i was in the kitchen when you called....

oh my, a lapsed nutritionist and now a lapsed blogger to boot. thank you dear readers who continue to check in on me despite my poor attendance on the page over the last few months. my only excuse (though i think it's a good one) is that i've been spending more time in the kitchen and less time on the computer. see, i told you it was a good one.

in the last couple weeks, i've managed to convince myself that i've put my time in with packaged food and that i'm finally ready to move on. up. back (to my roots, not packaged food). my approach to this however, is one of healthy moderation. i will not give up noodles that cook in under a minute or my good friend the tortilla chip.

it's hard for me to say exactly what coaxed me back to the world of real food. i'm sure it has something to do with having a child who can now play (for a little while) on his own. i used to cook with him in a sling, which prompted a brief flirtation with the entrepreneurial idea of the "hib", or hat-bib. it also made for very erratic, interrupted kitchen practices. i've burnt most of our pots and once found lemons in the freezer.

another reason is that our bodies, when we listen to them, really just want the real deal. i got to the point where convenience became too much of a sacrifice for what i truly needed. so while i still don't feel like i have a lot of extra time, i am slowly making cooking, eating, and general kitchen-ing a priority.

and so, over the last few weeks my "things that make you go mmm" list has included: caramelized onion, carrot and dill scones, mung bean dhal, blueberry pancakes with apricot coconut cardamom puree, and chicken stock simmered nice and slow. i also pulled out our stoneware crock and spent a morning preparing cabbage to become its higher (in my opinion) life form: sauerkraut. if anyone has made sauerkraut before, you know that you gotta put some muscle into it as the cabbage needs to be pounded in order to release some juice. if you likewise have any experience with a toddler, then you also know that they love to copy what you do. if you just formed the mental picture of a small child smashing the heck out of his lentils and rice with great pride, you're bang on.

may you find the time to do what nourishes you. it doesn't matter what it is. feeling good looks great on you.