Improvisation in the Kitchen . . . and the result a Mediterranean Frittata!

My New Years Resolution this year is a simple one: really walk my talk. I am passionate about healthy eating and healthy living. I have committed so much time, attention and effort over the years to helping others prioritize their health and wellness. And I proudly assert that I usually prioritize my health and wellness too. But this year, I am going to do so with passion. 2009 is the year that I can say I transitioned my life into a most amazing balance. So what have I been doing so far: more yoga and meditation, retaining sermons from church, plenty of exercise, quality time with my family, friends, and dog, and lots more home cooking.

Home cooking all the time isn’t easy, trust me I know. It can be a challenge, but it’s one I take with joy! So, last night, after a long day of work, I was ready to make a quiche. In fact, for the past six months or so, I have made a weekly quiche. My pantry makes it easy; I always have healthy frozen pie crusts on hand, fresh farm eggs, low-fat organic plain yogurt, mustard, an organic cheese and vegetables. But last night, there was one dilemma: the yogurt I had was bad! Ack – what to do??!! It was already 8:00 PM; there was no way I was going to make a grocery store run! I improvised using what I had on hand…and this is what I came up with. It took a little more time and effort that a quiche, but it was in fact healthier, more wholesome, and oh so delicious!

Mediterranean Frittata
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
- 6 farm fresh eggs
- 4 organic cloves of garlic minced
- 4 organic red potatoes, cubed
- 2 teaspoons dried mint
- 1 can artichokes, quartered
- 1 red pepper, diced
- Handful of Kalamata olives, chopped
- 3 packed cups of fresh organic spinach
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 4 ounces of French sheep feta…YUM!

Directions:
First, chop the potatoes and then boil them for 10 minutes in a pot of water, until they are just about tender. Wile they are boiling, chop all other veggies. Drain the potatoes. Heail 1 Tablespoon of olive oil on an iron skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic. Stir for one minute. Add the potatoes and stir frequently for about 12 minutes or until they become almost crispy. Add the chopped red peppers and artichokes, stir for 5 minutes or until the peppers start to become soft. Add the mint, olives, and spinach. Stir well until spinach wilts. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Remove veggies from pan. Beat all six eggs (I did it in my Kitchenaid Mixer). Heat the second tablespoon of olive oil in the same iron skillet. Add eggs. Let cook over medium heat until eggs begin to solidify by top is still slightly liquefied. Pour vegetables over the eggs. Sprinkle with feta. Place skillet under your broiler for 5 minutes.

This was So so so tasty, and because it’s just Brent and me, we had it again for breakfast this morning!

Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I know, I know, this book was popular about a year ago! As you well know about me by now though, my list of "To Read" books is extensive - and because I spend so much time working (with passion), my time to read is not a lot.

This is a MUST read book though. If any of you have read Barbara Kingsolver's novels, you will find her autobiographical writing just as delightful. And perhaps one of the greatest aspects of this book is the inclusion of scientific sidebars from her husband Steven Hopp and the inclusion of recipes and meal plans from her daughter Camille Kingsolver.

The plot: Kingsolver realizes one major downfall to living in Arizona for several years...food does not grow there. The more she ponders this, the more she is sickened by the commercial food she is inducing herself with. Fortunately she and her family have a "summer home" in Virginia. They decide to move there permanently and in doing so they make a commitment to live off local foods for one year! The book chapters represent a month. They began their local-food diet in late March.

Kingsolver eloquently describes the difficulties in keeping this local food pledge, but also shows how such a commitment adds excitement to life. OMG it's April- I get to eat FRESH asparagus! For us in PA, we get to delight in asparagus in late May. And did you know that you only have to plant asparagus seeds once and then it takes THREE years to harvest? The wait is worth it because you will be blessed with asparagus for 20-30 years. I should also let you know that even though this is an incredibly informative book, there is humor sprinkled in as well. Here's an example: "In my adult life I have dug asparagus beds into the property of every house I have owned, and some I rented--even tiny urban lots and student ghettos--always leaving behind a vegetable legacy waving in the wake of my Johnny-Asparagus-seed life...it's a ludicrous commitment to dig one into the yard of a student rental. It's hard work to dig the trench, fill it with compost, and tuck in a row of asparagus crowns ordered from a seed company. Then you wait THREE years for a harvest." Here's another example that humorously illustrates the difficulty of being on a local-food diet. In mid-June, the cherries finally ripened, and Kingsolver exclaims "Our fructose celibacy was over."

This book has inspired me so much that I am making a commitment for 2009 to try to eat more locally. Here are some stats/facts that Kingsolver shares that alone may inspire you:

- Every food calorie we eat has used hundreds of fossil fuel calories in its making: grain milling for example, which turns corn into the ingredients in packaged foods, costs 10 calorie for every one calorie produced, and that's BEFORE it gets shipped anywhere.

- Over the last decade, our country has lost an average of 300 farms a week.

- Buying your goods from local businesses rather than national chains generates about 3X as much money for your local economy.

- Ironically (or maybe not so ironically), industrial crops have been using millions more pounds of pesticides year after year, and the crop losses have been accelerating simultaneously.

- Modern U.S. consumers get to taste less than 1 percent of the vegetable varieties that were grown here a century ago. (My reflection about this: Kingsolver gives examples such as 400 potatoe varieties were once grown in Peru, now there are less than 10. This makes me grieve. It's comparable to endangered animals...this is endangered vegetation. Just think how much lovelier our meals would be with more variety. The saying that variety is the spice of life is so true.

Have I inspired you to change your life? If not, read the book, and I am sure you too will become inspired!!! After all, your body is your temple, you REALLY hsould treat it as such. You only get ONE in this lifetime!!!