Savory Breakfasts

I read an article in the paper this week that recommended a maximum daily sugar intake of 3 teaspoons for children, 5 teaspoons for women, and 9 teaspoons for men (which I think is ironic because the women I know adore sweets more than men do).

I know my family consumes more sugar than that!  And I thought we were pretty conservative with the sugar around here. The authors were vague about what exactly was counted as sugar (fruit?  honey? just white cane sugar?), but I suddenly began to notice all the sweets I was eating. 

Now, I do try very hard not to be alarmist and jump on bandwagons.  What I realized is that we eat a lot of sweet breakfasts here, when in fact my husband and I are more fond of savory breakfasts anyway.

So I made a list of the savory breakfasts I know.  Most of them involved cheese or eggs:

1.  creamed (veg) or dried beef on toast or biscuits
2.  bagels + cheese
3.  pizza
4.  potatoes, eggs, toast
5.  cornmeal mush, fried or not, with vegs and cheese
6.  savory oatmeal
7.  tortillas, beans, cheese
8.  macaroni and cheese, tomatoes
9.  cheese grits
10.  miso soup

But here is a breakfast I made on the fly one morning, which involved only a smidge of smoked cheddar.  I sauteed a bunch of mushrooms and a little onion.  I made a white sauce on top of them, making sure the roux (flour and butter) was well browned for flavor.  I added a little thyme, freshly ground pepper, and smoked cheddar for flavor too. 

We ate these creamed mushrooms over sourdough toast.  We did have orange juice on the side, a rare treat, as I consider juice in the same category as soda, nutrition and calorie-wise.

Ben was happy to clean the pot of its remaining few tablespoons.

Any other savory breakfast ideas?  (As I go off to make our traditional Saturday morning sweet breakfast!)

My Gardening Epiphany

I am a novice gardener.  I work with great resolve. . . for 10 minutes.  I vow to do better next season, and then I resort, in panic, to the same plants at the same stores.  I don't check for prices, I don't start plants from seeds, I don't know where to begin.  I ask experienced gardeners too many questions and don't retain the answers when I'm in front of my own draggled beds.  I keep a gardening notebook for 2 weeks and then I lose it. 

Pretty:  irises

I envy people with luxuriant gardens, yards, and houseplants, and I buzz around trying to figure out how to copy them.

Pretty: hostas with rain drops

It's true. But it's not going to be the end of the story.

Happy:  the peas are blossoming!  The spinach is big.

Because I suddenly realized today that I used to be an inept cook with all the attendant fear and desperation.  But I'm not anymore. I'm skilled!  I'm the expert!  The inept cooks ask me!

Suddenly I put my gardening ineptitude in context.

Funny:  old shoes of Ben's, waiting for some hen & chicks

I can't remember exactly how I went from incompetence to skills in cooking, but I know it took time and many mistakes.  I did read books and ask questions, but mostly I just kept cooking.

Real: there's dill and parsley there, among the weeds

So be it.  I will learn, over the years, to be a skilled gardener.  Because that's what I want; I could even call it a goal.

I want to have an asparagus patch, a climbing something on my porch, maybe even an espaliered fruit tree.  I am taking heart and continuing on.

Real:  our raspberries - which need. . . something. . . manure?  pruning? what? 

Want to tell me how you became a skilled gardener?  I'm all ears!

(Linking up with Leila and Rosie's collection of everyday contentment.)

Ben's Quilt

I want to add a wide blue border yet to the top.  But here are photos to show what is going on so far (pardon the wrinkles - the quilt top is quasi-folded and stuffed in a basket). 

I'm planning to machine quilt, but I haven't settled on a design yet.

There are patches from two special shirts:  Ben's daddy and the grandpa he is named after. 

The only fabric that was purchased new was the yellow car and surfboard flannel.  Ben begged for it when he was JoAnn's Fabric with me when he was 2 years old.  I yielded by saying we would use it in his quilt (I did give him a few scraps which he promptly, lovingly, snipped to shreds).

Everything else was given to me (recognize some, Polly? Rebecca?) or bought secondhand before the idea, or even the boy, for this quilt was born.

Other sewing projects keep jumping ahead of Ben's quilt in urgency and interest, but he is so enamored with the idea of his own quilt that his enthuasiasm will keep me going.  I hope it will be done in time for cold weather sleeping again.

