Gut Bomb #1

You can't just start your week with English short ribs and think that you are going to follow it the next night with lamb. What a gut bomb. I should have stopped with one. Those things are so fatty. This recipe was only okay - nothing to write home about, so I won't bother typing it up here. I think we are well past short rib season anyway. I'm feeling kind of sorry that I bought the lamb already. And don't even get me started on the rabbit in my freezer. What? Yeah, rabbit. You'll see.

So I changed my weekly menu. Speaking of which, fellow blogger, No Love Sincerer, reminded me to blog about my weekly menu. Funny that whenever I tell people about this, they ask if they can get a copy with the shopping list. If I had a secretary, no problem. I believe this planning practice speaks to (a) my love of menus and creating them, (b) my Type A personality, and (c) a hand-me-down practice from my father, who did the same thing. I also got my love of grocery stores from him - traveling up and down every aisle, taking my time. So, I have a white board in my kitchen. I sit down on Friday night and go through ... what? Friday night. So what? I have a child! Anyway, I sit down on Friday night and put together my menu for the next week. I usually look through my cupboards to see what I need to use, or perhaps take inspiration from a magazine or a blog. I write everything out on my list, then on the white board. The board has a Sam corner, too.

To complete my shopping list, however, I must hit at least two, sometimes three, stores to get what I need. Uwajimaya is one; Trader Joe's is usually two. Then I sometimes have to round it out at Safeway or Whole Foods. I go to Costco every couple of weeks and buy frozen meat or fruit when it's in season and cheap. I've gotten really good pineapples there, believe it or not. And melons.

My goal is to not go to the store at all this summer. I figure, we have herbs and a bunch of protein in the freezer. I assume that the lettuce will grow like gangbusters, and we can continue to plant as we harvest. I can fill out menus with farmers markets. Yeah, I think I can do it. Garden + farmers markets (+emptying cupboards) = going with flow cooking for the summer. We'll see. I should relax and try to make it through spring first.