Besitos

 

Yes, I pretty much live for these. Happy Sunday.

Lessons in Midget Keeping: #1

Don’t make plans.

 

You can make plans, but be prepared for a curve ball to hit you the moment you do.

 

My Midgets rarely get sick.  Midget N. is going to be 3 in May and this only her 3rd time to be sick and this is Midget’s C’s 2nd time in 2 years of life. I am very blessed that they have super immune systems.

Of course they get sick on a week that I make big plans to get organized and start a new work out program.  Luckily, the Midgets and their super immune systems have them feeling well after only one day under the weather.

Me on the other hand? I’m going on day 3. So those plans? Half way done, the house is a mess but I’ve kept up with my work out program. One of 2 isn’t bad, right?

Alright let’s talk about getting fit…

I haven’t talked about it in a while because, frankly? I stopped caring. Mostly because the scale got stuck for a while. Mostly because I didn’t like what the desire to lose weight was doing to me.

I got sick of looking at foods in terms of calories, in terms of good or bad. I got sick of not being able to enjoy my food because I was afraid I would eat too much, or sometimes even too little.  I saw it becoming a slippery slope. I saw my love of food diminishing. I saw the joy I get from creating meals slip away, slowly. Cooking is my hobby, it’s my passion.  I cook a lot of wholesome and nutritious meals but at the same time I just can’t say no to butter, cheese, bacon and cream. Can’t. Won’t.

I realized my desire to lose weight took over the joy I felt in the kitchen. The joy I felt sitting down to enjoy dinner with my family. I decided to stop measuring my food and counting my calories. I didn’t know what that would mean for my weight, but I just knew I couldn’t handle the stress food was bringing me. Stress, because of food? Wtf?

That’s not me. It’s not who I am. Food brings me joy, pleasure, nourishment. Not stress.

I began to remember the days when I would eat because I was hungry and stop eating because I was full. I remembered when I didn’t view food as good or bad. When I didn’t eat something because of what I had left in terms of calorie goals for the day.  When I wouldn’t ignore my stomach when it was hungry.

I want to listen to my body again. I want to listen to my stomach and eat when I’m hungry, and stop when I’m full. So I’m working on it, and I’m not going to lie. It’s hard. I first started doing this back in August and I gained 7 pounds the first 2 months but the good news is that I haven’t gained anything since then.

I actually made it through the holidays without any weight gain, which is huge.  I listened to my body and ate when I was hungry and most of the time stopped when I was full. I did that even despite of  not having any time to work out until this week.

So that’s pretty much where I am in terms of getting fit. I’m reconnecting with my body and enjoying food again.  This is a journey and if it’s a slow one, that’s okay. I know I will get better at listening to my body. I know the learning period might be a long one but I just know I don’t ever want to count a single calorie ever again.

Recovered.

Happy New Year!

Well, I am finally recovered from the Holidays.  It feels like this holiday season was longer, busier, and better then ever.  Today the Husband went back to work after an extra long weekend and this means for me that I’m back into the swing of things too. My daily routine has been all out of whack for a while so it will be good to get everything back in order. Which is what this week is all about for me.

This morning I got up and completed a 30 minute cardio work out which has left me wide awake and itching to get organized. So that’s what I plan to do. First thing on the list though, breakfast.

11/24/2007

3 years ago today we said our vows,

 

and we do. Every day.  

For as beautiful as vows may be, they are still only words. Anyone, can say them but what truly matters is that you keep them, and live every day in remembrance of them. Because, the saying is true, actions speak louder then words.  I am eternally grateful that I said I do to a man who shows me love, respect, and support not just by his words but with his actions.

Love you forever Mr. M

Lazy

I hate Autumn, I really do. I feel like the season really drains me of my energy. The gloomy,cold weather and time change leaves me with no desire but to lounge and veg out. Not good.  Plus impossible to do when you have two Midgets running around.

New England weather is especially dreary this time of year, which means bad photos.

 

 

It hard to get decent pictures, especially in a kitchen that lets hardly any light in. So the blogging process is therefore lengthened as I have to spend so much time editing pictures.

Here is where the lazy part comes in. I had a way to help with this lack of light, but I’ve been way too lazy to make an effort.

 

I have two photography lights that I actually use when I take pictures of the Midgets indoors. The thing is that I’ve always relied on Mr. M to set them up and I have been to lazy to attempt to set them up myself.

Finally, yesterday I accepted that this weather is here to stay and I needed to get off my butt and continue to work on my food photography.

It’s amazing what the addition of the lights and putting my camera on a tripod did to my pictures.

So much better. Plus, it minimized the amount of shots I took and photo editing was done in two steps.

 

So here is what I added. One of my photography lights (purchased on Amazon.com), plus a tripod.

