Another Vegetarian Meal

I tried a new recipe tonight called Creole Stuffed Eggplant. It was a leap of faith for me to spend a good amount of time preparing a dish that I wasn't guaranteed we'd like! It wasn't a difficult recipe, but it did involve a lot of vegetable chopping. We'll definitely try this again!

Back to Work

It's been almost a year since David and I started our construction sabbatical. At least, that's what I'm calling the months of ignoring all that work that could have / should have been done. But that hiatus came to a halt this morning.

David launched into finishing the laundry room and starting some work in the kitchen. (With old homes it seems like one project will always lead into another project. In our case, in order to finish the laundry room project it required demolition in the kitchen so that my pantry could be made.) David took out our door between the kitchen and laundry room, and then started to tear out the wall where my pantry is going to be.

Some might hate the mess (I know it grates on my nerves), but I still find a thrill in a new construction project. Watching a house transform due to your (or your husbands) hard work, is something to be proud of!

David tore the panelling from the wall.

I removed the lath.

Sophie did her share by guarding the worksite.

Trying New Things

I know a few vegetarians, but I've never asked them how they became vegetarians. Did they go "cold turkey" when they stopped eating meat, or was it a gradual shift in their food habits?

I'm not sure if David and I will ever be vegetarians (let's face it... I think bacon is way too yummy to give up!), but I've decided to try to incorporate some vegetarian meals into our regular menu. And thankfully David is willing to go along with this and try anything that I make. (Yes, I know I'm blessed with his easygoing nature!)

We had our first vegetarian meal tonight, Brown Butter Tortelli. It was... interesting. I found the recipe on a blog called 101 Cookbooks and tweaked it only slightly by using tortellini instead of tortelli. Neither David nor I like balsamic vinegar, and I honestly don't know if I've ever tried arugula before, so attempting this recipe definitely got me out of my comfort zone! The arugula was much more bitter than I anticipated, but one good quality of bitter greens is that they help mute balsamic vinegar. All in all, it was different, but decent. I don't think I'll put it on the menu every month, but I definitely think we'll have it again.

Now I've just got to figure out what to do with the remainder of the arugula!