Q & A Monday: In The Kitchen

Hello, again!
Another Monday already??  Well, the good thing about today is I can start getting back to a normal schedule.  When my father-in-law passed away two weeks ago, we started all the preparations for his memorial service.  I've really tried to help my mother-in-law and husband with as much as I could possibly take on during this time.  I made a photo book and a huge picture collage project and gathered photos for the slideshows.  Plus, I ran errands with my mother-in-law to get flower arrangements, cremation arrangements, etc. taken care of.  And we also had a full day of hanging out together and going shopping.

This past week, while juggling a few sleepless nights working on picture projects and all the last minute details for the memorial, my husband's uncles and aunt came into town.  It was great to see them again, although obviously not under these circumstances.  We had some time lined up to spend with them before Friday.

Friday was the actual memorial service.  It turned out beautiful.  I intend to write a more detailed post about it.  It has just been a really difficult month so far, so I appreciate my down time today.  On Sunday, we drove out to Hood River with everyone to enjoy the scenery and spend a little bit more time together before they all flew home.

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

It is time again for Friend Makin' Monday.  If you have a blog, I would like to invite you to answer the questions as well.  Leave me a comment here, so I know you are playing.  Then you can also leave a comment over at All The Weigh, so other folks can check out your answers as well.  It is a fun way to connect to other bloggers.



In The Kitchen

1. How often do you cook at home? 
When things are on a normal schedule, probably three or four times a week.  We love leftovers for other dinners and sometimes lunches.  Now lately, since things have been so hectic, I've cooked at home about four times in the last three weeks.

2. Do you eat more fresh produce, frozen or canned produce? 
Mostly fresh.  I LOVE salads.  I could eat a salad every day.  And while we were having the frozen steamer bagged veggies, and they taste good, we realized that the sodium is still pretty high in those.  We bought a rice cooker/vegetable steamer and are starting to steam our own fresh veggies.  I still buy some frozen veggies for quick meals though.

3. What are a few unusual staples that can always be found in your kitchen?  
Okra - pickled or frozen, pickled ginger, Gruyere cheese, Collard greens (perfectly seasoned ones in a can),  etc.  I don't know what is unusual to you. lol 

4. Look in your fridge, then tell us about the healthiest thing in there. 
Salad mix and cabbage mix?  The salad is an herb mix, though I have really been into arugula lately.  And the cabbage mix I like to add to my salads for some crunch.

5. Now share the most unhealthy thing in it.  
Butter and Cherry Coke.  I don't cook with butter as often as I used to.  In fact, I almost exclusively use olive oil instead of butter nowadays.  But it is still good to have around for the occasional baking adventure or for the now and then that we buy bread.  We also don't have carbonated soft drinks anymore, but we bought the Cherry Coke as a mixer for our alcohol on Friday night.

6. Do you eat leftovers? 
Yes.  I love leftovers.  I also don't like wasting food, so I don't throw things out right away.

7. Do you use coupons at the supermarket? 
Not as often as I would like to.  But going through a lot of coupons in the last week or so, most of them are for shitty food that isn't good for you.  They need to make more coupons for produce, shrimp and fish, etc. and I would use those.  I do use coupons for toiletries though.

8. How often do you try new recipes? 
As often as I can.  When on a normal schedule, maybe once a week, or more if I am feeling adventurous. 

9. Do you make grocery lists?  Do you stick to them? 
I make a list of our meals for the week and then make a list of the ingredients needed.  Then I put the list of ingredients and such in order based on the grocery store we are going to and the order in which we go through it. (Produce and bulk items, canned goods aisles, cold items, frozen items)
It helps our trip go faster and it helps keep us on track so we don't overbuy. 

10. If you could buy one food item that would magically be calorie-free, which item would you choose? 
The best tasting ice cream I could get my hands on.

Now it is your turn!  Link up, answer the questions, and have a Happy Monday!

3 comments

  1. I did this one, and a couple of others: http://goingloopy.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/catching-up-on-friend-makin-mondays/ :)

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  2. Judging from the number of "in the kitchen" posts you have, I figured you liked trying new recipes. =) I struggle with it because my husband went to culinary school, so cooking with him around can be intimidating at times. Not that he does anything; it's all in my head!

    Hope the app works well for you!

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  3. We've been using the Grocery IQ app now for a few weeks and we love it! It saves so much time in texting each other lists and forgetting things and wondering about what we need. Love it!

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