A Car Mat for Church

I made a little mat for Ben for his bithday, totally thanks to my friend Rachel who showed me the one she made for her son and gave me 2 leftover tiny cars.

I thought Ben could make more roads on the stripes.

As soon as I acquired street fabric, the project went together very quickly.  I used parts of the interfaced placket from this worn-out shirt to make the little garages.  (The shirt reminds me that I have that delicious cupcake fabric in my stash, waiting for an idea for Genevieve. . . )

The best part is how much Ben loves the little toy.  I put it in his church bag, but he begs to get it out betimes.

He's dressed in his birthday shirt and pants from Aunt Mel here - how fortunate that the navy boat shoes handed down from cousin Luke two years ago fit now.  The shirt stays tucked in for approximately 2 minutes, but it's rumpled soft linen, so I like how it looks.

The Week in Suppers: Mostly Vegetarian

Monday: meatless meatloaf (made with lentils - from the excellent cookbook, The Daily Bean); cottage potatoes; green salad
notes:  I mixed up the meatloaf and potatoes ahead of time because I was at work all day.  Then my husband baked them per my instructions and put together the salad.

Tuesday:  Girls out to a mother-daughter tea, boys downtown for pizza and ice cream (oh boy!).

Wednesday:  Thai soup - sweet potatoes, coconut milk, shrimp, cilantro, etc.; green salad
notes:  I bought red Thai curry paste finally, specifically for this recipe.  It was good, but not as wow-y as I expected.  My husband cooked this - I was at work all day.

Thursday:  French lentil salad with chard; Italian bread; goat cheese; peanut butter cookies
notes:  I baked a mammoth batch of cookies because I signed up to take cookies to a church meal. Genevieve helped me do the cute fork criss-cross on each one.

Friday:  BBQ sweet potatoes and beans; guacamole and tortilla chips; green salad; yogurt-cheese pie with strawberry sauce
notes:  All the photos on this post are from this meal.  It was a delicious combination.  I added the recipe for the homemade BBQ sauce at the bottom of this post.

Saturday:  zucchini crabcakes; cocktail sauce with extra horseradish; macaroni salad with peas, roasted red peppers, and celery

Sunday:  got invited away for Sunday dinner; bunged my ham and baked corn back in the fridge for tonight.

Homemade BBQ Sauce (with thanks to Mennonite Country-Style)

In a large skillet, saute:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion

Add and stir:
3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup water
3/4 tsp. chili powder
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
a few shakes cayenne, to taste
2 drops liquid smoke, optional

Bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 15-30 minutes uncovered, until reduced somewhat and flavors are blended. 

For this meal, I added several chunked sweet potatoes and 2 cups cooked pinto beans, plus some chopped onion and garlic.  Simmer, covered, until potatoes are soft.

Use sauce to make an excellent meat barbecue:  add chunks of leftover pork or beef roast, 2-4 lbs., mix and bake uncovered for 30-45 minutes at 350, basting occasionally.  Serve in buns. 

Skinnifying My Bootcut Jeans

My sister is the best person to shop with.  She helped me try on at least 30 pairs of pants at the mall recently on a birthday shopping spree.  I came home with, among other things, a pair of skinny jeans.  Me.  Yes.  Wow. 

before

Suddenly, I realized, in contrast, that my 8-year-old Eddie Bauer bootcuts were just too big.  I laid the skinny jeans on top of the bootcuts, drew some lines, snip snip, sew sew with a denim needle in the machine and there you go: skinnier jeans in 30 minutes.

after.. experimenting with cuffing . .with my $15 boat shoes from Target.

The photos are awful, but they capture my 30 minutes of frenzy before I ran errands, so I'm leaving them as historical documentation. 

Baked Ziti

I'm only now figuring out what people mean when they talk about baked ziti.  I didn't grow up with it and I don't know anyone who cooks it (or talks about it, maybe).

As far as I can tell, it's the same ingredients as lasagna except with a chunky pasta and everything mixed together - same flavors, just no tedious layers.  So instead of baking a recipe in a 9x13, I divide it between 2 square pans and freeze one for a future meal.

I made two different recipes so far - one with cottage cheese, one with cream cheese.  I like to make sure the tomato sauce is heavily herbed, especially with a kick of fennel.  In this batch shown here, I also put in some chopped dry salami.

I served it with green salad and Italian bread.  We have salads with most every meal right now because of the packet of lettuce seeds my husband planted!