Cooking For One

My last post touched on the fact that Chris left for the oyster aquaculture program. What I haven't yet mentioned is just how hard it is for me to be away from him so much of the time. I assume most couples have this hard of a time when spending this much time apart. But, I guess I thought I'd be able to handle it better than I have. Of course I knew I'd miss Chris. But man, it's been so hard. Even before we lived together, we pretty much saw each other every single day.

And, well, he's just my best friend (and fiance... woot woot!), and I tell him everything. And it's hard to have mostly phone contact with the person you love to embrace on a daily basis. AND, I'm a crazy-emotional female who cries when she is feeling... well, pretty much anything. So, needless to say, I've been crying buckets these days.

But, Chris is enjoying the new job and doing well at it. He's got a river view from his abode, and his days seem to incorporate a split of manual labor and lab work. And I'm just proud. He's growing oysters, which are not only one of the best-tasting foods ever, but which also filter 20-30 gallons of water per day (EACH oyster does that!). He's helping to keep the Chesapeake Bay clean!

Anyways, now I'm going to switch gears from sappy to silly.

One of the things that's been hard to adjust to with Chris gone is cooking. That is, cooking for only one person. Part of the problem is that everything at the store seems packaged for a family of four. Even the produce is that way! If I want some avocado with dinner, I have to cut one open. I can't eat a whole one, but if I don't, the rest goes bad. If I buy the variety of veggies and fruits that I want to keep in the house, I either have to go to the grocery store every day and buy small amounts of things, or I have to buy them all at once and gorge myself ont them to keep them from going bad. A can of anything is too much for one. A box of anything is too much for one. Anyways, I have tupperwares FULL of food in the fridge right now!

Chris and I really enjoy making meals together, so when I'm cooking for myself, I'm always thinking of him.

So, I'll leave you with these lines from Joni Mithcell:

"And when he's gone, me and them lonesome blues collide

The bed's too big, the frying pan's too wide..."

Nothing Says "I Love You" Like Oyster Stew

Yesterday was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had.

Historically, Chris is not a fan of the Day-of-Forced-Romance, which I get. But me, I'm in the Any-Excuse-to-Celebrate-Anything-is-Fine-With-Me camp. So, to celebrate, we decided to cook a nice dinner and open a bottle of wine, and that's it. No gifts, no boxes of mystery chocolates, no cards, no poems, etc. There may have been flowers present, but that's because Chris got them for me last week when I was having a bit of a rough time.

So, when I got home, I saw that Chris had cleaned the kitchen, our room, and the dining room table (Men, take note: Cleaning up= Helluva Lotta Brownie Points). I worked out and showered, and we then started to cook the meal we picked out: Oyster Stew.

Both of us read and very-much enjoyed the book Chesapeake by James Michener, and at one point in the book, Michener describes how a cook on an oyster boat makes oyster stew. When I read it, my mouth literally started watering. So, I found a recipe online for a semi-healthy version of it, and we made it! And it was good.

Then, we had dessert and talked.

Then, we played Trivial Pursuit. It doesn't really matter who won (translation: Chris won).

Chris had also made a great mix on his Ipod, and, when that was over, we listened to Van Morrison records. It was frickin' sweet.

I dunno, I think the reason I had such a great night is that nothing was really planned out, and that it was just fun and relaxing. And well, I like taking a little timeout for "us" that involves no pressure.

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Here are my V-Day pics:

Will Eat for Food: Part 2 of 2

Every Thursday, I try to make a new dish for dinner. You know why? Because I am sick of all the stuff I make all the time. As Chris would say, "BOOOOOOOOOORING..." Also, as I've mentioned, I'm trying to be a little healthier.

Anyways, Thursdays are the days where I have a little time to whip something interesting up before Chris gets home. I wish I'd started taking pictures of all the dishes I've tried to make, but I didn't until recently.

The thing that first inpsired me to try making new things was a magazine I found in this cottage that Chris's parents stayed in when they came down to visit in April. The magazine is called Eating Well, and I thought that pretty much everything in it sounded wonderfully delicious and healthy. So, I stole the magazine, naturally.

I made this AMAZING recipe out of it that was oven-roasted leeks with chicken and a little bit of cream over whole-wheat pasta. Since I didn't get a picture of it, here's the picture from the magazine:

And holy shit, it was GOOD. I could eat it once a week!

I also recently made this yummy egg dish with smoked salmon and avocado (two of my favorite things... seriously, if I could only pick two foods to eat for the rest of my life, I'm pretty sure they would be salmon and avocado). Check it out:

The dressing on the salad in the picture came from Eating Well also. It's an avocado-cilantro dressing. It was ok... not spectacular.

Let's see, I made Mediterranean wraps (with cous-cous, parsley, lemon, feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and chicken) a couple weeks ago, and I made my own turkey burgers last week.

Tonight, I'm making seared tuna. I made a marinade out of soy sauce, wasabi, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and garlic, and I will be throwing it on a pan of hot oil for about 30-seconds. I'm also making a veggie stir fry with rice noodles to go along with it. Yum.

I will try to keep documenting my cooking experiments, as it will also keep me accountable in making something new and healthy each week.

Suggestions are more than welcome!