 

I also stole Midget N’s step stool. I am a midget myself, only 5’2” and the step stool gave me better shooting range. Awesome.

 

 

Yes, I’m a dork and turned my kitchen into a studio but I am so happy I did. I am happy I got over my laziness, and kicked the crap out of Autumn. It really made my day to be able to do something that I love, and it has even inspired me to start shooting in RAW mode. Another thing I’ve been wanting to figure out, but I was just too lazy to do.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

Making our house a home.

When Mr. M and I started our lives together over three years ago we didn’t have much between us. Our clothes, a bed, and a few kitchen supplies. For a couple of months we only used the kitchen and bedroom because we didn’t have anything other then a bed to sit on.

Furnishing is a house is expensive. Buying a bunch of cheap furniture and decor that would later be thrown out just felt like a big waste of money. We decided to purchase only what was necessary.

 

Looks more like a bachelor pad then a family home huh? Recently we decided to take a plunge and purchase a few new pieces of furniture to make our place more comfortable and maybe even a bit more stylish.

 

I was so amazed how much of a difference these few changes made, so I got inspired to go even a step further. I got new curtains, pillows, lampshades, and picture frames.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our place feels so much warmer and cozier. Which is perfect now that winter is approaching.  Home will always be where my little family is but having a homey place to spend our time together is pretty sweet.

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Things I catch the boy Midget doing.

Oh look how cute, Midget C. looking out the window.  Lets take a closer look shall we?

Is that a window sill you are standing on? A window sill so narrow your tiny little feet don’t even fit on it? Now, how did you get on there?

Oh, you climbed up the couch?  Trying to give Mommy a heart attack? Not ‘til I take a picture documenting your mischief, so I can show your Father when he gets home. (Bad Midget Keeper, I know)

He was promptly retrieved and sent to time out. He is supposed to stay there for a one minute, since he is one year old. Yeah he stayed there one second. Punishment doesn’t scare my boy. He was back to his climbing ways seconds later.

Do you see the other Midget in the picture? Oh yes, the girl Midget. She knows her Brother just got caught in the act. Her looks says it all, “Buddy is crazy Mom.”

Oh yes sweet girl, you are learning at a young age that boys are very different from you.

While your Brother is getting caught climbing, you are caught, nurturing.

Oh my girl, you are so sweet and well behaved. Alright, you aren’t always so well behaved but you actually understand time out.  You stay there for two whole minutes and you don’t like it. You think about things a little more before doing them.

Also in your one year older wisdom, you’re smart enough to send your Brother to do the dirty work before you attempt it.

You know climbing is a big no no.  How do you know this? Because you’ve already mastered the art of climbing by now, you’ve logged many minutes in time out because of it.  It is the reason you ruined the TV in your play room. Why your easel, table, chairs, and several toy baskets have all been confiscated. Nothing will keep you from climbing either. Nothing.

Mark my words. You Midgets will not win this climbing war, if this happens again I’ll take the couch away… Oh wait.

Midgets: 999,999

Midgetkeeper: 0

Bacon, Leek & Potato Soup

The first recipe in  Mastering The Art of French Cooking is Potage Parmentier. Sounds fancy huh? Upon further reading you find out it isn’t. It’s a very simple Leek and Potato Soup.  It calls for five ingredients: potatoes, leeks, water,salt, and heavy cream. That’s it.

I was still a little intimidated because I had never made a potato soup before and further more I had never even tasted a leek. I actually had to Google leeks before I went to the store. That evening I followed the detailed step by step instructions in the book and discovered it was as easy as it read.

In the end I had a simple, creamy, hearty and delicious soup. The following week instead of tackling another soup in the book I decided to make a variation of the Leek and Potato Soup. I still wanted to keep the ingredients simple, so I added two tasty and simple ingredients. Bacon,

and pepper.

 

 

Now you’ll have to forgive me for rushing a bit and forgetting to photograph the slicing of 4 potatoes, and peeling and slicing of the leeks. I think you can use your imagination. Potatoes are easy and to slice the leeks all I did was peel back a few of the hard green layers until I found tender green leaves, and then I sliced them. Aren’t they pretty?

 

I took all prepped potatoes, leeks and bacon and threw them in a pot with 6 cups of water.

 

I added 1 TB of fine sea salt and

 

1 tsp pepper.

 

I brought my ingredients to a boil,

 

and let them simmer for 50-60 minutes with the lid cracked a bit.

 

This was the result of all that simmering.

 

Off to the blender it goes.

 

I blended all of it.

 

Well not all of it, all of it wouldn’t fit in the blender at one time.

 

 

Once everything was blended all up, I transferred it back to the pot.

 

and brought it back to a simmer for a few minutes, stirring slowly, so I could get ready to serve.

