Saturday, December 6

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

A mostly quiet and low-key kind of day.

Nice to have my Sweetie at home when I got up.

We did our usual chores etc. (COLD today) and got ready to go to town to pick up pottery things from our friend D.

Which we did. We did go to the dump (transfer station) and took the household garbage and recycling on our way to town, which feels like a win.

There was no trouble in taking apart the kiln (it comes apart in rings that stack right back up to assemble them again) and no real issues getting it outside and into the back of the truck.

There was a lot of other things we took today too, mostly the powdered ingredients to make glazes, and some accessories for the kiln.

That's not everything, so my Sweetie is going back tomorrow to get what's left.

We came home and put some things in the mud room in the house (things that should be kept warm) and the rest in the garage until the pottery studio is ready.

So, very exciting, a little scary, but hopefully a nice thing for us both to use for years to come.

I spent some time outside after unloading the truck to add a blanket for Wonder, and to blanket the ponies.

The ponies normally don't need blanketing, but all the recent snow has partly melted on their backs and made an ice mat, so I figured that can't be comfortable for them. With a blanket, that ice will melt and they can dry out under the blanket.

My Sweetie made supper, which was pretty much ready when I came inside (yay!) and we watched the last two episodes of "The White Lotus". I felt like this season was a bit more dark, but still very good writing. The cinematography for this season was amazing.

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

Nice to have supper ready. What did you have?

[gottawonder]

Supper pretty much every night is quinoa with mixed veggie stir fry.

It's both the same every night, and different, depending on what vegetables/tofu/beans are in the stir fry or what spices you add.

It's pretty odd I suppose to be that repetitive, but it's nice to never have to think about what you're going to cook, and it generally takes about 15 minutes to make.

We're practical folk, and I don't like cooking.

[ratunderpaper]

With all the splendid vegetarian recipes out there, I'm surprised that you don't like to cook.
One of the best things I have tasted was a butternut squash, sage and tofu lasagna.

[gottawonder]

Well, before I was a vegetarian, it wasn't much different.

I don't enjoy the fuss of food preparation, or the time it takes to make food.

I know that this is your life, basically, but to me, I just don't care.

I would probably enjoy eating different food if SOMEONE ELSE MADE IT, but frankly I would also be annoyed if I had to suffer through a spouse who was particular about food and we had to shop for special things, and supper took forever to make every night.

On the nights where my husband gets all fussy about the food, I just leave the kitchen and go do something else.

In the same manner that I wear the same simple clothes in my day to day life, a t shirt and sweat pants, I am happy to eat the same simple food most of the time.

I just don't want to have to think about it much.

THEN, when we go to the city or some other event, I like to wear nicer clothes, and we eat somewhere.

On a day where we HAVE TIME to think about our clothes and our food, as something special.

No, I wouldn't want "every day to be special" with food. I want it to be simple, tasty, healthy, and ready in about 15 minutes.

If we were very wealthy, I would love to have a chef to make more interesting healthy food for us, and for me to not have to do the shopping or the prep, or the clean up. To not have to think about it at all.

Though, you know what? I don't even LIKE having something different all the time. I LIKE having two fried eggs on whole wheat toast when I get up. I wouldn't enjoy having to guess what I'm being served today if we had a fancy chef. I would probably still like to make them myself.

I suppose having a couple of different meals during the week would be fine, but I wouldn't want it to be a constant surprise.

[ratunderpaper]

There's enjoyment of variety and of learning new types of cuisine, and then there's fussiness.

[gottawonder]

Yup, and for me, at this point in my life and my food journey, I'm mostly happy if someone else does the effort.

You know from my posts that I enjoy eating at different vegan/vegetarian places and I enjoy trying different dishes.

I'm not against OTHER PEOPLE putting in a lot of effort to food, if that's their thing.

If I feel like it, I might bother too. I just generally don't feel like it.

[ratunderpaper]

Generally, I like putting effort into everything.

Here, I will tell you a story - a few months before my heart repair, I visited a friend who was fixing up his rather neglected house. I offered to help him paint. He handed me a paint roller, jumped (I do not exaggerate) on the couch, smiled, and sat back to watch. I rolled maybe four or five rolls on the wall, looked over at him watching, put the roller back in the tray, and said, "OK - I'm going to give everyone else a chance."

HIs kids were scrolling on phones and the computer - maybe they helped, maybe not. I left - and he was still smiling away on the couch.

[gottawonder]

Well, that would be me if someone else wanted to cook supper every night!

I am happy enough to cook the kind of food we typically eat, as it's easy to cook, but more than that, and whomever it is that expects more can do it themselves.

[ratunderpaper]

Have you ever made a vegetarian lasagna? It is very pleasant on cold winter evenings. I have made mine with butternut squash, sweet potatoes, spinach, sage and Swiss cheese.

[gottawonder]

I have eaten a vegetarian lasagna that was mostly feta cheese and spinach.

I don't eat pasta these days, as part of my not eating white flour/sugars.

I pretty much limit flour intake to whole wheat bread and whole wheat wraps.

No rice, few potatoes, no white flour (pizza crust, buns, crepes, pancakes, and on and on).

I would also eat only a small amount of sweet potato and sweet squash, but the spinach and feta are good.

[ratunderpaper]

Regular pasta doesn't seem that nutritious to me, being largely semolina and water.

The butternut squash and sage lasagna I made for Easter several years ago was made with spelt pasta. Highly recommend! I don't bake much bread anymore, but I do like spelt bread, with, kamut, oat and graham flour mixed in to lighten it. Mine's on the sweet side, though - with molasses and malt.

[gottawonder]

Sounds lovely!