Day Three Disaster...

How did your entry about yourself go?  I discovered that picking a 9 x 12” sketchbook when your scanner does 8.5 x 11” makes sharing what I creates a bit tricky, but not nearly as tricky as making it through the weekend!

I thought that Saturday would be a relaxing day in which to practice Inhaling Creativity with less interruptions than the chaos of a weekday.  Little did I know that total disaster would strike my plan on Day Three!

It started off so innocently and with the best of intentions... Nick and I woke up early, so we left Erin in charge and Bethany curled up in her jammies watching cartoons to sneak out for breakfast together before getting the groceries.  It was there in the produce department that my misadventure began.  Lured by the deep purples and perfect roundness of the eggplants, captivated by the pure white of the cauliflower, I decided that cooking would be the way in which my Creativity would express itself.  I would have plenty of time to try out a tempting recipe that would astonish my family as well as encourage them to eat more veggies... Yeah, right!

Laurel’s Kitchen is a fabulous vegetarian cookbook that I have depended on for many years.  I’d just never tried this particular Cauliflower and Eggplant Curry side dish.  It sounded SO tasty, especially since I love curry.  I chopped everything up as indicated and dove into the recipe with gleeful abandon.  Along the way, inspired by my own inner sense of Creativity, I decided to leave out the tomato at the end because Bethany hates them... then I had to substitute caraway seeds for the black mustard seeds because I didn’t have any on hand.  I also had to leave out the lemon juice because someone (probably me) forgot to restock after the early Spring colds and drinking hot water with lemon & honey.

I also do MUCH better with exact cooking times... so I may have overcooked things slightly.

Instead of the vibrant yellow the cauliflower assumed at the beginning of the dish, I ended up with this...

Not as bad from a distance, but picture 
my kids and husband 

taking a closer look at their plates.  
I shall not repeat what they said!  
         

My brave family still ate it, even Nick who hates eggplant with a passion.  I have just given him one more reason NEVER to touch this vegetable again.

Note to SELF:  Next time FIND recipe, MAKE list and THEN buy ingredients.
Do NOT be seduced by the smooth flesh of produce again!

INHALE:  Creativity is not just relegated to arts such as drawing, painting, writing, dancing and singing.  Being creative in our cooking can create foods which nourish our eyes and souls as well as our bodies.  Eating healthy food is better for us, even if it sometimes takes more preparation.  Eating food that was grown as close to us as possible is also much better for our planet. In our fast-paced world, we often scarf down our food in between activities or appointments.  In tough economic times, we are sometimes faced with the challenge of how to eat well on a more limited budget.  Over the past 8 years as a Weight Watcher Lifetime member and leader, I have learned that no one else will wave a magic wand to create nutritious meals for me or my family, so I have learned to make friends with my slow-cooker, plan out meals, try new recipes and take delight in the smells around me as I prepare healthy choices... most of the time.

EXHALE:  Play with your food today.  Open spice jars and really SMELL what they have to offer.  Find a piece of fruit that you enjoy and SAVOUR the taste and texture as you eat it. Pour yourself a big glass of cold, clean water and drink it to hydrate your body. Don’t take that luxury for granted when so much of the world has to struggle for clean water to drink.  Take time to look through recipes in a cookbook or on-line and find a new one to try on this adventure of Creativity.  May you have MUCH better luck that I did.  I will be eating the leftovers all by myself this week!

After a rocky experiment, I went back to the safety of something I knew well for today. Tomorrow’s post will be all about DOODLING!