Coconut Milk Chai Marsala

Call it a failure of resolve, or a pitfall of stay-at-home parenting, or injudicious selection of lunch foods, but I like a snack at about 3pm. I don't stock snack foods in the house. I'm off gluten and dairy, so a sandwich or cup of yogurt are out. I'm not a big fresh fruit eater (I can hear your gasps and rumbles from here) and if I'm the least bit peckish it's not a good idea to get into preparing something if that involves a knife. All of which is to say that pre-made chai syrup is a precursor to a great fill-you-up snack.

The Easy Way

Generally it is assumed that doing right is more difficult than doing wrong, that taking the road more travelled is a sign of sloth and thus of sin. Taking the easy way out is always a pejorative accusation, is it not? The high road, the good fight, slow and steady, the Force is strong within you (okay, maybe not that one) - these common phrases remind us that the right thing to do takes gumption and effort. The first two little pigs and the city mouse slacked off and, well, died, so to save yourself you must have to strive and plan and endure. But what if sometimes the easy way is the right way?

One fainting robin

Upfront and really clear: I'm thinking out loud. This is a shoot-from-the-hip post, so don't expect coherence. And it's not about food.

Creamy Celeriac Soup with Chantrelles

We've had some good eating around here the last few days, if I do say so myself. Saturday was spicy lamb liver with these creamed onions (more or less). Yesterday I started from this braised pork butt recipe and got somewhere else entirely, which was delicious anyway. Today I had one celeriac bulb in my crisper next to a whole lot of chilled air, language school at supper time, and our veg/milk/egg delivery at 8pm, and that turned out even better than I expected too.

Not bad for nothing in the house there, Mother Hubbard.

Grace in service is missing in action

After feeding the Short Person this morning I brought two cups of coffee and climbed back into bed for some family time, and fell asleep. I dreamed that we moved, I'd told my husband to choose the new place without me, I hated it (it was sort of an attic crawl-space and our furniture wouldn't fit, for crying out loud!) but no one thought there was anything amiss and ignored my tears and distress. Dreams often present ridiculous situations, but the essence of this one revisited a conversation I'd had with my husband the afternoon prior. He said, I don't feel in control of my day or my week, so I feel out of control of my life. I said I felt the same, that I'd made all the decisions that got me here but now it feels like I'm living the wrong life while, from the outside, it looks pretty ideal.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I'm not the only one

Good to know, isn't it? Community, even the idea of it, can feel like such a bolster when you're slumping. I don't know if there's been a New Year's effect in the collective blogosphere diet, but here's another example of people going gluten free: Whole Health Source asked a whack of people to try three versions of a GF diet for the month of January, and his first group's results are in. They're not going to get into Nature with this, but it sure trends to the positive. As I've obliquely mentioned, I'm off the wagon lately. I feel it. I know what I've got to do but I'm stalling until after our mini-holiday this weekend.

Better late than never

Why didn't this Wellness Mama post on going grain-free for Lent pop up in my feed 2 weeks ago when I needed it? Okay, I still need it. Maybe someone else does too, so instead of reinventing the blogwheel here is a rundown at Kitchen Stewardship on the main grain-free diets and some resources on implementing such a thing in your own kitchen, and an on-line course with Cheeseslave on how to live through the transition to eating that way. The navel-gazing is, in my case, needed right now, but there are other demands on my attention and they're not being met well as I get up to speed in the kitchen. Here's a course at Well Grounded Life that combines a kick-start body cleanse with a bit of priority coaching and household cleanse. For cheap and easy you can't beat Real Food Whole Health's giveaway of a 3 month subscription to grain-free meal plans from Health, Home and Happiness.