Will Eat for Food: Part 1 of 2

I'm trying to be relatively healthy of late, but there's just one catch:

I. Love. Food.

I love shopping for food, buying food, cooking food, smelling food, eating food, drinking wine with food, and I love devouring any and all of the leftovers the next day. I love food other people make. I love the Food Network. I love looking at fresh, colorful food in a market. I love reading recipes. I love food blogs and columns. I love imagining what certain types of dishes will taste like. I love eating with my hands, eating with a fork and knife, and eating with chopsticks. I love sandwiches. I love melted things. I love hot food and cold food. I love sweet things and tart things. Salt is heavenly. If something tastes good, I love to eat as much of it as I can. And then maybe some more.

This past Thanksgiving, I injured myself from eating too much. I was couch-ridden and moaning for four hours. I'd do it again, too.

So, it does not come naturally to me to practice the whole "all things in moderation" credo when it comes to food. Not at all. If it's good, I want as much of it as possible.

But, lately I've been doing alright, and here's how: I've found a few new things that are good for me that I LOVE, and I've stopped being as much of a miser as usual (yay for my job!) and started letting myself spend a little more money to get things that I know I love that are wonderful and healthy. Also, putting aside portions ahead of time (while you're NOT hungry!) is incredibly helpful. So, here are my typical meals:

Breakfast: Now, I love a big, greasy breakfast. But during the week, I keep it healthy and yummy:

• Kashi GoLean Crunch Cereal- 1 cup with skim milk
• 4-5 big strawberries
• A hardboiled egg

(The Kashi is a recent purchase and good lord, it's good. It's a little expensive, but I think it's worth it. Strawberries are something to buy when they're in-season, and a carton lasts me three breakfasts. And the bun LOVES strawberry tops. The hardboiled eggs are great because I can make them all at once for the whole work week. I'm so satisfied after this breakfast, that I'm able to wait a little longer to eat lunch.)

Lunch: The place where I work is surrounded by amazing restaurants and food vendors. This can be good, and this can be bad. The best thing I have access to is a reasonably-priced salad bar next door... I make my lunch salad with:

• 1/2 romaine Lettuce, 1/2 spinach
• Shredded carrots
• Cucumbers
• Artichoke hearts
• Wasabi peas
• Artificial crab meat
• Cheddar cheese
• Balsamic vinegar
• Pineapple on the side

(I will also admit to often buying a chocolate chunk cookie along with my salad...)

Dinner: This is the hardest meal to keep healthy for me. Especially because I either eat what Chris makes or try to make something we'll both like. Here's a typical I-Don't-Want-to-Spend-Too-Much-Time-On-Dinner healthy-ish meal that I make:

• Salmon fillet with a little brown sugar and brown mustard
• Cous-cous
• Salad or asparagus or steamed broccoli 

(I wish I could eat salmon every single day. Wait, no! Moderation!)

You'll notice in the title that this is Part 1 of 2. That's because I also want to do a post on something I've been trying to do lately, which is to try making a new recipe once a week. It's been fun, mostly healthy, and yummy.

Mmmm, food.

Things I Would Have Done by Now if There Were More Hours in a Day

-Learn to Make Jewelry: I spent a Visa gift card I got for Christmas on some jewelry-making supplies (including a torch for soldering. Fire=fun; tell your kids). I set up this little “workshop” in my foyer but only got to work on things a few times. I’d like to think that, if there were more hours in a day, I’d be quite the jeweler by now.

-Write a Book: I love to write. I write poetry, examiner.com articles, articles for Americana Rhythm magazine, (and, now, this super-cool bloggy blog! Ok I don’t know why I said “bloggy blog.” But it’s a-gonna stay there). However, all these things are relatively short and can be knocked out within an afternoon or evening. If there were more hours in a day, I’d like to think that I could write a big ole book. I’m talking a giant-Russian-novel type book.

-Learn Italian: I recently became a duel citizen of the US and Italy…. aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I don’t speak a word of Italian. Well, maybe a word (Grazie!). Shameful, I know. There literally aren’t enough hours in a day for me to take an Italian class or even teach myself! Mama mia! Spaghetti! Vino (Please imagine wildy huge hand gestures here)!

-Become a Better Cook: Wanna know what’s on the TV in the background as I type this? The Food Network (It’s funny, I don’t pay for cable, and, when I got my new TV, all of a sudden I get all these awesome channels!). Why is the Food Network on? Because I love watching talented people cook (ok, fine, and I love to eat). I’m alright at cooking. But, I tend to make the same things over and over. I would love to learn more about what flavors compliment each other. No time!

RYAN’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
Listening: I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers: This is one of the best new albums I’ve listened to in years. It’s deep, emotional, achingly truthful, and just plain sounds good. I highly recommend it.

Reading: I’m still reading Watership Down, but I also regularly read Dooce.com, which is Heather Armstrong’s blog. She makes her living writing it (!). She also describes herself as a “recovered Mormon” and went through a tough time with postpartum depression when she had her first daughter. And she’s just hilarious. Check it out if that sounds interesting to you!

Working Out: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism by Jillian Michaels (ok, so yeah, I love her). This DVD is hard core. There are 7 circuits making the workout a total of 45 minutes or so. I still can’t do all 45 minutes! She incorporates kickboxing, calisthenics, core strength, and jump training all in one workout. It is super intense, and you’ll feel it the next day.