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Pinchin Pennies

How often does the average person go out to eat?  including take out, socializing, etc?  I seem to go in waves...eating out for days in a row and then feeling middle class guilt and cooking at home.  So, today I ventured into the recesses of my freezer and fridge and made up a dee-lish meal.  Pan cooked salmon with chili raspberry sauce, organic green chard with EVOO and garlic, and potato slices par-fried in butter and garlic.  See the madness below:

Love salmon cooked a bit under. Costco salmon is so good! Dont mind the camera phone pic quality...use your mind's eye and smellivision.  Sauce is from Fresh and Easy...yum. 

Perfect winter potatoes.  Take some meaty taters, slice about 1/2 inch thick length wise and fry in shallow oil about 10 minutes each side.  Toss in garlic and butter after you have cooked the first side and add S&P.  Trust me, you wanna make this sometime.  I have a feeling that they will also tolerate a reheat much better than french fries since they are not supposed to be as crunchy as french fries or other tater versions.  Pair away. 

I have only in this past year have become hip to the goodness of organic chard.  I usually buy the green or swiss variety...not yet bored of it to try the red or rainbow variety.  So far, it has worked fabulously in chowder, with marinara and meatballs, quiche, as a side item, etc.  Today, it married well with garlic bits and EVOO.  Go easy on the salt since this green tends to suck up salty juices.  I guess you could give it the collard green treatment and dash it with hot sauce, but I frankly didnt feel the need in this case.  Stands on its own merit...simple but good ingredients. 

Last but not the least...this was a sandwich I made a few nights ago.  Take very crusty sourdough bread, delis swiss, your fave meat filler and a nice hot pan.  Again, my recipes rely on simple but fresh ingredients and a few minutes in the kitchen.  Not rocket science...gosh dont you hate when people say that?  I would pair it with a bowl of soup or a nice salad with some bite for contrast. 

So I am going to end my entry with this.  What ruins your day?  What makes your day?  Is it the simple things that can make or break your day?  How quickly does YOUR internal switch get flipped?  By the by, thanks. 

Off Hiatus

Its been longer than I planned to be away.  The past month has of course seen ups and downs, departures, not so many arrivals, rainy weather, stormy moods, windy emotions.  Food has of course been epicenter with the 1-2x week rearing of an old demon from the past. 

What is my baseline?  Is it to be happy what percentage of the time?  Is it to cry x times a month?  Is it to have such and such amount of anxiety and obsessive thoughts?  Is it to get my feelings hurt a certain percentage of the time?  How can I be a good wife, friend, employee, family member, and one day a parent when I dont even know myself so well?  I dont even know to what degree I love myself and where survival just takes over.  How much is your support system supposed to be there for you?  How much money are you supposed to make or give to others?  How much tv is too much to watch?  How many times a day is it normal to urinate in one day?  Is it wrong to spank your kids? 

My most recent food craving: Banh Mi aka Vietnamese Sandwich.  My fave local place is a family run store off ECB.  The one i get is the ham am combo sandwich.  It contains head cheese, ham, pate, meatloaf, pickled turnips and carrots, and cilantro with this surreal mayo/ buttery spread.  I used to get it with jalopenos but my old age cannot tolerate the burn on my insides.  Still miss the spice at times but I dont want to ruin the splendor of the sandwich if the heat becomes too much.  I should ask for a mild pepper...HA.  their bread is always crusty and soft at the same time.  See the sandwich bliss below.