I apologize for not posting a menu in a while. I had one done last week. I just didn?t get it put up on the site. Oh, and before I forget? to answer Jenny?s question about the Red Curry with Lime, it was good. A little sour, but for the most part good. We did have a different curry dish last week that was vegetarian (for my veg readers) and very good. It was made with lentils, black eyed peas, pineapple and 100% gluten free. Served over some steamed rice and it was a lovely dinner. The boy even ate some of it.
It is beginning to occur to me that our eating habits are getting odder and odder. Part of this is due to me adopting a new gluten free diet and embracing my inner lactose intolerance. I?ve had so many digestive issues (not because of the flu, although at the moment that limits me to soup and jello) that I need to figure out what is causing the issues. Does that mean I don?t sneak the occasional cracker of enjoy some brie on a slice of baguette to celebrate a friend?s birthday? No. But for the most part I am cutting out wheat and dairy.
Add to this, my trusty husband is reading this book and my enjoyment of this book last year, our views of food are somewhat skewed. We already make our own bread and pasta. I would like to make my own cheese (if I could ever get the stuff ordered and if I could eat it). But I sent the trusty husband to the store to buy shaped pasta. He just couldn?t do it. The ingredients list read like a science experiment. What happened to flour, water, eggs and salt?
Then I looked at a box of crackers, a package of tortillas, the remaining boxed convenience foods we had left in our house. Ingredients I couldn?t pronounce. These things certainly are not food. As In Defense of Food points out, as a society we?ve been so obsessed with consuming things like protein, potassium and Vitamin C rather than food such as chicken, bananas or oranges. Our food culture is so out of whack that we?ve lost all concept of what food actually is.
In our house we are committed to making as much food as possible. To add to our repertoire of bread and pasta, we?ll add tortillas, crackers, and anything else I can find the recipe for. I?ve ordered my seeds for this years garden and I have to add at least 2 more raised beds and plant vegetables in my flower beds. I need to buy more containers for a few of my later season crops and when the finances are available we are going to add an espaliered apple tree, a few blueberry bushes and possibly a pair of cherry trees.
I know many of you look at me and wonder how I have time to make all of this food from scratch. I guess I?m just really good at time management. Either that, or you haven?t realized how easy some of this is to do. I?m being sincere when I say making ones own bread is not that challenging, and you certainly don?t need special equipment to do so. Although, it does make it easier. Same with pasta. I make one batch, freeze half, but I do have a pasta roller to roll out the sheets. A necessity I couldn?t live without.
Give it a try. You might find your inner cook.