Food, glorious food!

I’m finally starting to feel better from cold #2 (which came on the heels of cold #1, thanks to Ken bringing it home with him), which means food other than mac-and-cheese (albeit organic whole wheat mac-and-cheese) is sounding appealing to me. Plus we did a major shopping today because we’re hosting Boxing Day brunch for Ken’s brother and sister-in-law and their three boys and Ken’s mom.

I don’t enjoy cooking, but I enjoy eating, and it’s nice to be interested in something more than mac-and-cheese and fresh meals from Trader Joe’s and Fresh & Easy. I did make a huge vat of split pea soup last week; a good chunk of that is in the freezer (along with the vat of red sauce I made) and I even gave a goodly amount to our tenant.

Here’s what’s on tap for the next few days:

Tonight’s dinner will be Mongolian-type stir-fry with veggies, tofu, and noodles. I actually bought most of the ingredients last week but we’ve been way to tired to cook them, so I’m glad they’re still good.

Tonight I’ll also be throwing a mess of onions in the slow cooker to caramelize overnight, in preparation for a near-future slow cooker French onion soup. I’ve got the cheese to shred (a gruyere/cheddar mix), and an adorable tiny whole wheat loaf from TJ’s to go with it.

At some point there’ll also be a vat of sloppy joes in the slow cooker, some of which we’ll freeze. Freezer’s getting full…!

We’ve got a great two-bean soup with sausage (we use a chicken-herb sausage from TJ’s) and kale recipe that’ll happen soon, too. Now that the weather’s turned cold (and is so pleasantly overcast and sometimes even rainy!) I want hearty soups and stews, and soups in particular are a great way to load up on healthy veggies!

For brunch, we’re having a make-your-own-breakfast-burrito bar (TJ’s whole wheat olive oil wraps, scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheddar-gruyere and feta cheeses, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, green onion, green pepper, salsa, sour cream…I feel like I'm forgetting something), scones (Ken’s mom’s bringing those) with clotted cream and lemon curd and jam, fruit salad (via Ken’s sister-in-law), and various drinks (coffee, tea, bloody marys, mimosas).

Right now, though, it’s time to stop thinking about food, continue sipping my Duchess Grey tea, and get back to work!