I Must Like This Salad....

I really do actually like the watermelon salad, and it's in season, and is tasty, and doesn't heat up the house. So what did we eat this week....
Fattoush - Jewish (p.86) - It's a veggie middle eastern salad, yummy with pita bread!
Pita Bread - My Own - Yum!
Vegetable Risotto - PB&J (p. 79) - It's made with brown rice so not quite as creamy as real risotto. I also doubled the seasonings, turned out well, though it's better the day of than as leftovers.
Mung Dal Na Poora - East (p. 263) - One of DH's favorites, and it's easy to make. Basically a slightly spicy bean pancake. I swear it's good!
Bibingka - East (p. 259) - It's cake made with rice flour. Pretty good despite my getting lazy with the folding half way through and letting the mixer finish it. It think that's how it ended up with 2 layers instead of one. So the heavier denser cake was at the bottom and it had a lighter, almost like angle cake or sponge cake as a top layer from them separating. Still tasty though! I think I like it with butter and jam over the suggested butter and coconut topping.
Bean, Rice, and Cheese Burritos - My own, It's easy and tasty. Plus I made a TON of tortillas so I'm thinking we will be having more.
Salad with Watermelon and Feta Cheese - Jewish (p.348) - Made it again, because it's tasty and we need to use up the watermelon we keep buying. Since we bought yet another at the farmers market I see it in being made again.

Not Much This Week

I didn't really make a lot this week. I made some just add water and salsa dry tortilla soup. I added chickpeas instead of the suggested chicken. Not bad. Another night I went out so DH ordered a broccoli garlic pizza.

So what did I make.....

Asian Miracle Salad - Vegan Lunch Box (p. 92) We've had this before, love it!
Lentil Soup - My Own Basic and good
Broccoli w/ Sesame Seeds - PB&J (p. 52) Had some left over Broccoli I needed to use up. It's broccoli with garlic and sesame seeds, yum.
Peanutty Peas & Noodles - PB&J (p. 70) Another we've had before. I added some frozen mixed stir fry veggies in with the sauce and peas. Obviously we like this one too.

What We Ate Before Going Back Home

I really should try to get better at doing this in a timely manner......
Anyway....

Spinach and Artichoke Dip - Good Eats Seriously, it's spinach artichoke dip, we love this stuff! I tend to add a bit more seasonings, and used seasoned marinaded artichokes. YUM!
Avolemono - Jewish (p. 117) More of an eh. It's lemony and eggy soup. Kind of odd, not terrible, but don't see making this again.
Beetroot & Potato Salad - Jewish (p. 347) It reminded me of my favorite Ethiopian beet and potato salad. I loved it! DH wouldn't eat it, but he hates cold potatoes.
Bean, Cheese & Rice Burritos - My Own Yummy!
Greek Spaghetti - Better Than PB&J (p. 72) I've made this once before. It's quick, easy and yummy! I double the amount of veggies in it though and add a bit more cheese.
Red Currant Mini Cakes - Here YUM! A great way to use the small amount of currants that I got from my tiny little bushes.
Wild Strawberry Mini Cakes Same thing but topped with wild strawberries picked from the yard.
Strawberry Jam Yummy! Just followed the recipe in the pectin box.
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Again yum! And went basically off of the box.

I Have Not Been Good About This......

So I need to work on updating this more. Since it's been awhile, and I really liked some things I made, I'm just going to put a huge list down because...
1. It's easier
2. I'm lazy
3. Really these lists are for myself to remind myself of dishes I really liked, and make it easier to figure out what dish I'm trying to think of or in which of my books it's in.

So here goes....
What we ate the week or so before our last trip back to IL.

