The Procrastinator Preps

  Meet Miss E, The Procrastinator.  If they gave out degrees in the subject, I'd be the recipient of an honorary doctorate.  I mean, Harvard would have probably recruited me.  As the saying goes: If it weren't for the last minute I'd never get anything done!
  I mention this pesky trait of mine because these past weeks I have actually surprised myself by....wait for it...planning ahead!  On the way back from Asheville, I grabbed a magazine to occupy my mind from thoughts of fiery plane crashes and failing engines.  Of course, it was a food magazine.  Well, not entirely a food magazine, but the delicious looking photo on the cover was really what sold me.   One article in particular caught my eye, and it was about advance food prep.  Now, chefs and cooks do this all the time, but I'd never dreamed how truly easy it could make my life.
  Here are the things I prepared ahead of time that I was then able to easily reheat for dinner during the week!

• Braised shiitake mushrooms
• Roasted Fall vegetables 
• Caramelized onion jam
• Whole wheat linguine 
• Roasted butternut squash
• Blanched cauliflower
• Golden raisin vinaigrette 

And here are some of the fabulous things I made (and we ate!)

Braised mushrooms + WW linguine + fresh thyme

Roasted Fall veggies + lentils + Golden raisin vinaigrette

Caramelized onion jam + braised mushrooms + artichoke hearts + roasted red peppers

Roasted butternut squash + braised cauliflower + caramelized onion jam

WW linguine + artichoke hearts + capers + golden raisin vinaigrette

   What an amazingly well-fed and stress-free week that turned out to be!  And in truth, you'll be snacking on most of these things for longer than a week.  You can find the recipes on the Whole Living website.

  If this type of cooking interests you, consider buying/borrowing/checking out The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider.

In the introduction she says:

"Improvisational cooking is thrilling.  It's the key to ease and pleasure in cooking, freedom from recipes and set lists of ingredients, and liberation from other less tangible constraints: perfectionism, the voices of "I can't," fear of what will happen and maybe go wrong."

 Amen, sister.

 And here's a sneak peek at my next culinary adventure...

To vegan, or not to vegan?

  One of the greatest things about seeing an old friend is that you get to catch up on what's new in each other's lives.  Among other recent and momentous events, my friend Lauren decided to go all the way and start eating a vegan diet.  She has been a vegetarian for as long as I've known her, and we've talked a bit about its meaningfulness to us.   
  When I was 15 or so I got my first job working at a local wings place down the street from my house.  Within about 2 weeks of working there I decided I couldn't eat meat anymore.  I became a lacto-ovo vegetarian, continuing to eat dairy and eggs, and remained so for about 6 years.  Until one day, when I was watching a McDonald's commercial and started salivating and gargling like Homer Simpson at the sight of a donut.  I took that as a sign that I should probably start eating red meat again.  So I ordered a buffalo burger from Upland Brewery, devoured the entire thing and never looked back.  Until now.
  Was all that sumptuous consumption of pork belly, bacon, prosciutto and pancetta going to come back to haunt me?  All the heavy cream, butter and eggs?  Obviously without moderation and exercise that kind of a diet could make one less than slender and in good health, but what about the other implications?  Even while some sources will not explicitly state that meat is bad for you, they most likely recommend keeping red meat and dairy intake low.

So why not just cut them out altogether?             

I'm pondering...and that leads to cooking:

Smoky Corn and Tomato Bruschetta

Green Summer Soup (Pre-puree)

Watermelon Granita

And if the pictures don't hook you, this will: Two of the recipes only have three ingredients!

All recipes are from my favorite food and cooking reference (besides Joy) Epicurious.com.  Got an ingredient you have no idea what to do with?  No problem!  Customize to your heart's content.  You'll thank me later.

I am excited to chronicle this new endeavor in eating and lifestyle.  I welcome and hope for comments, suggestions, skeptics...

Life without cheese.  This should be interesting.