Teach Your Children Well

And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by . . .

~ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

We went grocery shopping together just before Christmas. She likes to help independently so we both took hold of our own shopping carriage and pushed them toward the entrance. 

Upon entering, brightly colored flowers on our left tempted me, seemingly in tiny melodious voices, to pick a few bunches for the dinner table. Pretty, but I already had freshly cut holly from the yard at home. To our right, a display case with assorted colorful pre-cut fruit, seemingly boasting their juicy flavors, tempted her to make hasty choices. 

My daughter loves fruit. With eyes wide open, she reached for a package.  

"Wait. Let's see what's available in the produce section which will save us money," I advised her. Yes, it's more work but can be fun when you prepare the produce together at home.

After pushing my carriage around the bustling produce section a bit and now near the greens, I suddenly felt overwhelmed. Perhaps the past few weeks of the holiday season were wearing on me. I looked at my daughter and said, "I just don't feel like cooking. I'm so tired." Without hesitating and with outstretched arms, she said, 

"Mom, look at all the beautiful colors! Look at all the fresh food! 

You don't need to cook - just put fresh food out and

we'll eat like we live on an exotic island." 

When I asked if she was serious, she said, "Yes".

I smiled.  

I felt pretty proud of my daughter at that moment and perked up. Confident she'd choose organic, our norm ever since she was diagnosed with FSGS Syndrome four years ago, we split up and shopped away. It wasn't the time to "preach" about making local choices, sustainability, carbon foot print, and all things related. That time will come (although she's been to plenty of farmers' markets and farms with me to already know a lot).

Baby steps.  

 *   *   *

The above pastel drawing was made by my daughter in elementary school

and hangs on a wall in our kitchen.

I love how the deep red apple in the center

looks like a heart.

Holiday Leftover Ideas

Here are some ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers. We skipped the traditional turkey sandwiches this year, which my kids really don't like anyway, and ate really well for days!

Turkey Hash
The morning after Thanksgiving, I made this easy turkey hash for a hardy breakfast before we went skiing. The hash, made from diced potatoes, red onion, grated carrots, and leftover dark meat, made a tasty side dish to scrambled eggs.

Rustic Oven-Baked Apple Pancake
Leftover apples that didn't fit into the tart on Thanksgiving were the main ingredient in this simple rustic oven-baked apple pancake for breakfast another morning. Use your favorite recipe. I found this recipe in a cookbook I have in New Hampshire.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie
For dinner one night, we had this delicious turkey shepherd's pie with some of the leftover turkey, green beans with leeks, and mashed potatoes. I added hamburg and corn to make my kids happy! There wasn't enough mashed potatoes leftover to complete the pie, so I just made another batch and blended them together. To keep the turkey from drying out, I added a little chicken broth to the bottom of the casserole dish.

 

Four-Grain Pancakes
For another breakfast, we had these four-grain pancakes (whole-wheat flour, rye flour, oat flour, and cornmeal) made with extra pumpkin puree.

Sausage, Broccoli, And Stuffing
The leftover stuffing made a nice addition to this simple sausage and broccoli dinner one night. The sausage also came from the farm where I bought our fresh turkey.

Turkey Soup
I immediately made a lovely stock on Thanksgiving eve from the bones and meat of the turkey. From that stock, I made this comforting turkey soup with bok choy, one of the fresh greens I purchased at the local farm when I picked up my turkey. I kept it simple by cooking the chopped vegetables right in the stock. The turkey was added last, once the vegetables were tender. The pasta was cooked separately and added to each individual bowl just before serving.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Turkey Hash
Leftover turkey hash was made with the leftover turkey. We ate it with leftover brussels sprouts from another meal. It made a very nice light lunch one day.

Cranberry Salsa

A great snack that my family really loves this time of year is this festive cranberry corn salsa. I make it every year and sometimes from the leftover cranberry sauce. When I started my blog last December, I posted the basic recipe here. I'll be posting my new fresh version of the recipe this weekend.