Dinner on the Fly!

I have noticed my husband and I have been in a dinner 'rut' lately. It's sad, and to be quite honest, very boring, to admit. We've taken some comfort in the fact that each evening's dinner will consist of basically the same thing: starch, vegetable, and protein. Well, when I've been working as much as I have lately, I don't always feel like delving into something new when I get home.

So last night, I said; "find something in one of these cookbooks that sounds good and we'll make that for dinner." So, we did just that. Cam opened up an Italian cooking cook book we've had and began to flip though the pages. After five minutes of looking at the book and examining our freezer, he decided what we would have:

Beet, tomato, and mozzarella salad

Roasted lamb chops with rosemary and garlic

Turnip greens with asiago vinaigrette

and

Homemade French bread

This was our menu for the evening (and with bread prep...most of my day :-) From the moment we both decided it was close to dinner time, we started to work on our meal.

This dinner was provided by almost solely local ingredients: the lamb chops came from a very dear friend just down the road, as did the tomatoes; the bread I made today and the turnip greens, beets, and herbs all came from our garden!! All-in-all it couldn't have been much fresher...always a plus in my book!

The time spent together while making something new is always phenomenal for me! I am given the opportunity to experience something new with my husband; so, I'm always surprised, no matter how it turns out (and yes, we've made some things that were not-so-good) we are able to sit back and enjoy our culinary experience, not necessarily the outcome :-) Tonight was just that for us!

It was not a failure, by any means! It was delicious. We both took our time and enjoyed every morsel that passed over our lips. This dinner took us on a culinary journey so exciting we are longing for tomorrow's excursion around the globe...embarking on a new cuisine!

Tonight wasn't so much about the food for me as it was the experience and time spent. I'm a sentimental person: so tonight's exquisite dinner will be remembered! However, I will never fail to forget what this dinner meant to me; I was given the opportunity to try something new with my husband, eat fresh produce straight from our garden, enjoy meat and fruits grown from loved one's with-in walking distance, and the satisfaction of knowing how healthy it is...it's the serenity of being self-sufficient that is so fulfilling! I am quite honestly complete!

I hope you can read this and be motivated and encouraged to try something different, fresh, and, if you are fortunate enough, something purely local for dinner. No matter what it is, at least for me, I just feel 'healthier' at the end of the day...something I long for you to enjoy as well. Take pride in the 'family dinner around the dinner table' and mix it up! Delve into something new...it'll only peak your arousal and excitement for tomorrow's fresh and healthy meal time! (You may also be surprised at how this 'healthy' meal will lead into so many other fun activities!)

Embrace, enjoy, and share!