Unfortunately, that's not usually possible. With kids and animals that need taking care of, nine times out of ten when those waves start crashing and those gulls start screeching (why yes, we are the sort of people who order things like 'natural-sounds' alarm clocks and Snuggies. Which are, fyi, the greatest blankets in the world) it's time to surrender the z's and get a move on. On your average morning, we're up at 4:30 and I'm corralling the dogs out to the truck as I stuff on boots and drive up to the ranch (it's maybe a ten minute trip) to feed and water the horses and then let them out to the pasture. If it's a weekend the stalls will need mucking out which lengthens the time there, but during the week the ranch staff will take care of that and so we're usually home by 5:30. Cats and dogs get fed, pooches let outside, and then I get to do some morning ashtanga sun salutations and shower.
This morning was fairly routine, though I skipped the yoga knowing that I would be trying out a new routine later on in the day. We (being my father and brother who are visiting, and I) had a remodeling project to finish and were planning on an early start so it worked out and at about seven my stomach started pining for some coffee, which meant it was time for brekkie - an ffy meal in our house. With all of us being nightowls, it's every man for himself come dawn.
Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day for me, personally. I've never been much for it and for years and years I didn't eat until around one. It's not a healthy habit and I'm making a concerted effort to change it. The morning meal is pretty simple - in fact, most of what I eat is very simple, straightforward stuff that can be whipped up on the fly - and, while I don't always manage to squeeze it in, brekkie is becoming something rather enjoyable, a moment to sort of catch one's breath after the morning rush and just enjoy easy sustenance.
This morning was fresh grapefruit from the tree, trimmed of the bitter pith and cut into forkable pieces. You will see a lot of the bowl that it's served in - it's my absolute favourite dish, found in a little shop in the Canary Islands a couple of years ago and such a pretty robin's egg blue that I couldn't pass it up. It's survived many a drop and more than earned it's spot as number one. Next to that is a piece of pumpernickel bread from the bakery down the street (which will get it's own entry, in time) with fresh avocado mushed on top. Avocado is such a simple but delicious fruit - creamy and clean-tasting, you don't need anything else on toast with it, except perhaps a bit of pepper to add some depth to it. Like every morning, there's a glass of water and a cup of tea: today was Yogi brand Ginseng Vitality.
A word about this particular blend. It's an herbal blend of ginseng, eleuthero, astragalus, organic honeybush, spicy cinnamon, and sweet licorice. According to the box, "One cup and you may find yourself blossoming into a state of pure exhilaration!" This? Is very, very true. It does, however, taste like ass. So why drink it? Well, I'm a hippie. I love herbal concoctions. It might taste gross, but I love the way it feels, how it wakes my body up and keeps me going throughout the day. The other variations of Yogi that I've tried are far more satisfactory and I highly recommend the brand. You can check them out here.
After breakfast we got to work almost immediately on the project - finishing the master bath. There's been a leak from the upstairs bathroom for quite a while now, and it finally succeeded in rotting off the ceiling plaster downstairs, so we fixed that up, and then tore apart the downstairs. Any excuse for a remodel, right? It's been a slow process, between moving and traveling and various jobs and the other laundry list of projects, but it's finally done. Ahhh, it's going to be lovely to not have to troop on upstairs with toiletry bags every time we need to shower. Of course, we had to break around ten for teatime.
That's another thing I'm finding about eating breakfast - I'm so much hungrier during the day. I never used to want for anything until the afternoon when I wasn't eating early, but now that my metabolism is getting woken up, it's ravenous come mid-morning.
Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'that's not tea, that's coffee.' And you're right. But also wrong. It's actually neither - it's Inka Naturalis, a Polish coffee substitute. I'm not sure what it's actually called, outside of a brand name, but we first tried a version of it in Prague. It's a combination of roasted and ground rye, barley, beets, and chicory root. As you might guess, it's got a very pleasant nutty flavour, yet is surprisingly creamy. It was a great compliment to banana bread with a bit of Earth Balance spread on top.
This is what South African's call "cement mixing". It's actually a rather impolite term often said with great disdain, and should probably be axed just because of it's origins but what can you do? I remember quite clearly my dad flicking mine and my brothers' lips many a time when he caught us at it in the midst of company (despite the fact that he did it himself, all the time, and never cared so long as it wasn't in public.) Nothing quite beats a mouthful of Inka/coffee/tea and some sort of biscuit or bread, all warm and soft and mushy in the mouth.
Then it was back to work and off to the park with the kids and then home again, home again, jiggedy jig to tackle some laundry. Time flies when you're in the midst of forced labour and before I knew it, noon had zipped by and it was coming up on half-past one before I managed to boogy upstairs for some lunch.
Now, I generally try to make my lunch the night before or in the morning. I'm usually packing lunches for my partner then anyway, so it's not a big deal to get it done and it saves a lot of time the next day. Mom tip: always, always, always pack your lunch in a tupperware or other to-go container. You never know what's going to come up or when you're gonna be flying out of the house and if you've got a meal to grab, you won't find yourself starving hours later and trying to scrounge up something healthy and filling on-the-go.
This salad is tasty and as simple as they come: some kale, whatever lettuce greens you prefer, red onion, a couple of olives (I used Spanish olives, but kalamata would also be mighty tasty), chopped raw garlic, a splash of safflower oil and a dash of red wine vinegar, pepper, and mix. If you leave it in the fridge for a bit, the kale will soften and everything will marinate together nicely. Deeee-lish!
After a full morning and busy afternoon, I was dreading having to cook, but thankfully it's Thursday. Thursday at our place is leftover night, because we start hitting the farmers markets (more on that tomorrow) and need to clear out what we have stocked in the fridge. There's always a bowl of salad made; as it dwindles throughout the week we add more vegetables, so there's always something fresh and healthy available for empty tummies.
Earlier in the week I'd made a crockpot of soup, and after picking at it the last few days, we were down to about a bowlful. It wasn't quite enough for a satisfying meal but when mixed with the remnants from last night's supper you get a delicious bowl of split pea soup with tofu soldiers. Both are great on their own, but together? Whew. Fuggedaboudit. The tofu adds a smokiness to the soup that's to die for. It was so filling that I didn't have any room or desire for dessert, despite having found some delicious new fruits at the market earlier.
And that's that, a day of meals on the North Shore. Most posts are probably going to be pretty one-meal oriented after this, but since I hadn't actually done a whole lot today, and since this is the start of it all, I figured a little overview would be fun. =)
Until next time!
Diz
P.S
Look what came in the mail today!
No comments:
Post a Comment