Year End

It has been a long while since I've been a regular contributor to my own blog. Not sure why, just busy. But frankly 'busy' is the norm. So what gives? I don't know. I was busy preparing for Thanksgiving, then my best friend's baby shower, then nary a break until Christmas was upon us, for which I made 2 gifts. Now it's January, and I finally have time to sift through stacks of mail, photos on my phone, etc. So, I guess that explains it.
Also, as far as cooking during that time frame, I made a few new salads that I neglected to shoot. But otherwise stuck to the basics: roasted veggies with either turkey burgers, turkey tacos, or chicken strips. An occasional pork loin. Essentially, the norm at our house, not entirely worthy of documentation, just praise for keeping us alive during the holidays.
That said, I do have several photos to show of crafty stuff I've done over the last few months, desserts, a couple of school shots I had a hand in creating. That's the funny thing with assisting classes at the New School, sometimes I'm proud of what turns out, and want to photograph it, but usually I didn't actually make it. I just helped. A lot in some cases. So it feels not entirely authentic to claim it on my blog. I suppose I can just call it all "student work" and still feel accomplished, as I do when I complete a shift.
Anyway, I realized I had fallen in to a rut lately cooking-wise, so I have been trying to branch out a little, and make new or seldom made dishes. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution. It's never too late to be resolute. Here is one I made last week that was quite good, from the Inspiralized blog. Butternut squash and Sausage Lasagna (I added Zucchini too).

More juice!

Last weekend I pulled out every fruit and vegetable I had in the house. I washed, peeled, chopped, prepped, bagged, juiced or just plain chomped! It was quite a production. Because my husband was waiting for me to finish up so we could go somewhere, I semi-timed myself. I thought that cleaning up after juicing was the time-consuming part. It turns out that cleaning and prepping the veggies is the long part. Followed by the tasting, critiquing, then adjusting, etc. The cleaning part is just messy. Anyway- this time instead of letting the juicing evolve as I went, I cleaned everything at the very beginning. It really was much easier. Just like making a recipe, I had my juice mise en place!

I should mention I'm thinking about doing a juice cleanse. We just watched a great documentary over the weekend called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, and it was very interesting. I got on the web site, and found that there are several different commitment levels, such as merely a 5-day cleanse, or one that you can still eat vegetables and fruits during the juice cleanse. I am looking more into that. In the mean time, I need to find more palatable ways to juice with vegetables. I love beets and carrots, but I seem to strike out when it comes to celery, kale, spinach, etc.