Sock Drama

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We had some before-school-sock-drama at our place this morning.  And since I fold laundry at the kitchen table (at our house, everything happens in the kitchen,) I’ve decided I can post about it.

Although I’m actually pretty caught up on laundry and although our home is actually in pretty good shape considering how busy this pre-Christmas week has been, a quick sock re-con revealed a total of 14 dirty socks between the two bedrooms of my three kids.  What the what!?

I don’t know if you know this, but the dirty socks must be placed into the dirty clothes bin if they are expected to be laundered.  I guess I forgot to mention this to my 5, 7 and 8 year olds over the course of the past 5, 7 and 8 years.  I caught them up to speed this morning.

Here’s the part that doesn’t add up though: out of 14 socks (an even number!) there were four stand-alones.  Man does that bug me.

I may be a whiz at meal planning and healthy family eating (I am, seriously–you should check out my workshops), but I will never understand how mateless socks seem to breed in my home.

Somebody Stop Me!

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I woke up early enough this morning to make French toast for breakfast–which is silly because we still have leftover pancakes.  I guess I’m gettin’ extra fired up about breakfast this week.  I can’t stop!

Besides French toast my family will have some farmer’s market fresh fruit (sliced oranges and pears,) some juice and for mommy: coffee.

My husband and I, both teachers, are pretty level-headed when it comes to indulging our kids.  We don’t have excessive or expensive toys and gadgets, we don’t live large in any way (we can’t: he’s a public school teacher and I’m a homemaker…) 

But I’ll admit it.  When it comes to food, my kids are spoiled. 

Check out the recipe page to see what we’ll be eating soon.  Wish I could invite you over to join us for breakfast this morning!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

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OK.  Yes.  Technically it’s raining outside, but it’s going to be a bright and sunny morning in my kitchen as we enjoy some of the super-yum pancakes I made on Sunday.

I LOVE BREAKFAST!

Is there a better way to start the day that with home-made pancakes?  I doubt it.  But who has time to make pancakes every day?  Not me.  Although I do have time to make a quadruple recipe on a Sunday morning and then eat them all week…

Check out the breakfast section of my recipe page for a few of my family’s fave pancake-ways to start the day.  Whip some of these babies up and you’ll never make pancakes from a box again!

Sunday After

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I don’t like quotes about grief or a “silver lining” after terrible things happen.  Some experiences should not be tied up in a neat little bow. 
 
My mother-heart is broken on a Sunday morning, still thinking about all the mommies who lost babies last Friday in Connecticut.  

I got my hands busy and made pancakes for my three precious gems.  Check out my organized recipe page.  Clever quips tomorrow.

Mostly Kale… most of the time.

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My name is Michelle Calva-Despard and I have a fairly healthy obsession with mostly healthy food. I’m not one of those nutrition Nazis who promote only 100% organic, no sugar added, nothing processed ever priced at a small fortune from Whole Foods diets.

I do what I can. I shop organic locally grown produce… most of the time. I feed my family an organic plant-based diet, few low-fat organic meats, push the legumes and whole grains… most of the time.

It’s work but it works–because I have some tricks up my sleeve so that I can hold on to a few scraps of sanity between the strategic shopping, meal planning and tasty-nutritious food prep that I love so much… most of the time.

At my house I’m proud to say I’ve found a way to make sure we eat a well-balanced diet of mostly healthy foods at pretty much every meal. And then… every once in a while Mike and I throw the kids in the car and go out for big ‘ol cheeseburgers, fries and a beer!

Scrounge

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There’s something you should know about me before this relationship goes any further. I’m just gonna come clean, I guess…

I, Michelle Calva-Despard, love to scrounge.

Some people get a kick out of restoring old cars or antique furniture. Me? I get a rush out of taking a bunch of “what the heck could you possibly make out of these?” ingredients and creating a masterpiece of a meal. When I go to someone else’s house and get to see what treasures they’ve got in refrigerator drawers and pantry (I know. Seriously. Who does this!?) and then, if they let me cook it up!? Well (insert sigh here,) that’s my weird slice of heaven.

