What Cleanse?

I was doing so well with my cleanse. So well! I chose this week because we had no plans this weekend.

Until Saturday.

We found out some friends were free, so we invited them over to let the kids play. My girlfriend said she'd eat clean with me. Then we found out some more were free, so they were coming over. That got TV Joe into chef mode. For those following along at home, Mr. Jack-Of-All-Trades went to chef school forever ago. He likes to cook on the weekend. He was in rare form on Saturday.

On the menu:

Hummus, with pita bread and carrots (very healthy, cleanse friendly)
Spinach Salad with feta, onion, heirloom tomatoes, candied pecans and balsamic vinaigrette (feta? well...there's not that much so it's all good)
Ribeyes for the guys (whew, dodged a bullet with that one!)
Halibut, poached in a champagne/white wine, with beurre blanc sauce (healthy for me??)
Brussels Sprouts, boiled (I think) the tossed with butter and bacon (um, yeah...)
Roasted Potatoes (with lots of olive oil...I mean LOTS of olive oil)
Pearl Onions, sauteed with butter, olive oil, bacon and topped with blue cheese (what?????? just kill me now)

And then, my friend walked in with not one, but TWO Nothing But Bundt cakes, which, as you have heard, will be served in heaven.

Cleanse over.

Delicious dinner.

Cleanse later.

The end.

Cleansing Salmon

Wow what a week here at our Casa.

We started the week by getting our new swing set installed on Sunday. If I ever figure out how to get my pictures to load on my new computer, I'll show it to you. I think I need a new cord....

Anywho, TV Joe left Sunday to head to a convention in Vegas. Normally, a Sunday departure sends shivers up my spine because it makes for a loooooong day at home. But we had the guy here installing the swing set and he was a doll - let P-Diddy and Biggie B help out. They were outside all day long. And I got so much done! He finished at 8pm, and the boys jumped on the monkey bars and slide. Five minutes later...Bergen fell off the monkey bars and bit through his lip. Blood. Everywhere. Lots and lots of it. We got some ice and some cold water and got the thing to stop bleeding. He said (through tears) "did it stop bweeding?" and I said "yes" and he said "I go back". Nice. Tough boy.

Monday, P-Diddy used a card table to attempt to access the trapeze bar. Fell and blood.

Tuesday, Bergen fell off the swing and busted his lip.

I'm currently searching for release forms in case any other kids come over to play on it.

Tuesday I went with a girl friend to a seminar hosted by The Sunflower Shoppe. The speaker was Jordan Rubin, who told us the six keys to health and wellness. It was very interesting and informative. I decided to try his cleanse for a week. I started Thursday and will be done in 7 days. So far, not so bad. It's just following this pill-popping, drink-drinking plan and eliminating sugar, dairy, bread, starches, alcohol and packaged foods. And drink lots of water. So I'm eating lots of salad, vegetables and fruits, along with lean meats and fish. And you're suppose to give up coffee, but...yeah, right...

I'll let you know if it works. Just trying to detox and get back off sugar.

TV Joe came home Wednesday late, so I haven't been cooking for the boys. We've been eating sandwiches, mac and cheese, etc. And Wednesday (the day before the cleanse) we had Sonic and I had a chili cheese coney. I figured go out with a bang, right?

Last night I made Roasted Salmon with a White Wine Sauce and steamed broccoli. I got the recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart. If you don't have this app on your iPhone, get it! If you don't have an iPhone, you can check out the blog here. They send me a text message with a easy, gourmet dinner idea every day. I save what I like and access when I need it. I love it!

This salmon was really good. I prefer to eat only wild caught salmon, as farmed fish is loaded with antibiotics and other unmentionables. But in moderation, I think it's fine. The grocery store had wild Sockeye Salmon for $12.99 a pound. Perfect. Be careful with cooking - you don't want to over cook it. I came really close, but thankfully the sauce covered that. I'm becoming a decent cook, but fish is still tricky. This is good though, and Joe asked me to make it again, so there you go.

Also, this is a prime example of easy, healthy cooking on restricted time. It took 10 minutes. Seriously, it takes that long to log on to the pizza website and place an order.

Not that I don't loooove me some pizza. But it's all about the cleanse this week.


Roasted Salmon with White-Wine Sauce
Recipe courtesy of Everyday Food, by Martha Stewart

Ingredients
Serves 4

• 1 large skinless salmon fillet (1 1/2 pounds)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place salmon on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt. Roast until opaque throughout, about 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter over medium. Add flour, and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Add wine, and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until liquid is reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in chives; season with salt and pepper. With a fork, gently break salmon into large chunks, and serve topped with white-wine sauce.

