Monday, May 25, 2015

Comfort Food

Food is necessary for life. 

Food is also responsible for my saddle bags. 

Actually, comfort food is responsible along with my inability to understand portion control. 

(Two cookies?! I eat 'em by the sleeve!)

Even though these aren't the healthiest foods, they possess mystical qualities to make me happy. I pass them along to you, blog readers, in hopes that you can enjoy them too. 

SNACK

My favorite snack is popcorn. I love it. I don't love it getting stuck in my teeth, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for buttery, fluffy goodness. I was eating like a bag of microwave popcorn everyday when I decided that wasn't the best idea. I fiddled with the thought of an air popper, but couldn't find one with good enough reviews. So I turned to the Internet for a recipe and found this gem:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/perfect-popcorn-recipe.html

I used a wok with 3 Tbsp vegetable oil and foil on top. I have a flat top stove and if you do too, I'm so sorry. I turned the heat up to medium high and it popped much faster than my first attempt in a bowl on medium heat. It's a little more work than microwave, but it's cheaper and healthier. Plus you can flavor it however you want!

Entree

I got this recipe from an issue of Bon Appetite and have since shared it with my mom and sister. It's referred to as "the soup" or "magic soup" or just "soup". We all know what soup it's referring to. 

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/spicy-pork-and-mustard-green-soup

I use kale instead of mustard greens but both are good. I also omit the peppercorns to make it less spicy for kids. The broth alone will heal your bones and PMS. 

Dessert

Whoever invented this mug cake is my hero. It's started a revolution among my friends and has addictive qualities. It's also started a hashtag of #momswhomugcake. 


The original recipe is huge. I make it in a bowl rather than a mug. I recommend halving the recipe first and using a regular 8 oz mug. I cook it for about 45 seconds for the half recipe and 1 minute 20 seconds for a full. It must be enjoyed with vanilla ice cream.  

Those are my three favorite recipes for comfort food right now. They're powerful though and like Uncle Ben foretold, with great power comes great responsibility. 

Stay hungry, my friends. 


Sunday, May 3, 2015

Mrs. Universe

Have you ever found the perfect ice cream flavor?

Shampoo?

Perfume?

Shade of foundation?

Only to have it be discontinued a couple weeks into your newfound bliss?

This seems to happen to me on the regular. Ben and Jerry's fossil fuel ice cream. Gone. Coach Poppy perfume. Currently being phased out of stores. 

I get this horrific thought when these things happen, "but I like it! Why would they get rid of it?!"

Like the entire company revolves around my interest in a product. Ben and Jerry sitting up in Vermont wearing tie dye organic cotton t shirts and Birkenstocks spitballing the new line of flavors like 

"Should we get rid of fossil fuel?"
"Is that the one with the little fudge dinosaurs?"
"Yeah the sales aren't doing too well, I guess people don't appreciate prehistoric shaped chocolate."
"No let's keep it. Because Kate appreciates it."

That didn't happen because this delightful treat is no longer in existence. 

The same thing happens when I DONT like things anymore. I stopped watching Glee long before Finn died (spoilers sorry), and it weirds me out that people still watch it. 

HELLO! Your queen has spoken! 
(Im awful)

A nasty byproduct of this mentality (which I am working on bt-dubs) is that I neglect to think about other people's happiness around me. 

I'm happy with my kids and our daily interactions so they must be happy too, right?

I'm happy with my marriage and the relationship Husband and I are cultivating so he's in wedded blissville too, right?

The thing is, I have no idea. I mean, I'm not being served divorce papers and my kids aren't screaming that I'm the worst mom ever, but that doesn't mean that they're as content as I am.

 I'm reading a book where the main character doesn't know if her husband has left her for good, or if he's just taking a trip to visit his family. I keep thinking how does someone get to that point?! You don't KNOW if your husband has left you? That seems like a fairly important point of discussion! However, if someone is so caught up in their own preferences, opinions, and universe, would they even know the discussion is being had until it's too late?

I'm working on a thing to help expand my little field of vision to include not only my nuclear family, but the whole world around me. It's almost finished, and I'm excited to share the results with you guys*. 

*meaning my mom and possibly Husband

In the words of one of my favorite hymns "then wake up and do something more, than dream of your mansions above"

Let's set our alarms and wake up.