Busy Kitchen

Yesterday Judith's friend came to play again, so I took the opportunity to spend some time in the kitchen.  (It's wonderful to have Judith entertained by someone else, even if they do require mediation with regularity.)  As I was cooking, it occurred to me that I haven't yet blogged about any food!  That's pretty bizarre, considering that I used to have a separate blog just for baking.  It seems that after the insanity of December (I was baking nonstop for four weeks!), I haven't really been focusing on baking, although I could have written about the Chocolate Cream Tart with Pecan Shortbread Crust I made for Lance's uncle's birthday, and my adventures with Spaghetti Carbonara for the same dinner. 

At any rate, here's what I was working on yesterday (at one point four of these were going simultaneously!):

• homemade greek style yogurt - I started making this more than a year ago when I started finding ways to get extra protein.  The store bought stuff is yummy, but so expensive, so I googled alternatives.  This website got me started, and I've improvised my own methods to compensate for the equipment I don't have.  It's especially wonderful because Judith loves it (she thinks it's ice cream) and I make a batch for Lance and her that I sweeten with local OV honey.
• no bake "cookie" balls - Pinterest got me turned on to these!  They're pretty close to "raw" (if only I could bring myself to leave out the chocolate chips, they would be!), and with the flaxseed in them, they're pretty healthy for my little girl, especially because I sub unsweetened coconut for the coconut flakes.  And with local honey (raw) in them, they help with seasonal allergies too!
• butternut squash, red lentil, and garbanzo stew in the crock pot - Pinterest again.  It won't surprise anyone who knows me that I made this without all the called for spice.  (Well, not all - I did add the garlic, and some bouquet garni.)  It was a little overly sweet that way, but considering that I'm juststarting to tolerate butternut squash (it's always too sweet for me), it was pretty good.  (And it felt fantastic to be able to throw all the detritus in my composter instead of in the trash!)
• cooking the garbanzos for above stew, and baking the leftover squash to freeze for later - I'm kind of a slow food junky.
• whole wheat biscuits - I googled "whole wheat biscuits" because I wanted to try some with the stew.  And I was totally appalled by how many "whole wheat" recipes were actually half whole wheat.  In fact, this one was the only one I found that was totally whole wheat.  They were yummy!

In the future, I intend to do a weekly "This Week in the Kitchen" kind of entry, unless I bake something totally fantastic that I simply have to blog about right away.  :-)

The Joy:  It's really not hard for me to find joy in the kitchen.  I'm so wired to image my Creator by creating in this way.  Every time I bake it's worship - and my body and soul rejoice!  I'm also finding joy in following my goal to eat healthier.

Joy to you!
Barbara