‘Pesto’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Planning and Preparation: Keys to Success {Eat.Live.Be.}

January 9, 2013 · Narrative

I don’t profess to have all the answers when it comes to fitness and consistently making healthy choices.

Because I don’t.

I struggle some days just like you and you and you.

Trial and error. Rinse, lather, and repeat.

But I do know, without a shadow of a doubt, some of the keys to success.

When it comes to keeping yourself on the straight and narrow, planning and preparation is huge.

Like Justin Bieber to my almost-five-year-old daughter huge.

How can you be expected to make a good snack choice when you open up your kitchen cupboards and are faced with cookies, chips, and candy?

You just can’t.

So don’t bring it into your house.

Why have the unnecessary temptation to lure you in a weak moment?

A friend of mine sometimes struggles with making the right food choices, so one night last week, she came over and we put together a meal plan. Just three dinners. To get her toes wet. And then the next day, I took her to a vegetable market we like and she bought all the ingredients to make those three dinners. And more items so she could stock her cabinets with good snack choices.

And by doing this, it became just a little bit easier.

On Saturday, another friend came over and we made a bajillion soups. And froze them all, so we had easy, healthy, grab-and-go lunches for weeks.

And by doing this, it became just a little easier.

These are not monumental tasks. But they are little tasks that add up to monumental changes.

Those little keys to success.

Baby steps, people, baby steps.

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Recipe: Pesto and Garlic-Studded Crescent Rolls

December 10, 2012 · Narrative

I think garlic might be my love language.

Well, let’s be clear. It’s not my only love language. Sunrises. Sunsets. Heart-shaped things appearing magically somewhere unexpected. Someone cooking for me. Little colored drawings from Madeline. Seeing Nick treat others with kindness.

Those are all bits and pieces of my love language as well.

But garlic? Man oh man, that’s definitely on the list.

On the kids’ list too, but only if they can’t see it.

Last week, when we grabbed some pizza after checking out an art exhibit, I watched as the kids carefully picked off bits of garlic on their pizza.

First they said they didn’t like garlic.

As if.

But then I explained how it’s been in, oh, the last 163 things I might have cooked.

So then Nick went on to clarify that recently, he had something at a relative’s house, and there was this HUGER THAN JUPITER piece of garlic on his dish and he just couldn’t.

So it’s only the big pieces that he doth protest.

Which means he’s all over these little bits of garlic deliciousness.

And inhaled three as soon as they came out of the oven.

Bread is that little thing you need on the table to round out everything and make it just about perfect. And well, including garlic is just about a home run.

If you ask me.

If garlic happens to be YOUR love language, it just might be your lucky day. Bake up a batch of these babies and you’ll be whistling dixie in no time.

You’re welcome.

Really.

Tomorrow? Christmas Lists and Santa visits!
Wednesday? A review on a new grilled cheese restaurant!
Thursday? A new recipe for Gazpacho Salad!
Friday? A review on a new art exhibit!

I always love seeing the behind-the-scenes peeks at how photographs get set up. Here’s a look at how I got the first shot above:

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Got Basil? Make Pesto

June 8, 2009 · Narrative

Recently, a dear friend mentioned a favorite farm near her house. I checked out the farm’s website (the turn of technology that a farm has its own website makes me laugh just a little), and noticed their recipe for pesto. Given our abundance for fresh basil right now, that quickly led to Saturday night’s dinner.

We’re going to be moving some time over the summer, but I didn’t want to totally miss out on gardening, so this season, I put my focus on container gardening, that way everything can be moved easily without disturbing roots unnecessarily. And we don’t miss a thing. Into the pots went basil, oregano, cucumbers, radishes, cilantro, spinach, dill, chives and squash. Some of the plantings have been growing fiercely (hello basil!), and as they’ve outgrown their pots, we’ve transplanted them into larger pots. Nick has been doing a fantastic job of keeping everything well watered and eagerly checks on how everything is growing regularly. I love that he gets to see something go from seed to table – so many great lessons there, and the more involved he is in the process, the more exciting it is… for both of us.

Our basil has been growing like crazy, so I sent him off to pick a bunch of leaves. He was awed to find out that it would turn into a pasta dinner. Armed with the pesto recipe from Renninger’s Farm, the dish was whipped up in nothing flat. I loved this pesto. Pesto tends to be a strong flavor, and this one, although unmistakably pesto, was a little more subtle, thereby making it a little more palatable for the kids. A little garlic bread and some sliced fresh tomatoes with nothing more than a sprinkling of salt and dinner was done. Fresh from the garden. It doesn’t get better.

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