Weekly Gourmet

Today was 40 degrees and my husband brought home some baby pink tulips for me, so now I am in full-on February-Is-Basically-Spring Mode. Tonight's dish featured a few nods to spring veggies plus some hunks of pork. Like porky February plus Marchy veggies. And the best part is that I got this one from my favorite section of the Food Network magazine, where they offer low calorie dinners (under 500 calories) AND IT STILL HAS CARBS! Farro are carbs...gluten FREE carbs actually! I win again! What's my prize? Am I gluten free now? No. I hope not. Maybe just accepted as a leader of the gf society or something. Honorable member. It can be dairy-free too if you omit the pecorino romano or use your strange dairy-free cheese alternatives. One change in my life is that my kids started back up with "activities." Joy. My prime cooking time is now carpooling time. Fine, it's great to see the excitement on their little faces to be at piano and swimming. OK not really piano, but ...

Today is Monday. Ahhhh the boneless, skinless chicken breast - nature's blank canvas. It would be my most dreaded ingredient were I ever to appear on "Chopped." There are just too many ways to go with it. I chose tonight's recipe based on two features: 1) It calls for pineapple, and I happened to have a pineapple on hand that was about a day away from getting tossed and 2) It calls for cardamom and I have a cutie-mom who buys cardamom pods and grinds them up and delivers them to me in tiny, adorable jars. Notes: A) Steve hates fruit mixed with meat, but see item #1. B) My kids THINK they don't like pineapple, but I know better, and please refer back to item #1. C) They always groan over pineapple on "Chopped" and talk about how it is the one food that ruins any dish when introduced. Did that stop me? Nuh uh. See. I set up everyone to hate their dinner like the evil non-food wasting person that I am, and everyone LOVED it. FYI, the pineapple was surprisin...

Today is Tuesday. While we were renovating our house, we lived with my in-laws for seven (7) months. I LIVED WITH MY MOTHER-IN-LAW for seven incredibly short, easy breezy, fun-filled months. No I'm just kidding. Honestly it was fine and I recommend to anyone that if you and your in-laws...don't...always recognize each other's finer points, go move into their home for an extended period of time. Now I am their favorite child AND I am able to freely yell at, argue with, and lovingly make fun of my mother-in-law like she's my own mom. Lots of exaggerated eye rolling. It's swell. And I even got her to start keeping her butter out on the counter! See, she listens to me. Good Rose.  My one condition for moving into someone else's house was that I had to be in charge of the kitchen. You should have seen me lugging over bins of pans and spices and utensils that I thought I couldn't live without (and it was only supposed to be for eight weeks!), it was hilarious...li...