comfort....a single word that covers a multitude of sins

Sometimes I even exercise in comfort…..

foodicula — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:55:55 +0000

I got two items for Christmas that enabled me to……..eep……exercise comfortably. I know, that’s some kind of oxymoron, but it’s true. My parents gave me a beautiful down vest from Talbot’s with really good pockets, a fabulous faux fur trimmed hood (even I can be stylish on occasion) and it even zips AND snaps up the front. Oh yeah! And if that isn’t enough…my husband gave me a Sony Walkman, which securely fits right into the pocket of the vest so now I can exercise in complete comfort. Right now I like to walk for exercise and I think it’s really helping, so I am totally set up. There’s nothing like walking down the street listening to good music all snugged up in this vest feeling invincible like I’m walking in a giant security blanket – I love it! It’s like being in your own little world, which to me is a big plus since I’m not always that keen on the real one.

Now……what to listen to? I am totally getting the importance of The Playlist. You’ve got to have one or two for each mood. For example, I have “mellow” which probably speaks for itself. We’re talkin a little Art Garfunkel, Seals & Crofts, Jewel ( did you ever see Return to Me with David Duchovny and Minnie Driver? Great movie, wonderful soundtrack! Angel Standing By, by Jewel is a must for any mellow playlist.) “I’ve got a Hotlist – I know , could I be a bigger dork? - with Cascada, Alanis Morrisette, Madonna, and Kanye to name a few. Prince got a whole playlist all to himself! Anyway, your playlist is your thing – whatever makes you feel good. This whole walking thing is so easy that you really don’t have to plan because sometimes opportunites just pop up. I try to walk around the block when I get off work because where I work sits on one whole big city block and it’s very hilly. I’m looking forward to working up to four or five trips around the block – dude, I’ll be so ripped! (I’m sure you can’t be thinking that I take my self seriously.) So don’t think pain when you think about exercising as a New Year’s resolution – think vest and mp3 = comfort food for exercise.

Surviving sleepovers in comfort

foodicula — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:49:47 +0000

Okay picture this:

The house is lit with Christmas lights (still) and full of kids. (my house is small – it only takes four kids, one dog and two cats to do this.) The atmosphere is all glowy and festive – I love that feeling and it takes more than lights and decorations – ya gotta have kids. There are movies on one tv, games on the other and picto -chat on the DS’s. Now I know there are some Martha Stewart types out there that would make the pizza from scratch, serve sparkling cider and homemade cookies and make the sweet roll dough the night before breakfast. I ain’t Martha Stewart - in any way shape or form. I definitely do not have her budget. My kids like my homemade pizza, but they love having friends over and Red Baron pizza. Ditto sparkling cider and homemade dessert. So, they have the Red Baron pizza, store brand soda and Oreos and I have my sanity. Plus, I would miss my turn on Super Smash Brothers if I was up to my elbows in pizza dough.

Well naturally, we stayed up late and slept late, so church didn’t happen. I chose to fight my depression over being a heathen with hot coffee and Country Life. I am so addicted to that stupid game on Facebook, it’s not even funny! It just feels so good to get up before everyone else, fix the coffee and watch the coins roll in from making cheese and ketchup. It only gets better when a sweet warm kitty cat sits on my lap to watch the rabbits and the sheep stare up at us from the screen. I maintained my down-with-Martha approach by fixing orange and cinnamon sweet rolls from a tube and frying an entire pack of bacon. Two words……….. Yummmm – myyyyyyyy!

Chili a la Benjamin

foodicula — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:40:28 +0000

I started reading Jennifer Sturman’s Rachel Benjamin series about a year ago, and while they might not have been “I was on the edge of my seat, couldn’t put the book down” reads, they were still quite entertaining. When a well-meaning but seriously evil friend introduced me to E-Harlequin, I found that there was a fourth Rachel Benjamin book – The Hunt. Of course I ordered it and being the book-hoarder I am, it sat on the shelf til I was in the right mood. I’m a very moody reader and I absolutely cannot make myself read a book that doesn’t feel right. (I still kind of wonder what mood I was in when I read The Fountainhead when I was pregnant with my daughter.) And just a little aside here, I spent quite a bit of time trying to make myself read only books that enriched and enhanced my intellect. (Snort!) Yeah, whatever. I finally realized that life is too short to read books that don’t make me feel happy. I’m too old and I’m not in school – I’m probably on the downside of intellect acquisition. Enough digression. I got The Hunt off the shelf the other night at bedtime and immediately became engrossed. Jennifer Sturman is very good at mixing humor and mystery and it’s not hard at all to get into her writing. The next day I went to work, came home did the usual what for dinner? thing and came up with chili. So this is a new “recipe” for me. I’ve really been trying to make life easier for myself and sometimes that in and of itself is not easy, but I put some pinto beans on for the quick soak – about a pound and half. So while those soaked, I played Farmville and Country Life on Facebook. In case you don’t play these Facebook games, I will tell you that they are definitely in the “sins” category. Comfort, they do offer – the mindless harvesting, planting, fretting over experience points and “leveling up”. If you’re into comfort gaming – look no more! A very easy way to pass the one hour soak time, for sure. So once I had harvested, planted, manufactured and fed every animal I was supposed to feed, it was time to go back to the kitchen for round two of “throwing some chili together.” I rinsed the beans and put them back in the pot with fresh water and commenced to cooking. Soaking really cuts down on the cooking time I think, so after about thirty minutes I was able to start browning the ground beef – two pounds – enough to make a vegetarian blanch and pass out. After browning the ground beed – I dumped it in the pot with the beans, added a large can of diced tomatoes and two packs of Great Value child seasoning. I am challenged in so many ways and with all things financial being the worst of these challenges, I buy anything and everything in the Great Value brand. (Well, not mayonnaise – gack! If it isn’t Kraft, just forget it!)

So – there you have it! Leave the chili to cook for at least forty-five minutes – I really don’t think you can over cook it as long as you don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. I realize that this sounds really elementary, but I usually use canned beans because it seems like such a long process to cook the beans and I usually use dark red beans instead of pintos, but I must say, that this was some of the best chili I’ve ever fixed. Topped off with cheese, sour cream and Scoops – some of us had crackers, having recently od’d on Fritos, this was pretty tasty and an excellent accompaniment to Rachel Benjamin’s adventures. The perfect beverage would’ve been a good light beer, but I was out of beer so water worked fine too. I think chili is a meal for most any mystery – you need food with some substance for figuring out whodonit. Did I have dessert? Well as a matter of fact, fresh- from- the- oven chocolate chip pecan pie. OMG! It was like a drug! Some people do heroin – I do food. It’s a lot cheaper and it’s LEGAL!

Release the random

foodicula — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:31:27 +0000

I got the idea for this blog in the shower – I know – like I’m the first person to think up an idea for a blog while de-sudsing. I can’t imagine that anyone starts a blog without hoping that at least one or two people read it, but this one is about getting some of the random thoughts floating around in my head out there annoying someone else. The thoughts aren’t actually annoying – it’s just that I do occasionally think about sharing these thoughts with someone and people I know already think I’m crazy enough without rambling on about what food actually goes best with Memoirs of a Geisha. And of course, it’s important realize that like the title of the blog says – Comfort is a single word that covers a multitude of sins.