1. I was privileged to be one of the recipe testers for Kate’s soon-to-be-released e-cookbook, “Against the Grain” Delicious recipes for the Whole Food and Grain-Free Diet. It was a blast helping her test and refine a few of the recipes – first, because it was like someone else took over menu planning for me for a few nights (the hardest part of putting food on the table for me), and second, because the recipes were so good and required no reverse-engineering or substituting ingredients to bring them up to my nutrition standards. Oh, and they were delicious. Wow. I totally recommend the book when it comes out. See more details here.
2. Traveling South. Jeremy took me with him on quick business trip to Philadelphia at the beginning of the week. I took the opportunity to visit some stores they don’t have in our area.
A friend of mine spoke truth when she said, “Everyone should have the chance to visit IKEA at such a young age!” I was 28 years behind, but it was awesome!
I know what you are thinking. “What! Trina eats fast food!???” Yup. There is a time and season for everything, folks. I like to say I eat well at home so I can afford the occasional splurge or treat when out and about. Chick-fil-A is my fast food of choice -when the time and place call for a quick bite of fast food, I love me a good chickfillet sandwich. Think about it – It’s a business that honors the Lord’s day (closed on Sundays), plays Christian music in the restaurant, always has FRESH FLOWERS on the tables, and supports marriage counseling and 7 other outreaches with some of their proceeds…If I’m gonna do fast food, this is where I’m gonna eat.
I just blocked my mind to the fact that every single item on the menu has sugar, and all but the fruit cup have soy in it. And that my kidney’s positively ached after that vanilla milkshake….
3. Letter Writing. My soldier wrote me back! Wow, I was so blessed that my brother used a few of his precious free moments to send me a letter from boot camp.
He was so thankful I had written, so, of course, I sat down immediately to write him again. I am reveling in reviving the lost art of letter wrting around here. I think receiving a personal letter in the mail is so often the highlight of that day or week because it is a gift of TIME – pure, undiluted, quality, intentional time…
- Letter writing is something you can’t multitask while doing.
- It takes longer than any other form of communication.
- It produces something tangible for the recipient.
It is a gift worth the time.
4. I’ve been sewing. It’s too soon to tell you exactly what, but I’m thinking a another tutorial (like this one) might be on it’s way. I’ve had such a breakthrough in the sewing room, I just have to share it with you. Get ready – gather some old t-shirts or raid the plus-sized section of the thrift store!
5. I’ve been playing in the kitchen. My absolute favorite thing in the kitchen is transformations. I love baking ’cause you turn a sloppy, gloppy liquid (dough) into a light, airy, dry texture (bread!). You take solids and make them liquid, liquids to solids, colors and textures change – it’s all so exciting.
So this week I was practicing my mozzerella cheese making again. And it failed. Again. BUT, I think I’m on the right track. I tried not to let the failure get to me, and turned around to make the leftover whey into ricotta (something I’ve always had success with after failed mozz.) Well, that failed, too.
Then I was mad.
Wow, I can’t believe I’m putting this photo up here for all the blog-world to see. This is me, with my failed clump of mozzerella cheese right before I threw it in the garbage.
6. So, I turned to pasta making. That was a huge success. And so much fun. I have the extruder attachment for my kitchen aide
It’s like the ultimate play-dough experience – except you get to eat it when you’re done. (and it doesn’t have that awful saltiness, either! :))
First successful elbow noodle experiment.
Now I need to get off the computer and work on the next thing – lasagna noodles!
What have you been doing this week? Is it spring where you are?
Oh, and Claire loves the doll – she really bonded with her. I guess I should do a little follow up post on Sophie and her scent, too.
Thanks for your comment and kind words, Farmer's Wyve! I'll be sure to do a follow-up post on the pasta attachments soon.
Oooo, I've been wanting a pasta attachment for my mixer. I would LOVE to know your thoughts on how well it works!! Thanks. I love coming here for healthy alternatives for things!!!
Hope your daughter is enjoying the doll you got her for her birthday. 🙂
I worked at a Subway for a while. One thing is that everything is prepared fresh and no ingredient, except the meats, are ever more than 24 hours old. Any meat mixture, such as meatballs in the sauce and chicken teriyaki, is mixed together at the beginning of the day and used within 24 hours. Bread is baked fresh daily, and nothing is fried. It's still the only place I really eat out regularly.
Kateri, I've know lots of people who enjoy subway as their convenience food of choice. It would be intersting to read ingredient charts and compare what isn't in subway that's in most everything else. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the oil that most fast food is fried in. Though I'm no longer afraid of deep fried treats when using the right fats, fast food is definitely NOT the right fats!
Thanks for your prayers for Jordan. I know he appreciates them.
Making pasta from scratch is not as easy as buying it, but it's definitely more fun, cheaper, and so delicious. I'll be sure to share my tips in a future post (my first attempts were not as succesful as this week's noodles)
I made Garlic White Lasagna for dinner tonight (recipe on my recipe page!) with homemade lasagna noodles and in the crock pot. Oh, my word – it was amazing. Now, lasagna noodles you wouldn't need any special equipment to make them…just a rolling pin…
I don't think there are chick-fil-a's in michigan…at least I have never seen one. Cool that they have fresh flowers on the tables–I might be tempted to stop in just for that. The only fast food I can tolerate without feeling sick afterwards are Subway sandwhiches. Subway must not use whatever icky ingredient it is that is in all other fast foods and gives me a rapid heart beat and makes me sick to my stomach.
I so have to get the pasta attachment for my kitchen aide mixer! That pasta looks so professional and sounds easy to make.
Best wishes to Jordan and prayers for his safety!
We LOVE chick-fil-a and get it whenever we travel south! It's the only fast food we eat.
Glad you had a great week!