Getting Away

Where do you find inspiration?  We all get stuck once in a while, and when there's a lot going on it's hard to come up with something new - we fall back on the familiar and the well-known (or at least I do!) and there's been a lot going on lately.  Work is busy and the kids are doing their school, friends, activities thing and I've been feeling stretched pretty thin.  It's shown here, without enough time to put the photos up and write about what we've been doing. 

Honestly, we've been lucky to actually be doing anything some nights - and some nights we just haven't.  So, a long weekend was a welcome opportunity to put away the computer, pack way too many books and hit the beach for two days.

It was nothing fancy (or warm, for that matter!) but it was a break.  A break from the ordinary, an excuse to heat some frozen spaghetti sauce, eat cereal and sandwiches, and a chance to enjoy someone else's cooking a couple of times.

Just before hitting the road home, we stopped in front of a little cinder-block hut, El's diner, pulled into whatever random space was open in the lot and turned off the engine.  The waitress came out immediately, took our order and about 5 minutes later, she brought back the oyster sandwiches. 

I have never had a better oyster sandwich.  Never.  Crispy, hot outside, creamy sea-salt insides, a little tangy cole and a soft, white bun.  Perfect. 

The sweet-tea wasn't too sweet and sitting in the car watching the windshield get covered with raindrops I couldn't have been happier with a gourmet dinner at that moment.

Mushroom-Cranberry Chicken Wraps

We went to an outdoor concert this weekend and I wanted to make something we could put in a wrap, then use another way for dinner on Sunday.  Inspired by a similar recipe, we created this chicken saute. 

Slice three chicken breasts into 1 inch strips and season lightly with pepper and salt.

Saute in a non-stick pan, lighly sprayed with canola oil.

When the meat has cooked through, remove from the pan.  Deglaze with 2 TB of white wine or a flavorful vinegar (balsamic or brown rice, for example), add 6-8 fresh shitake mushrooms (sliced into thin ribbons) and a scant 1/4 cup dried cranberries. 

Cook over medium-low heat until the mushrooms are done, about 6 minutes.  Mix the chicken back in.

We took some whole-wheat flour wraps and added mayo and lots of lettuce, the chicken mix and wrapped them up.

After the concert, we found some amazing little turnips at the farmer's market - but we'll save those for tomorrow's post!

Yog-wich

We had a light lunch today - ham and cheese sandwiches and a dish of yogurt with strawberry-rhubarb compote and fresh strawberries.

I looked up from my sandwich to see this:

Yes, she was slathering her sandwich with the yogurt, fruit mixed in.  My first reaction was easy enough to imagine, "did you just put yogurt on your sandwich???"  I was tired and was already getting upset over the wasted food and mess and someone was going to have to make a new sandwich and so forth....

"It's really good!"  she smiled.  And ate it.

"It is," my son nodded in agreement and slathered some on his sandwich.

Shoving aside all those adult understandings of what can't possibly be good, I did something that didn't come easily.  I tried it. A little bit.  With my nose kind of pinched up the way theirs is when I say they have to try one bit of whatever that disgusting thing is they're avoiding on their plate.

You know what?  It actually was good. 

I was then treated to a recitation of the many things that are good dipped in yogurt:  carrots!  apples!  bread!  rasins!  and as they were describing all the things that the school cafeteria teaches them, I was thinking....there's a long tradition of eating yogurt as a sauce, filler, and seasoning. 

I love Lebanese food, Greek food, soups thickened with yogurt, ranch-like dipping sauces.  And if all that is good, why can't turkey and cheese pair up with yogurt and tart fruits (cranberry jelly, remember that stuff!?)  for a novel sandwich?  I can imagine a chicken salad with this too. 

I'm always curious about how people find that new idea or novel combination that  turns out to be delish - here's to keeping an open mind.