Menus, April 2, 2014

"I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them,as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end."Louisa May Alcott

It's a funny thing, isn't it, that we usually speak of turning over new leaves when we turn in the old calendar- in January-

when all the new leaves died a long time ago.

And I understand, of course, it's one of those colloquial idiomatic similar metaphor thingies that we use to talk about positive change. It's a funny one though, because when you really think about, turning over a strange new leaf 

can have kinda creepy consequences.

I suppose you could extend the metaphor, and say that sometimes positive change means dealing with the icky things you find sliming around under new leaves, but I feel bad about asking a metaphor to stretch father than I can.

And I can't stretch that far.

The good new for lovers of new leaves is that (at least here in Texas) it's spring.  Well, it was spring last Sunday, and if the weather gods are kind, and have the sacrifices offered last autumn, we'll have a few pleasant weeks before summer. 

Behold, the ancient practice of human composting.
The only way to guarantee at least three weeks
between Texas too cold and Texas too hot.

Around here, we're going to be taking advantage of all these lovely new leaves as long as they last. Lots of salads and veggies in the forecast, and not a bowl of chili in sight. 

Here's the spring starting line-up:

Wednesday: Mini Lasagnas

I wonder why spring food is so often cute food? And I wonder why that's so appealing? The whys of the matter aside, these look very cute and very fun and I want to eat them. I might decide to put a chicken sausage or a salad of mixed greens with these, though they may be substantial enough on their own to make a meal.









Thursday: Chicken with Lemon Herb Sauce and Basil pasta

Both of these looked so good that I decided to have them together, and the lemon sauce looks so yummy that I'm going to make enough for tomorrow night's salmon and broccoli. Any leftover chicken will be used in a salad on Saturday.







Friday: Salmon, tomatoes and  Oven Roasted Broccoli

It may be this dinner that persuades me to replace the grill that gave up its last gasp of gas last summer. Not that the idea of oven roasted broccoli and broiled salmon sound bad. It's just that anything grilled is starting to sound better.





Saturday: Noodle Salad

The latent college student in me loves to find new ways to use ramen, and this looks like a good one. Although to preserve  gluten freedom, the ramen noodles may step aside for rice noodles. And really, with so many nice chili oils on the shelf of your local grocery store, you needn't worry about making your own- unless it's raining outside and there's nothing you'd rather be doing. You'll find that having a small bottle of chili oil on hand is a good thing- a drop or two adds an interesting kick to all sorts of salads and stirfries.



Sunday: Shrimp, Avocado and Grapefruit salad

If avocados are brought home from the shop on Wednesday, there's every chance that they may be perfectly ripe for this salad. I'm super excited about this summer-on-a-plate-main-dish salad, and if I can find avocados cheap enough, I may just take the two dollars I save on avocados and go out and buy a picnic table and a whole new backyard to eat it in.

Because that's how the math of frugality works, isn't it? 

Saving two dollars means you can spend two hundred?

Hmmm....maybe my budgeting practices need to turn over a new leaf too....

I hope that wherever you are, the weather is stirring up some happy change

And if the change

in the world outside

is turning over a few new leaves on the inside,

I hope that change gets the time and space and courage

it needs to grow.

I hope those new hopes fight their way through

the compost of old ways

and become change so right and true

that the turnover of a new leaf

turns over a happy new you.