Fasolada - Jewish (p.112) A yummy hearty bean and veg soup.
Old Country Mushroom, Beans & Barley Soup - Jewish (p. 113) Another veg soup with peas, beans, and barley. Yum.
A Pottage of Lentils - Jewish (p. 122) A lentil soup, I only blended half of it because DH likes his chunky. Good, but I believe DH said a bit too much lemon for him.
Mushroom Soup - Local Newspaper Clipping A good creamy mushroom soup.
Vegetable Saute - Food Network - Good Eats I generally like his recipes, and this is no exception. A basic veg stir-fry, what's not to like.
Sweet Potato Walnut Burritos - 3 Bowls (p. 84) I've made this several times because we both like it a lot, and it's fairly easy to make.
Fava Bean Soup - PB&J (p.37) Good, better than the first time when I made it with dry fava beans. The jarred ones had a completely different flavor.
Fava Bean, Lemon & Parmesan Risotto - 30 Minute Vegetarian (p. 48) I love this, DH though it was a bit to lemony. It wasn't quite as good as a leftover though. Next time I'll probably just make a half batch.
Soba Noodle Soup - My own I made this up as I went along. Basically veggies, braggs, and noodles. I believe I also put in garlic, I should probably write it down when I'm making it up as I go.

After we got back from IL......
Tzimmes - Jewish (p.380) A bit on the too sweet side. Next time if I made it I wouldn't add any honey, it didn't need it at all. We ended up adding the leftovers to our falafels and that was pretty good, better than on it's own.
Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Cumin - Jewish (p. 391) It's similar to Indian food, so we liked it.
Orange & Green Salad - PB&J (p. 39) Kind of weird. Didn't care for the combination of cucumber and oranges. I think this would be good without the cucumber maybe.
Firefighter French Fries - PB&J (p. 46) Sweet potato french fries... Of course it's super yummy!
Lettuce Wraps - PB&J (p. 62) Yum!
Howlin Hummus - PB&J (p.47) I add more garlic and spice. We love hummus though.
Cheese Dumplings - Jewish (p. 378) I seem to be incapable of making decent dumplings, though DH did like these.
Pita Bread - My own It's pita bread, it's simply good.
Falafel - PB&J (p. 58) For the pita sandwiches. Yum!

About 2 weeks ago......
Halloumi & Grape Salad - Jewish (p. 358) Oh dear god this was good! I added extra grapes to mine. Salty and sweet, just oh so good!
Italian Style Potaoes - PB&J (p. 55) We aren't really a fan of this. It's rather heavy, and it's like spaghetti, but with potatoes. Eh.
Bulgur Wheat & Veggies - PB&J (p. 71) Made this with couscous instead since I have aton of that and very little Bulgur wheat.
Greek Spaghetti - PB&J (p. 72) DH and I agree this is yummy! Another plus is that it's simple and quick to make.
Soup with Knaidlach - Jewish (p.134) DH and I would call this Matza Ball soup. It's good! DH loved it, and said it's the best he's had. He's was also really happy since he hasn't had any since becoming a vegetarian.

Last Week......
Fresh Cabbage Shchi - Jewish (p. 124) We liked this, it's pretty close to my Betty Crocker Russian Cabbage Soup. I do prefer Betty's version though.
Potatoes and Onions - Jewish (p. 388) It's just fried potatoes and onions, basic but tasty.
Chickpea soup with Spinach - Jewish (p. 133) Yummy, simple tasting soup.

This Week......
Couscous Tacos - PB&J (p. 76) It's good, but WOW! That's a lot of filling! Next time maybe cut it in half?
Salad with Watermellon & Feta Cheese - Jewish (p. 348) Sounds like a weird combination, but oh is it super good! Num! Num! Num!
Avacado, Orange & Almond Salad - Jewish (p. 74) Another one that sounds like a weird combo, but is oh my goodness yummy!

What We Were Eating

I'm going to try to be better about this so.....
This is what we ate before we went on vacation.

Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous - Jewish Cooking (p. 121) - Yum! And very hearty!
Lubuya - Jewish Cooking (p. 121) - It's a bean soup, pretty good.
Black Bean and Corn Salad - I made this one up, it was pretty good.
Courgette and Asparagus Soup - You Are What You Eat (p. 109) - always a great way to use up asparagus trimmings, and tastes creamy and buttery despite the absence of both.
Sesame Rice Balls - You Are What You Eat (p. 197) - We've had this before. It's a tasty healthy snack, love her cookbook!
Creamy Rice Caserole - From the web - Tasty, but not very healthy, kind of like mac n' cheese.
Fries - My own - they are cut whole (non skinned) potatoes with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, then drizzled with olive oil and baked - Always yummy!