 

This recipe makes quite a bit and it freezes wonderfully so only plate what you will be eating at that moment. You don’t want to add the cream to the portion you aren’t consuming at the time.

 

Add 1 tbsp of cream, yes I eyeballed it.

 

I made it pretty adding some crispy bacon and some chopped chives. Now you don’t have to do that…

but you should.

 

Not only does it look really pretty but it makes the soup taste like a loaded baked potato.

 

This soup is delicious. I love the saltiness of the bacon, the slight onion flavor from the leeks and you can’t beat the creaminess of the potatoes and cream.

Oh my.

 

Mr. M a long self declared hater of soup, devoured this. He says that soup doesn’t fill you up.

 

Well this soup filled him right up, he couldn’t even finish his bowl much less the rest of his food. A little goes a long way.

 

 

And the Midgets?

They loved it! They bathed in it, literally.

 

I don’t blame them, I want to bathe in this soup too.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Bacon, Leek & Potato Soup

Inspired by Mastering The Art Of French Cooking

• 3 to 4 medium sized potatoes.
• 3 Leeks.
• 6 slices of bacon.
• 6 to 8 cups water.
• 1 TB finely ground sea salt
• 1 tbsp pepper.
• Heavy cream, 1 TB per serving.

1. Slice or dice your potatoes.
2. Peel back hard green leaves off the leeks, and slice entire leek once you hit the tender green leaves.
3. Slice bacon.
4. Add all ingredients to water.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Simmer for 50-60 minutes.
7. Blend your simmered ingredients until smooth.
8. Transfer blended ingredients back to pot.
9. Bring to a slow simmer.
10. Serve, and add 1 TB of heavy cream per serving.

Inspiration

You know what I remember most about Saturdays of my child hood, other then it being cleaning day? PBS programming.  Mr. Rogers:

Bob Ross:

(source)

and my favorite Julia Child:

Oh how I loved watching Julia Child do her thing in the kitchen. I drooled over the recipes, was delighted by her high pitched voice, and dreamed of one day being able to cook like that.

Because of Julia Child I developed an interest in French cuisine, culture, and language. Because of her I took French and joined French club in school. I did this with the hope that I would get to eat some French food. Sure, I learned to love the language and was actually quite good at it but my favorite part was learning about the culture and food.

I still remember the first French recipe I ever made, Coq Au Vin. I remember we were paired into groups and were to cook a French dish for our final. There were three of us, but I was the leader in that kitchen. I remember tying the incredibly fragrant fresh herbs in cheese cloth and being amazed at the purple color our dish took on once we added a bottle of wine to it. Mostly, I remember the way the finished dish tasted, how it was unlike anything I had ever eaten before. I remember the creaminess of the sauce, the way the mushrooms, onions, and chicken just melted on my tongue. It was one of the many experiences that has lead to my immense love for the kitchen.

Back in April on my birthday I got these:

Since then I have read them cover to cover three times. I just love these books, I just love Julia Child. I know, how very Julie and Julia of me.

Up until a few weeks ago, I had only attempted Boeuf Bourguignon and Hollandaise sauce. I am very intimated by the recipes in the books. I don’t have the proper tools, my pots and pans are a 3 year old $100 set from Target. My knives were also purchased at Target for about $20. I have one better knife, one, and even it isn’t that great.

When I read the first chapter for the first time and I saw the list of all the equipment you will need to create these recipes in your home I got discouraged. I have maybe 2 of the proper tools needed, and I really felt like I had no business even attempting these recipes.

But after reading it for the third time, I realized I had already learned so much. In fact I learn something new every time I read them. I have learned definitions to so many cooking terms, how to properly dice vegetables, about wine pairings, temperatures, cuts of meat  and more.

I realized I want to learn more, and because of the Midgets Culinary School isn’t in my future. So I know the way I am going to learn is the way that I’ve learned to cook up to this point. Just get in there and do it.

So what if my equipment sucks? So what if sometimes I can’t find the ingredients at the commissary on base, and  that I’m too afraid to leave the Island on my own (we’ll leave this for another day)? So what? Lacking equipment, ingredients and space has never stopped me in the kitchen before. Not when we lived in a tiny studio apartment that had twenty-four inches of counter space, and onto our first two bedroom apartment that had thirty-six inches of counter space. I never stopped cooking. I never let lack of anything stop me in the kitchen before, and I won’t do it know.

I know it’s cliché, unoriginal and it’s been done before. I am one of many inspired by Julia Childs, and also Julie and Julia.  I am not ashamed of it, because Julia Childs was one amazing woman, and amazing people inspire. I am grateful for the inspiration and I am in love with what I’m learning. I’m consumed by French cuisine at the moment, and it makes me happy. So I want to share that on my blog, because I think it might make you happy too.