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| Home Alone......A day indoors today, catching up on all my chores after the gallivanting that I have been doing for the last week. The boys are out all day (interittently, with much taxiiing still to be done, it seems!) and Alec is away for the weekend, so I have had the luxury of catering just for myself. Normally, I would have a quick "snack on the run" but this evening, I decided to eat more mindfully and enjoy the experience. To make it all easy, I turned to my trusty steamer, and within half an hour I had what I consider was a gourmet meal.
So simple. One carrot. One courgette. Half a sweet pepper. 2 sticks of celery, half a dozen florets of broccoli and four small new potatoes, halfed. While they steamed, I cooked two vegetarian sausages (with black olive & red peppers in the filling) on another trusty gadget - a "George Foreman" grill. dessert to follow was a ripe mango, eaten in thin slivers, with a fine fruit knife and fork. Virtually fat free, with all vitamins intact, the meal was delicious. It proved to me yet again that healthy eating really can be so good - what it takes is a little bit of planning, and a little bit of time for preparation. Nothing is wasted - the peelings go onto the compost heap, while the steaming water is collected and frozen to add to vegetable soups. I have met people who say they have used steamers but once or twice, then givien them away or sold them. I cannot imagine living without mine. My first electric steamer was the last Christmas present my mother ever gave me - what better legacy could she have left me in terms of looking after myself. Even then, Mother knew best. That old fashioned way of cooking (even if done by modern means) cannot be surpassed. Hugh leaves home in three weeks time to go off to college - this time next year Tim will probably be doing the same, so I am already starting to think in terms of smaller mealtimes for Alec and myself. But with my steamer, my microwave and my grill, there is no reason why meals should not still be another simple daily pleasure in my life. Journal prompt. Do you take simple pleasure in preparing a meal? Are all your mealtimes fraught with hurried preparation and rushed consumption, or do you sometimes take time for the sheer pleasure of preparing and eating ? What is your ideal "home alone" meal - be it nutritious and healthy or a franky blow out, down and dirty guzzlefest :-). If you live alone, what do you sometimes do to make a mealtime special? If you live with others, do you share the preparation? What, apart from food, makes a mealtime special for you? What about your favorite equipment and implements? |