When it's time to say good-bye

I am grieving you can’t be the person I wanted you to be, that I wish you could be. I am sorry you can’t grow up, that you can’t see the world though eyes or the perspective of someone else. This has been a long time coming, and I’ve fought it for a very long time. I’ve waited for you to mature, act like an adult, and as I’ve bluntly put it, grow up. I can see now that it is impossible. I mean you are nearly middle aged now, and really if it hasn’t happened by now, it’s just not going to. I go over in my mind so many things you have said and done over the years, and honestly I’m disappointed in myself that it’s taken this long for me to let go. Others have told me you were who you were, and you weren’t going to change, and I just didn’t want to see it.

I go over in my mind the things you have said and done over the years. There have been the little things like when you claimed to have made your matron of honor dress for my wedding, even though we both know my mother and I did nearly all the work on it (thanks for letting me know I needed to do it just 4 days before the wedding BTW). Then there are the really bad things, like when you told me that it was “too boring” to spend time with your father who was dying of cancer. Or when you told me your tinnitus was harder to deal with than people who loose limbs, are dying of incurable cancer, and your father dying (though you couldn't be bothered to stick with the treatment that actually was working). I still clung to hope that you would eventually mature, could see the error of some of the things you had said and done. Even when you told me that it sucked that your mother in law had breast cancer, not because she would have to go through treatments, or could possibly die, but because you would no longer have a free baby sitter, I was appalled, but I told myself she doesn’t really mean that. But you did, you meant everything you said because you are incapable of seeing how another person might feel. It took until you belittled me over being upset over losing my baby. I tried to brush it off at first, but you wouldn’t let up. You had to keep insisting that not only must there be something wrong with me to have lost the baby, and that I wasn’t doing enough to have kept her, you insisted that I “get over it”,and “let it go” because after only a few weeks I was still grieving my loss. You even insisted that I help you find maternity clothes, asking me over and over to help you look and telling me what it was going to be like for you to be pregnant and telling me “not that you’d know”. Later you couldn’t even apologize for your words, and insisted that you meant them. Then you were told by others that what you did was wrong, and you lied. You said the exact opposite had happened. That you looked out for me, comforted me, and even told me I might want to do something else because you were going baby shopping. We both know what you really did, and what you really said. I guess you can live with it, but I can’t anymore. So I’m done.

I can’t keep forgiving you and keep any kind of respect for myself. I’ve begun to think of it like when I left my abusive ex. I kept waiting for him to get better. To be the person he claimed he was. But he couldn’t be that person. He could only be an abuser, he would only take from me, and could never give, could never love, even though he said he did. He simply wasn’t capable of loving anyone. You are like that in a way. You are not capable of really caring about other people enough to see what you have done or said. You can’t act like a mature adult, and see that other people have feelings. I feel sorry for you, and there is still a part of me that wants to keep forgiving you, but I just can’t anymore. I’ve reached my limit. So I have to let you go. You are just too toxic for me to keep subjecting myself to you. If I keep looking the other way, and stay your friend I wonder what that says about me? That I think that kind of behavior is ok? That I’ll accept anything? That I am ok with being a doormat? That I’m ok with how you think of and treat other people? I had to leave my abusive ex for my own sanity, and I see now that I have to let our friendship die for the same reasons. It’s funny in a way because you two hated each other so much, but I think that’s because you were so alike in some ways at least. Since you are family I’m sure I will sometimes see you, and I don’t have a problem being cordial around you, but I just can’t be your friend anymore. So I’ll grieve the loss of our friendship, the person who I have been friends with since we were literally babies, and be sad. Sad you can’t be the person I’d like you to be because I can’t change you, I can only change how I react to you.