the library,
 for inspiration.

I want to eat seasonally
and as locally as possible.

Winter Solstice  pumpkin soup

sounds divine.

I will leave off the dry sherry
and the half and half.
Perhaps I shall serve
 a bit of cornbread on the side.

Cookies

We began our glutten free baking last night.

We started off with Raison Oatmeal cookies.
 My husband's favorite.
I used my old recipe and substituted
 Bob's Red Mill glutton free flour for the wheat flour.
We also added 1/4th teaspoon xanthan gum powder to our batter.
These cookies taste just as good as Raison Oatmeal cookies made with wheat flour.

I have a few recipes I want to try.

We want to try to bake
glutton free bread.

This cookbook has inspired me to write my cookbook.
I have a recipe book I have used in the past but never did I write the stories that go with each recipe.
Now that we are baking glutton free
we have another story to add to familiar recipes.
It just takes a minute to write the changes down.
I am filling in the history while the cookies cool.

December's Cookbooks

I read cookbooks.

I just love the way they are written.
I enjoy the photographs too.

We are eating lots of homemade soup.

and dreaming about pie.

We add lots of cinnamon
to our diet.

I use cherries as a motif in December.
I do enjoy the cherry flavor.

We have our hot tea in the evenings.
We still have fresh mint in the garden.

We are doing protein drinks
and smoothies.
I am looking forward to our first snow
and hot chocolate made with co-conut milk.

Fig Preserves

California Figs are ripe and in the stores.

We bought 16 pounds!

We followed Jam Ladies' recipe for Black Mission fig preserves.

This was our first canning experience.

We used a boiling water canning method
so we did not need the pressure on the canner.

Our preserves came out just wonderfully!

We did up 18 half pints of Fig preserves.
This was so easy.
We are ready to do up a few more.

Cook Books

I have been reading cook books.

Trying out some new combinations.

My husband and I cook together.

We have done some baking.

It is fun to dance together in the kitchen.

Being glutton free is not as hard
as it once was.

I am trying new spices.

Cooking is so much fun!