Eat Like a Rabbit

Well, my goal for putting that pound of spinach away in a week was not a success. Paul says my problem was that I never put enough spinach in the dishes. I also contribute part of the problem to not being home for two nights and running out of time in the mornings to make my smoothies the last four or five days. So, I'll be making myself a smoothie for breakfast in the morning and trying to come up with other ways to use the spinach up as quickly as possible because I know it's good for me, and I don't want it to go to waste. Stay tuned for photographs and recipes to go with my spinach creations for the week.

The sauteed spinach photographed was served with my butternut squash soup, which I was very proud of. You can tell that even though the pan was filled with raw spinach, it cooks down a lot. If you're serving a large number of guests, get a big skillet.

Paul's folks had a major issue with their kitchen earlier this year. Their upstairs water heater flooded their kitchen and ruined--among other things--years of collected recipes. You can see all the marked pages in the cookbooks that the insurance company replaced. I also benefited because we learned one of the cookbooks The Occasional Vegetarian was out of print. Kathleen graciously sent me a used copy when she found a source. I'm happy my stomach is more settled because I've already read it cover-to-cover. (Yes, I do find enjoyment just reading cookbooks.) I've already used two recipes and will be going back to it later in the week.

I purchased a 1 pound package of spinach at Costco on Thursday and am determined to finish it off before the end of this week. One pound doesn't sound like much, but it looks like a lot, probably because I'm not running to the kitchen when I get home from work like I once did. I hope that excitement will return. Anyway, below are some ideas I have for getting that extra iron into my tummy because the vitamins still aren't staying down all the time.

I have a list of items I need to use up before we leave for Washington. We have a week visiting friends and shopping. Paul has a convention in Seattle, and we'll be participating in the Bloomsday Race in Spokane.

So, here's what I have and need to use. Whatever doesn't get for dinner becomes lunches for the week. Paul gets to eat out at the great new vegetarian cafeteria attached to Florida Hospital a couple times a week, but not this time!

Honfleur is a beautiful seaside town with a great history. We suspect that our ancestors sailed to Nova Scotia, Canada, from this port in search of a new life. The day was quite chilly and rain was in the forecast during the first Saturday in March. We took pictures quickly and searched for a restaurant along the warf that had a reasonable vegetarian option. This was especially hard near the sea when almost everything had fish.

I made this meal pretty soon after returning from Paris with our French dijon mustard by Maille. The recipe comes from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, and I must say that it wasn't disappointing. None of the previous recipes from this cookbook have been disappointing. I really, really enjoyed this light salad with high protein. I suppose I have to add high cholesterol, too, due to the whole egg, but only about half of the yolk survives as the rest of the of the room is taken up by onion and garlic and seasoning.

Down in the basement of the La Tour Notre Dame Best Western was a small room with brick walls and archways and nice tables with chairs crammed up against the wall to provide enough seating. Many Europeans don't do breakfast. At most, it's a hot drink and roll. Occasionally, juice accompanies the meal. I learned pineapple juice is quite popular in France.

Once again, I am confessing that I read magazines at work. But, who could blame me? There's a wealth of information free to me; and since I can't sit still at lunch, I am productive by researching facts and recipes. Let's face it, if it weren't for my reading magazines at work, Paul would not have an absolutely fabulous Christmas present, which I am proud of finding. Sadly, some of Paul's friends read this blog; so, I cannot share the details until after the 25th. Therefore, we must return to the topic of the cake.

The biscuit recipe came from my mother and the gravy recipe came from Paul's mother through her mother-in-law.

I love scrambled eggs. Who doesn't? As a child, I watched my grandparents put chives in theirs and it made me sick. Now, I can't eat my eggs plain. Paul put his eggs on top of his English muffin, poured Cholula Sauce over it, and garnished it with Raspberries. All of my items were neatly separated. The differences between a husband and a wife! I will say, I was out of spinach this day. I missed it.