What a Meal!

   Don’t you just love the taste of simple pleasurable food?

 

   There’s no need for anything fancy with food…. simple is good.

 

   But still, even simple can require some blending of ingredients….

 

  Foods that complement one another can meld into a satisfying stew of blended happiness.

 

   We try to add a little cactus into ‘this and that’ as we cook. It’s really surprising how the addition of just a little cactus can make a dish ‘POP’ in a new way.  Even though we grow the plants, and like them, and appreciate cactus a quite a bit…. I am still blown away when I try it in a new way… or see it anew in an old dish.

 

   It gets warm here in the daytime…. and cold at night.  It is common for us to have temps in the nineties in the daytime, and down into the forties at night.  We don’t often cook a regular meal in the evening…. the house is just too darn hot (no A/C).  So when we cook, it is often early in the morning to heat the house and cook with the same energy, or it is late in the evening…. when we can stand having the oven on for a bit.

 

   We found some pork at the store on sale the other day…. we browned it yesterday morning with a half pound of bacon, then  added oil and water, and a diced onion…. and covered it.  We let it sit and bubble slowly for a couple of hours…. (it was 49 degrees outside), then I added a couple of diced cactus leaves, and a big yellow zucchini from the garden… some spices… oregano, peppers, salt, garlic powder (our garlic is still in the ground)….. and let it all bubble for a half hour additional.

 

 

 

 

   That was a great meal! So very tasty…. we served the meaty vegetable-laden broth over freshly cooked ‘Jasmine’ rice.

 

   I think it cost us about seventy five cents per bowl… because we only had to buy the rice and meat…. and the small amounts of spices.

 

   Now we can ‘nuke’ the leftovers in the microwave, giving us another meal or two without having to consume a lot of energy.

 

 

 

‘Chapter 80′
~Tao teh Ching~

 

I see a small country of small population.
A simple folk, who even if highly skilled work simply and easily.

Tools are seldom used.
They do not bother to invent time-saving appliances.
They would dearly love life,
and would take care to avoid death.

Since they would love their homes and land,
they would not care to wander.
Even with their horses, boats and carts,
they do not wish to travel about.

Though they may have armor and weapons,
these are kept out of sight.
These people would return to simple techniques for record keeping.

Their food would be tasty but simple;
their clothing would be unpretentious.
They would be content with their simple homes,
and the simple pleasures and customs of a simple people.

And even though there might be
a neighboring land within sight,
so that the crowing of roosters
and the barking of dogs can be heard from it;
these people will have lived their entire life
without ever having gone to that country.