Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Throwing Out the Menu

My ex might describe me as a little uptight, maybe a little anal. Though I would just say that I like my routines and often than not I break them. Because they occasionally get boring. Like last week, I took a week off from running to sleep in and do nothing but play on my computer. Was it productive? No. Did I get anything done? No. Did I enjoy it? Well, yeah. So it wasn't that bad. It wasn't a life change, no, but I did what I thought I needed. It is balancing this and what actually needs to get done.
Included in my routines is weekly menu. I look what I have or don't have and try and plan around--Gazpacho-Tuesday, BBQ chicken-Thursday, etc. But I have to say that no week goes as planned. This week I've only stuck to my menu once. Why? I have a lot of squash and tomatoes
from the garden and berries I picked in VA. I'm only one person and can only eat so much. So what do I do? The one thing I can do. Throw out the menu and start over. I zucchini, well what can I do with- bread, fries, grill it. Think outside the box.
We forget that menus and grocery stores are something new. They aren't really that old if you look at history. People a hundred years ago, still lived off the land and now I need to think like that. Think about what I can do with one thing and prepare it a hundred different ways. Create something new even. There are no rules in the kitchen, just the ones you make yourself.

2 comments:

Dragon said...

I often try to shake things up in life and the kitchen. What I've discovered is that when life gets hard and stressed I tend to revert back to what comforts me. And that includes comfort food in the kitchen.

Anonymous said...

I try so hard to stick to a menu but life happens. Usually, by Wednesday we've completely blown the menu/dinner planning especially once leftovers build up. Oh well, maybe next week.