Glop…
Even though I love to cook, can generally pull off some pretty tasty food and generally don’t mind making a meal, I am in a total rut. I guess it’s because we are approaching the change of seasons and I’m tired of slinging the same old stuff. Nothing I think of to make particularly sounds good. Being such a foodie, I can usually figure it out because I’m often craving one thing or another, but right now, I got nothing. I know it will pass, but trying to pull out that creativity doesn’t always work so well.
My hubby and I have been experimenting with a more restrictive diet lately which limits bread, pasta and rice. Man, those are some of my staples and avoiding those has made coming up with some interesting sides besides potatoes–boiled, fried, grilled, mashed, etc. an extreme challenge.
I am also trying to squeeze more fish into our diet as well, knowing it’s heart and brain healthy and just adds more variety into our diet. Can be rough though, with one particularly persnickety eater. The fish worked out pretty well today. Hard to go wrong with tilapia. Sprinkled with some Prudhomme blackening seasoning, finish it off with some OJ, and not so bad.
The side dish however, not so much. I, of course, ate it, as I really hate wasting food, and I can’t really say that I have ever not at least eaten one serving of something, even if it’s not my favorite. I usually grimace and bear it. Don’t know why. I guess I figure I went to the time and effort, and decent ingredients to make it, I should try and suck it down no matter what. Weird? I guess, but it’s just one of those things with me.
Today’s inspiration was polenta. I’ve had it a few times in restaurants, and thought maybe I can run it by the team. Well. Not so much. The texture was the first thing to throw things off. It kind of just glopped onto the plate. And. It was awfully heavy, too. Starch laden in not so good a way. This version was made with butter, chicken broth and cream cheese. I thought it was decent, especially if you ate it right away, but, admittedly there were a few lumpy-ish pieces in there that may not have quite lived up to the smooth and dreamy promise that the recipe talked about.
Even though I ate it, the kids were stalling on it, and thought it was yucky. I usually try and have them eat as much as they can, sometime even to the point of finishing what is given to them. I generally tell them it may not be their favorite–you can drown it in ketchup, ranch, cheese or whatever makes it palatable, as long as you eat it. If nothing seems to be helping, then just a few spoonfuls, and at least you tried it. Rather than hear future moaning and groaning, I make a mental note to scrap it from the recipe file.
Tonight’s moaning and groaning was particularly vocal. The longer they waited to dig in, the starchier and goopier it got. I’d warned them it’s much better hot, but they did not heed my advice. Even dad couldn’t manage to swallow down more than a few spoonfuls. Once the dad couldn’t stomach it, then definitely the kids shouldn’t have to suffer through it! But alas, the same rules apply, a couple spoonfuls and you can be done. I don’t think I’d ever seen them so happy once finished. They couldn’t wait to plop it off of their plates and into the trash can so they can watch it glop to it’s untimely demise. Ergo, we have the name of our very unsuccessful side dish for the evening: Glop.
Let’s hope this cooking slump is short lived so that I don’t have to endure too many more glops before its over!