Menus, January 1, 2013

every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

supersonic

Sure, I could've come off all posh poetry lover by quoting for you T.S. Eliot's line "in my beginning is my end", or about a bajillion other quotes on the topic of endings and beginnings, but it was supersonic's hit from the 90's that was playing in my brain last Sunday afternoon.

Well, Supersonic mashed with Pachabel.

 Because on Sunday, at the end of this-

  I was sitting outdoors at the top of a hill with a few dozen of the dearly beloved, waiting to watch one of our sweetest friends glide down the bridal aisle into a new beginning.
And besides all the excited curiousity that bubbles around one's brain in the minutes before a wedding,
I was looking at those quiet winter woods and thinking about three (maybe four) other things.

First. How when that frantic spring and summer stuff has ended, and the trees  rest from the hard work of holding up all those leaves, they look really....



.....beautiful

Second. How the beginning of something new and wonderful can lead to the gathering of all sorts of happy people, and can leave a girl looking absolutely....

.....beautiful

Third. I was also, of course, thinking about dinner.
Specifically, about the way new foods are added to our dinner routines, and the way old foods fall away. About things we learn to like, and things we learn to leave behind. Learning to like fish, for example. And learning to rely less on those yummy things that are maybe not so conducive to strength and health.
Fourth. I was noticing that my nose had gone all red and runny, and thinking (vis a vis thought #3) that maybe this week I should eat fewer Christmas cookies and more vegetables.
And so, here's what we'll be eating this week-

Wednesday:     Blackened Chicken Salad
I'll be using fresh spinach as a base for the salad, and since the recipe calls for tomato chutney without including any clues about how to make or find it, I'll be using this tomato chutney recipe. And I'll be cooking some extra chicken to use on Friday.

Thursday:  Vegetarian Chili
This vegetarian chili goes head to head with  this veggie chili from last week. Which will be interesting. Because here's what I learned about my excellent and well-trained family when I asked them whether this hot stuff chili was better than this chicken chili. I learned that they are the sort of open-minded, non-judgemental people who say "well, they're both really good- they're different, not better or worse..." I learned that with this sort of easy audience, opinions are best solicited by saying "Well, thanks for the cooking affirmations, can you tell me which one you'd rather eat again?"
Which is how the hot stuff chili got knocked out.

Friday:     Creamy Chicken Chili
I'll be using Wednesday's leftover chicken breast and losing a few (or a few hundred) fat calories by subbing Greek yogurt for the sour cream and evaporated milk for the cream.

Saturday:   Orange ginger salmon
It's been way too long since good ol finned protein swam over for dinner, hasn't it? And since salmon's on sale at Kroger this week, we'll be having it tonight, and the inevitable leftovers tomorrow. I'll be using mustard greens instead of the spinach in the recipe and cooking up some brown rice.

Sunday:   Salmon Cakes
I'll be using last night's brown rice, and stirring up some frozen green beans. And, maybe I'll actually stir up the horseradish sauce. But I'll bet that tartar sauce or ketchup would be just as nice.

 Fish. vegetables. and no biscuits or pasta. Some things fall away, some things remain. And entirely new things start.
  And they matter, I think.
The things you choose to keep, the things you choose to let go of, the things that change because of those choices. All your endings, all your beginnings, all your losses, all your gains.
The ones that you realize are important and the ones you don't.
They matter because you matter. Because your life matters.
And I'm wondering if maybe that old middle school joke was right. Maybe I should make like a tree. No, not make like a tree and leaf-
Make like a tree and...

release.                                                retain.                                       renew.

Repeat.