i failed at the january cure, but i've been cooking a lot!

yes, i fell of the january cure wagon right at the halfway point. it got to be too much to do every day on top of all the other things to be done. oh well - i make myself feel better by thinking about how many things we've crossed off that original list, plus how much i've been cooking! well, i normally cook a lot, but i've been experimenting more in my cooking, mostly due to a new CSA that i've subscribed to: summerland! i have the 75/25 standard produce box delivered to my door every sunday morning, and i am freaking loving it. the above photo is the produce i got just last week! i'm pretty comfortable with a bit over half of what i've been tending to get, but having some unfamiliar territory, plus just some stuff i don't buy/eat on a regular basis has forced me to get a bit more creative with my cooking (i'm really a heat oil, mince garlic, throw meat and veggies in with salt-to-taste kind of cook). plus, it's really nice to have really fresh produce delivered to the door - i really only need to shop for dairy and proteins at the market! here are some pictures of what i've been cooking, and we've been eating!

steamed barramundi with an avocado grapefruit scallion salad over sauteed broccolini (above); fennel potato shallot puree with sauteed napa cabbage (below). okay, so i'm not really moving away from the simple garlic saute, but i'm working on it!

noodles in a shiitake mushroom and brussels sprout meat sauce (above); kale quinoa medley (blanched not sauteed!) topped with warm butter lobster tail (below).

steamed norwegian wolffish over roasted carrots, purple potatoes and green garlic (above); salad with roasted beets, pickled red onions, leftover potatoes and goat cheese with roasted rack of lamb (below).

smoothie with banana, apple, grapes, greek yogurt, avocado and cashews, toast and fried eggs (above). i've been putting cashews in all our smoothies lately - adds a nice, slightly savory (and nutty, duh) flavor. and one habit i have kept from the january cure, is buying fresh flowers every week. they just make me happy!

the january cure : assignments eight nine ten (or lack of).

okay, so part of the january cure is to throw a shindig at the end of the month so you have people over and feel great about your home. well, we had both our housewarming as well as christmas dinner at our house already the month of december, so i'm not really feeling up to having people over again in any sort of organized fashion.

so assignment eight (monday), which is to choose a date and time for this get-together and get the invite list invited, is.. well, out the door. now, it happens to be the lunar new year that weekend, so i still might invite a couple people over, but it most certainly would not be organized, and not at this point.

assignment nine (tuesday) is to create a landing strip and start using it. a landing strip "is where you can lay things down and sort the mail along with your change, keys and other odds and ends." well, lucky us - we already have one! two the right after entering the doorway is a place to hang keys, bags, clip coupons and sanford's leash and harness. to the left is a console table, also with a place to put keys, where sanford's wipes and bags are, and where mail gets dropped when we don't put it on the dining table.

we're not very good at using it though, particularly when it comes to getting the mail sorted and dealt with on a daily basis. that also comes with not having anything near a functioning office yet, so it sort of piles up (on the dining table) until we find time on the weekends to deal with it. but other than that, we definitely have a place to put our keys and other odds and ends.

and finally, assignment ten (wednesday) is to "unplug" for the evening aka do a "media fast" or "take a break from television, computer, tablet and cell or smart phone." this should have been really easy, as one of our good friends was staying with us (oh yea, did i mention we also made the guest room stay-in-able this past weekend? we're being so good!) and we mostly just hung out in the living room and chatted, but we did end up watching a couple videos on youtubethat had come up during conversation. i also did some reading on my e-reader, but i don't really feel like that counts.

the january cure : assignment seven.

i'm a bit behind on posting this, but here goes!

assignment seven (for the weekend) was to buy flowers, clean the kitchen and make dinner - done and done! i did this on time too, just was late to the posting game.

i bought the flowers at the atwater village farmers market, which is walking distance from the house and takes place on sundays. such a great little market. plus, they have several prepared food stands as well, so i also ate lunch there (a delmy chicharon con queso pupusa from and some bling bling dumplings; YUM.)

i went through and cleaned the whole kitchen. reorganizing drawers and cabinets, throwing away old, unused food items (both pantry and refridgerator), cleaned all the surfaces, found homes for various items still hanging out unnecessarily on the countertops and even oiled the butcher block island top. definitely feels nice to have a clean kitchen!

as for the cooking dinner part - well, i already cook dinner at home most nights, but i did decide to go a bit outside my usual box and made a leek and bell pepper quinoa, topped with a steamed and buttered lobster tail (this was supposed to be special, right?!) and some garlic sauteed baby bok choy (okay, not so much outside the box). it was deeeeeeeelicious. i should make quinoa, and lobster tails, more often!