This is the oatmeal I have been making lately.
I’m actually using a multi-grain blend of whole grains: rye, barley, oats, and wheat. I boil some water and pour it over the oatmeal blend, then stir in a teaspoon of raw honey (opaque, unprocessed, richest in nutrients) and add a few raw almonds and walnuts, raisins, and whatever fresh fruit I feel like — blueberries here.
It’s so delicious and filling, and it takes 5 minutes to prepare.
I have been getting back to a healthy hippie diet lately. As always happens when I do this, I realize that healthy food tastes very good! My latest kick is greens. They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, fiber, folic acid, and Vitamins A, C, E, and K. A few of the benefits of greens are that they:
The way I have been preparing them takes 5-10 minutes, and they are so good!
To make greens, all you really need are greens, garlic, and salt and pepper, if desired. Olive oil is nice, but you can sautée them in water, if you prefer. You can add anything else you like — vegetables, nuts, herbs, cheese, vinegar.
Here’s what I did for these:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium-high heat. Sautée halved garlic cloves in oil till they reached desired tenderness. (I used a whole bunch because I love garlic. Garlic is very good for your health, too! I got a big container of already peeled whole garlic cloves.) Add sliced mushrooms (I bought those already sliced) and cook for another minute or so. Add greens (I bought a big bag of mixed, washed “Southern greens”) and sliced radishes, stirring occasionally and cooking until they reach desired tenderness. I prefer mine not too soft/wilted. Place greens on plate, top with a dash of fresh-cracked pepper and salt, and sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles. Mmmm!
I love fresh-cracked pepper and sea salt. This is something I really came around to in Germany. You only need a tiny bit for a huge explosion of taste. The difference in flavor and texture is huge. I recently got this pepper and salt mill. They are very high quality, and they should last me a lifetime. I love them! They make such a nice sound when you use them, and they remind me to savor everything.
I made these just like the ones above, with grape tomatoes added to the plate after cooking and using whole garlic cloves instead of halved (and no radishes).
Tomorrow I will show you my oatmeal.
I turned 31 today. :)
On Saturday, I met some friends at Fiesta Mexicana for dinner and margaritas, then proceeded with them to a show at the Green Mill. It was a great time.
Today, I took myself to Thorndale Beach, which is walking distance from my house. Here is some of what I saw:
The lake was 63 degrees today.
This was my first time in Lake Michigan! For some time, I merely waded through the cold water.
Eventually, I took the plunge and swam for about 20 minutes! It felt great.
This was a birthday present (of many — I got so spoiled this year!).
It’s excellent already.
The short introductory essay is spot-on. Excerpts:
“But it isn’t theme that stamps Chicago writing so much as outlook. It’s an outlook from the perspective of the country’s third coast, a sweet water inland sea surrounded by prairie, a locus at the center of America where there’s not much patience with fads or pretension. It’s an outlook in which energy is valued over elegance; instinct over fashionable theories; and streetsmarts over the academic; an outlook we used to call ‘having the scan’ in my neighborhood…”
“…there is as much fascination with outsiders, underdogs, heroic and anti-heroic losers, as there is with success.”
“…at the core of the Chicago Tradition there is an insistence on sentiment. Not on sentimentality, but on basic emotion, the complex mix of passion and empathy we term the human heart. How does such sentiment survive not only the world, but the toughness required to live in it; to what limits can the individual be driven and still rise up human? These are the questions posed by Chicago writers over and over, the same questions posed and answered by the blues. It’s an allegiance to the heart that seems only natural coming as it does from the heart of the country.”