I get this from my maternal grandmother, Millie. Grandma Millie grew up in the Great Depression and although my grandparents literally died millionaires, still wondering of the bottom could fall out again, my grandma dutifully cut open her toothpaste tubes to scrape out the last of the paste before tossing the tubes in the trash.

Honey; that’s “scroungy” like no one’s business. Me combing through a bunch ‘a random food items barely compares with Grandma, but I’m still young. 😉

Making something out of what someone thought was nothing. Man do I love it.

The Art of Soup

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“A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.” –Abraham Maslow

I love soup!  I look forward to cooler weather (my Minnesota friends are laughing right now) so that I can make soup, soup, soup!  I actually make soup year round, although my husband does start to complain when the ambient temperature gets above 85 degrees or so.

What’s so great about soup?  Well, it’s delicious of course.  It’s also full of possibilities.  I can’t think of another food item that can be as versatile or played around with more than soup.  I have some great soup recipes, but quite honestly my favorite way to make it is something I call “Refrigerator Soup.”  I love (read: LOVE) to poke around my fridge (or yours if you invite me over…) and chop up whatever I find, simmer it, add a broth and a bunch of other stuff and call it soup.

Click on my recipe page and check out my family’s recipe for lentil soup, which is already pictured there.  This soup is easy and quick to make, and it’s possible to have all the ingredients on hand so you can whip it up whenever. 

One suggestion: the recipe portions are small.  Tiny.  Miniscule.  I never, ever, ever make small portions of anything I cook, especially soup.  Soups more than anything else only get better after they’ve been cooked, frozen and then reheated.  I recommend at least doubling this recipe or, if you’re a nut-job like me, quadruple it or even more.

Oh!  And I almost forgot: if you’d like to make a comment to my posts (please, please, please) just click on the word bubble.  And if you want to get email updates every time I reach out and try to touch the world, please click on the new widget Noeleen set up for me.  We’re hoping it will work!

Here I go!

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Welcome to my little corner of the world!  Thank you, Noeleen, for setting up my stellar blog and BIG gracias, amigas, for reading my entries, nodding politely while I shamelessly promote my workshops, and telling everyone you know (please, please, please…) about how cool it is to “kick it in the kitchen” with me!

After 8 1/2 years of dedicating most waking moments to raising my three amazing kiddos, I’m using some new-found time to realize the vision of sharing a few tricks, promoting a good-food life with family and hanging out a lot more with fun mamas.  Woo-hoo!

I hope ya’ll can find some inspiration from what pops up on this page, and if you like, from my workshops and future endeavors.  Ideally this blog will soon provide a path toward connecting with the many new friends I haven’t yet met!

I’ll do my best to write clever, unique entries, and share some of my favorite recipes.  Overall my mission is to offer something useful to the lives of busy mamas.  And so for my first trick, I’d love to warm up with something simple and savory: a simple recipe for homemade croutons…

Tasty Croutons

Ingredients:

Bread.  Any kind.  Old is better than new.  Crusty is better than not.
Olive oil
Garlic salt

Directions:

Set oven to broil on high and place rack at highest spot.
Slice bread into long slices, about an inch or two wide.
Lay slices on a cookie sheet close together.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.
Broil bread for 2 mins and check.  (your broiler may be stronger than mine, so you may need to check sooner)
When bread is toasted, remove tray and flip pieces over to toast other side.  You’ll save time flipping by having cut the bread in strips rather than smaller cubes.  Place back in oven for 2 or so more minutes. 
That’s it!

Croutons can be frozen in plastic freezer bags for a couple of months.  These little honeys are great with soups, red sauces, salads, as incentive for someone little to finish his beets…  It’s a great way to use up old bread!