CHEESESLAVE

Holy moley, that was a good dinner.

Carrot Ginger Soup with Raw Cream (I froze the soup I made a few weeks ago; I’ve been feeding it to Kate)
Cress, Fennel and Apple Salad with Redwood Farm California Crottin Goat Cheese, Pine Nuts and Vinaigrette
Homemade Sourdough Spelt Bread with Raw Butter
Kenwood Sauvignon Blanc

This was the second loaf of sourdough spelt bread I baked and MAN I love this stuff. Especially slathered with raw butter. YUM! I’m still perfecting my loaf but I gotta say, even though it’s not perfect, it’s REALLY GOOD! It makes storebought bread taste like ass.

I’m through with Low Carb. At least for a while. (Still gonna do High Fat — LOL!)

I just can’t stand it anymore. I want to eat bread. I want to eat rice. (And — shhh — I want to eat chocolate chip cookies every once in a while.)

So I’m going to exercise more and I will eat in moderation. I plan to do pilates twice a week and walk every day. Also swim and do weights. I’m going to eat things like bread and kefir and raw milk and kombucha. I love these foods and they are so healthy. I need to be healthy and I need to feel good. I will lose the mommy weight in time.

Or I won’t. And I will have another baby. After that baby is weaned, then I can go on a militant diet for six months.

But not now. Because I’m enjoying traditional foods so much and I don’t want to limit myself. I just discovered traditional foods after all. I want to keep learning, keep playing. I want to explore this world.

Note: I reserve the right to change my mind.

It’s cold and rainy tonight. A good night for a hot bowl of soup. But I didn’t really feel like cooking, plus I had a lot of lettuce in our CSA box. So I decided to make a fresh and nourishing winter salad. Good fats and raw vegetables and fruits!

Chef’s Salad with Fennel, Apple, Blue Cheese, and Roast Beef

Red leaf or butter lettuce
2 eggs
8 oz turkey (can also use chicken breast)
8 oz roast beef
1 fennel bulb
1 apple
1 avocado
2 oz raw milk blue cheese
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Dijon mustard
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Boil the eggs for 17 minutes, then run under cold water.

Wash, tear, and dry the lettuce, and arrange on two plates.

Chop the turkey and roast beef and spread on top of the lettuce. Thinly slice the apple and fennel and arrange on the salad. Reserve the fennel tops (the feathery dill-like greens). Chop the avocado, and arrange on the salad. Slice the hardboiled eggs and arrange on salad. Crumble the blue cheese on top.

In a bowl, whisk together 3 parts olive oil and 1 part apple cider vinegar. Add Dijon mustard a small dollop at a time to taste.

Drizzle dressing on salad. Tear the feather dill-like fennel tops with your fingers and sprinkle on top. Season with sea salt and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Serve with a glass of crisp white wine or bubbly, like a New Zealand Marlborough sauvignon blanc or Prosecco. (Unless you are watching your weight, in which case make it kombucha, or beet kvass. Or chilled lemon-infused vodka.)

(Serves 2)