Louisiana Week Peters Out

Goodbye Louisiana Week! I know it's only been two days. I enjoyed you while you lasted. We ended up eating leftovers on Wednesday: gumbo, shrimp and grits or the leftovers that Derrick's mom sent home from Christmas dinner. Then, last night we went to our favorite Mexican place in town, El Jarrito, and got take out. This will be our one "gimme" for the week. I feel a little guilty for going out to eat, but as long as we do it only once a week, and we're frugal when we do so, we are at least staying on budget. Must mention one pet peeve: why must my boys order burgers from a Mexican restaurant? Completely culturally inappropriate, but least they're certain of their preferences.

Shrimp and Grits

FOOD: As of Tuesday night the meal plan continued to roll along. I thought the shrimp and grits was an excellent meal, although one child only ate the grits and the other only ate the shrimp. Both ate their broccoli. It was just boiled broccoli, not overcooked, with an orange, ginger soy sauce on top. All recipes were compliments of John Folse. Two downsides to the meal: without the broccoli it was really heavy on starch and meat and the biggie, the flavor was very similar to the gumbo we'd had the night before. So, we're already getting burned out on Cajun spices, and it's only day two. When planning these themed meals we need to be careful not to pick things that have such similar flavor profiles. Bored palates will not do. We'll try again with the weekly meal plans next week. It'll be a real test because next week the kids go back to school, and I go back to work. We'll see if this plan can really work with our lives.

Gumbo on a Freezing Louisiana Night

FOOD: Yesterday was the first night of our "Cajun Week" meal plan. Even though it wasn't my night to cook, no one seemed to mind that I took over the cooking duties for the night. There's something about cold weather that just begs for soup. So I decided to make gumbo. I chose the seafood gumbo recipe from John Folse's Cajun and Creole Encyclopedia. The only changes I made to the recipe were: I couldn't find fish stock so I used chicken stock instead, I didn't have crab and oysters so I used shrimp and codfish, and I served the whole thing with a 50/50 mix of white and brown rice. Oh, and I added one can of diced tomatoes with chiles. Our local supermarket actually carries andouille sausage, so we picked some up to add to the gumbo. It has such great flavor: really salty and spicy. I warned the boys that the sausage was hot, and even so, they tried a piece or two each and really liked it. If you want to avoid the spice of andouille, anything milder, like polish sausage, can work too. This is the option I usually use when cooking for the entire family.

So, night number one of Cajun Week is one for the record books. It was piping hot and just spicy enough AND the Saints won the football game! A wonderful Louisiana evening. The rest of the week's meals are planned: Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya and Shrimp and Grits. The boys will certainly be getting some help from Mr. Zatarain!

Some good news: Derrick ate a whole bowl of the gumbo. So excited. Can't wait to see how his night as chef goes. So far, so good!

Zackary's First Meal as Chef

For Zackary's first meal he chose, "Chicken and fruit salad." As his "prep cook" I encouraged him to find a sauce to put on his chicken. We found a recipe on line for Bobby Flay's green-chile cilantro sauce (TwoGuysOneKitchen.com; it's their photo not ours). It was delicious. BTW, pineapple and mango with mint is not too shabby as a fruit salad.

Here's the recipe for the sauce.

Green Chile-Cilantro Sauce:

(Blend all ingredients together adding olive oil last to emulsify)

* 2 grilled poblano chiles
* 1/4 cup red onion
* 2 cloves garlic
* 3 tbsp lime juice
* 2 tbsp water
* 2 tsp lime zest
* 2 tsp honey
* 1/2 tsp kosher salt
* 1/4 tsp pepper
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

A New Plan for Meal Prep!

As I write my first REAL entry, it's my hope that as I muse about my own life, that others might take inspiration and/or share their own insights. Although the ultimate goal is balance, I am fully aware that many aspects of my life are still completely out of whack. If you have insight, please share!

FOOD: This entry is about how severely out of balance my family's meal preparation practices had become and outlines a plan that might actually work!

The Old System:
There was really no typical week's meal prep scenario for our family. It was all hit and miss. Grocery shopping occurred approximately once every two weeks to amass the stockpiles of items that we, using no particular system, noticed had gone missing. And when it came time for meal prep the chef was chosen based on who was the least exhausted or could come up with the most palatable idea given their exhaustion. At least twice a week, the better option, at the moment, sounded like fast food, or otherwise eating out. This system contradicted my motherly instincts in that I was simultaneously neglecting my responsibilities to protect: my children's health and my family's finances. We'd reached a breaking point. Enter: the new system.

The New System:
Inspired by a conversation with my PhD mentor (thank you, Dr. Stockman) regarding how she managed to live the life of a professor and raise two children, I was inspired to implement the following plan with my family.

Saturday: Eat leftovers. Come up with a "theme" for the following week. Some examples we've come up with over the past few weeks are: Mexican, Italian, and Chinese.

Sunday: Eat leftovers. Plan menu for the week. Each person chooses a dish that fits the theme and is responsible for his/her dish one night during the following week. Make shopping list. Shop.

Monday: Youngest son is the chef. My husband, Derrick or I am "prep cook."

Tuesday: I am the chef. Both sons are prep cooks to the extent they feel like it.

Wednesday: Oldest son is the chef. Derrick or I am "prep cook."

Thursday: Derrick is chef.

Friday: Family night. Our one freebie night. We're allowed to order out or cook something quick and easy at home. The focus of family night is to spend quality time doing something together.

The Pros: So far the plan has been successful in a lot of ways. We are eating out far less than we used to. Fewer french fries in the mouths of my children is a good thing! Hooray! The boys are also continuing to develop their love of cooking, and there seems to be a sense of meal-related responsibility developing too. They are very aware of which night belongs to them. And they want that responsibility. The nice thing (for me) is that the responsibility rolls around only once a week! For each of us. Lazy? Yes. And I'm teaching my son's (and husband?) how to cook. I might feel one ounce of guilt about not being the sole cook in the house. But only an ounce.

The Cons: The biggest con is that Derrick is not completely on board with the plan, although he seems to be more invested when he is involved in meal planning. But at this point his choices of menu items are rather simple and pre-prepared. For example, during Mexican food week, he chose pre-prepared, frozen burritos as his menu item. And because he's not fully on board, he is rarely a prep cook for the boys. So, in essence, my meal + the boys two meals equals three meals a week that I am at least partially responsible for.

Maybe we just need to entice him with a weekly theme that he really loves. We could try a Louisiana themed night. I know, a little boring for a family living in Louisiana, but it might just be crazy enough to work!

The Beginning of a New Blog

Here it is. My new blog, dedicated to musing about the balance (and lack thereof) that exists between all the different aspects of my life. Mothering, marriage, cooking, painting, exercising and gardening are the things that give me greatest joy. Oh, yah, then there's work. Teaching and research also bring joy on those days that I allow them to. Although I know that I love these things, I find it difficult to commit to do any of them well...or at least as well as I know I can. My hypothesis is that if I let go of the wheel and let God have His way, I can have my heart's desire in all of these areas. My prayer is that I have the confidence to wear whatever hat it is I'm wearing at the moment and to do so with joy and conviction. And in doing so, I hope to do the work that God will have me to do. I WILL work that hat, girl! Amen!

You might expect to see upcoming posts about:
1. Food
2. Exercise
3. Art
4. Gardening
5. Child rearing
6. Marriage
7. Spiritual Growth
8. Teaching and Research

What will be to come?!