From Everyday Food, January/February 2008

Our Sunday Best

I just poured over my latest copy of Southern Living magazine. I love this magazine. In April's issue I found some really beautiful recipes that I can't wait to try out on my friends. I found a new vacation spot in Florida to go on my ever-growing "Vacation Destination Wish List". I found decorating ideas that I may never use since my house is more French country than Southern country. But it did give me a little motivation to take better care of what I have. And I discovered that I want to plant a Chinese Snowball in my front landscaping. Clean, cook and plant. That's Southern Living!

On the last page of the April 2010 issue was the most delightful article that I just had to share. I live in the south. I grew up here. I love it. It's steeped in tradition. Some still alive, but some are slowly dying. This makes me want to cling to them. It reminds my of my grandmother who lived in southeast Texas (almost Louisiana). She could bake you under the table. She wore pearls. And she taught my mom to put a pinch of salt in your coffee grounds before brewing. Mom then taught me. You should try it! She would be appalled at me for wearing pants to church. I can remember when my mom and dad came out to Abilene to visit while I was in college. I met them at church, and as soon as I walked in to greet them, my mom said "you're wearing a pant suit to church?". That was in 1994 - at the dawn of the wide leg pant suit. I loved that pant suit. I got it with my Dillards card. Abilene had the best Dillards! I got a lot with my Dillards card. But that's another post.

Let's take a moment of silence in honor of the wide leg pant suit.

*now I should state a disclaimer...I know Jesus doesn't care what we wear to church as long as we show up. And I'm proud that people feel comfortable at my church and can wear anything. I'd rather you hear the message than not show up because you didn't have a nice dress to wear.*

Please enjoy this short article. I hope you do anyway. Let's cling to our southern traditions. I wonder if my mom would wear a corsage on Mother's Day?

OUR SUNDAY BEST

By Valerie Fraser Luesse

A friend of mine visited a college campus recently and was aghast to see coeds walking to class in shorts and tank tops best suited to the gym. “My grandmother used to put on lipstick to go to the mailbox”, she said wistfully. Our transformation from church-hostess Southern to lost-my-kid-gloves modern sort of slipped up on us. First came panty hose {no need to wrestle those nylons} and hot rollers {so long, bonnet hair dryer}, then pantsuits – in church! With the wave of an unmanicured hand, we had abandoned our half-slips, misplaced our Revlon “Love That Red,” tossed out our teasing combs, and taken up with sensible shoes.

Some icons of our feminine past won’t be missed at all. To that bonney hair dryer and clear-to-here girdle, we say good riddance. To the teasing comb, we offer a more reverent farewell. Together with Aqua Net hair spray, it gave generations of pageant hair the strength to bear a tiara, and that ought to mean something.

But as we boldly march forward, let us remember that “Mama’n’em” knew a thing or two about style. And I can name three blasts from our past that deserve a comeback.

1. The Easter Dress

We used to start shopping for our Easter dresses before the Valentine’s candy was even stale. An Easter dress was your prettiest, dressiest Sunday-go-to-meetin’ ensemble of the year. It screamed spring: floaty fabrics in pastel colors; short sleeves, puff sleeves, or no sleeves; store-bought or handmade. Pearls required. Hat and glove optional after 1960. If you were under 12, you wore pastel dotted Swiss, patent leather Mary Janes, and maybe a color-coordinated hat with a little elastic band that hooked under your chin. No matter what your age, the biggest challenge was trying not to shiver, since even the Deep South tends to have a mysterious cold snap on Easter (perhaps as a divine reminder that this is a worship experience, not a fashion show).

2. The Mother’s Day Corsage

When I was a kid, if a mother came to church without a corsage from her children, the whole family went on everybody’s prayer list. Now almost nobody buys one, and that’s a shame. Here’s how it works. You choose the flowers for your mother’s corsage based on whether her mother is living or dead. If her mother’s living, she wears roses or carnations in pink or red. If her mother has crossed over, she wears white or yellow roses or an orchid. Everybody gets baby’s breath. Its just the right thing to do.

3. The Hostess Apron

“When you saw my grandmother’s mint-green organza apron, you knew some cucumber sandwiches were coming out,” my friend Rebecca says. Back in the day, Southern women wore kitchen aprons, which they actually wiped their hands on while they cooked, and hostess aprons, which adorned and protected their good dresses while they served guests. Hostess aprons are all over the Web, so this would be a fairly simple charge to lead if we all work together.

Take the Pledge

Preserving our heritage takes commitment. We have to band together. So ladies, wherever you are, stand up, raise your right hand, and repeat after me: I (your name here), pledge to do my part to bring back the Easter dress. I pledge to order corsages right this minute, before the florist runs out of the good stuff. As for the hostess apron… I pledge to tie one on.