Food for Thought
Posted by Gail | Filed under Gail Club News, Thinking Out Loud, This & That
It’s a beautiful Saturday, my kids are in their beds safe and sound, and the sun looks like it’ll make an appearance today. I have a bunch of chores to do… I have to unpack the good china, which is still in the boxes from my move. Next weekend I’m implementing my Dinner Club concept. We’ve picked a theme, and each of us (6 to start) are bringing the makings for a part of the meal and a friend (so we’ll be 12 in all). We’ll cook together, get to meet new people and share some of our stories. Hopefully there’ll be lots of laughter. It took me a while to get the idea off the ground, but now I’m within smelling distance.
The Gail Clubs is another idea that rambled around in my brain for a while too. I just don’t have the time to help everyone who needs help and I thought it would be great if people helped each other. First I had people emailing me about getting together, but that quickly became more work, so the discussion boards seemed to be the answer. Now the boards are up and running and seem to be getting some good play. People are coming together and figuring out what they need to do to help themselves and each other. Yahoo!
Bring friends and family to your clubs, share ideas and suggestions for making things better in your lives, and get stronger by helping and by opening yourself up to being helped. Yah, yah, I know, you’ve always been The Strong One, the One Who Can Handle Anything, the One With It All Together. But I also know that there are days when you need someone to help you see how to make it better, someone to just wrap their arms around you. Don’t deny a friend the opportunity to help you because you think you need to keep up an image. You’ll benefit from sharing. And your friend will feel great because helping is its own reward.
While there are still lots of people who are embarrassed to talk about money, we should be getting over that. (I want to do that V8 thing and smack ya on the forehead!) Everyone makes mistakes. I make mistakes and I talk about them, learn from them, and get better at dealing with my life. While we seek a Paragon of Virtue to be our fearless guide, no such person exists. We are all just folks seeking enlightenment who want to have some fun along the way. And who better to help us than the people with whom we share our lives.
I made up this fabulous rice dish a couple of days ago and am having trouble staying out of the pot! So for you today:
Gail’s Spanish Rice
- 1 large red onion chopped fine
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1 tin lentils
- ½ tin black beans
- 2/3 cup tomato sauce
- Hot pepper sauce, to taste
- Salt to taste
- ¾ tsp thyme
- ¾ tsp chili powder
- ¾ paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 1 large red pepper chopped
- 2/3 cups water
- 2 cups rice
Cook garlic and onions in olive oil slowly. Add all other seasonings, tomato sauce, hot sauce, lentils with their water, beans without their water. Cook for about 10 minutes. Bring to a rolling boil. Add water and red pepper and bring back to a boil. Add rice. Stir. Bring back to a boil, stir, and then cover and remove from heat. Let sit until rice is tender.
Enjoy the rice, the onset of spring, and the opportunity to share what you know and learn from each other.
March 7, 2009 at 10:00 am
Gail,
Thanks for the recipe. It looks healthy and I will use brown rice so that it maintains that healthy fibre. You also just reminded me that I need to find a recipe to take to my niece’s bridal shower today. My sister is making up a cookbook with family recipes to add. She has a bit of a flare for creating things so I am sure it will be a lovely discussion piece at the shower.
Gail, I haven’t been able to get people together to talk about money. I talk a lot about your colum, refer them to this website and they all know that when you are on tv, they should sit down and listen!:) especially my children and even my 6 yr old grandchild does. She had one of her teeth fall out this week and she brought me the money the ‘tooth fairy’ had left her to buy a ‘cow’. We are saving to buy a cow for others for next Christmas so she is learning about saving!
I would love to get a family meeting together to talk about our joint goals and objectives and how to work at a group to achieve the very best for my grandchildren but I have to say that I have refrained from doing this because I am afraid they will consider it my opportunity to lecture yet again. When the boys were younger, they would always say “Mom is on lecture 4586!” just to make the point that I was on my soapbox yet again. If you can suggest a way to do this I would love to hear it because I am afraid they are right. I know there must be adult families who get together to discuss plans for the grandchildren in the family. How do they manage it?
Have a happy sunny day!
March 7, 2009 at 11:31 am
Gail,
I just want to tell you I appreciate you.
I know your life has/was turned upside down and you are reinventing your life.
You are not playing the poor me role.
You are a strong powerful woman who is changes many lives including my own with regards to our financial situation.
Sometimes makes me sick of how much cash we have spent over the years on “stuff” but today is a new day…..and a fresh new start and beginning with a head up attitude and feelings of being in control of my world.
As they say s*&^ happens – learn from it – fix it – and carry on…..and that is exactly my attitude and pretty sure it is yours as well.
After all – everyday is a new beginning – sun rises – clock ticks……..it is up to us to decide how we are going to spend those moments.
I just want you to know I appreciate you – your honesty – and the lessons you are teaching.
I love the idea of the supper club – I am having all of my best friends over next Friday night – in past I would have spent a fortune on the best meat – the best wine all to impress – I finally figured out that they are coming over to see me and our friends – changed the menu to simple food – and make your own panini sandwich – i will have all the fixings…..and it should be a fun night….
Hope you have a great day unpacking your dishes – enjoying your kids- and hopefully have some fun while you are at it.
Deb
March 7, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Gail,
Thanks for the recipe and for your great site. I always find it very informative to hear your thoughts and read others posts, even if I don’t always comment. You are a very warm and caring person, and an inspiration. I hope you have a wonderful time with your friends, you deserve it!
All the best,
Christine
March 8, 2009 at 8:22 am
Hi Gail,
Is that 2 or 3 cups water or 2/3 cup water? I want to make it today, so maybe I’ll start with all the other ingredients to determine if 2-3 or 2/3 c. water will be the right amount given the 2 cups of rice and all other ingredients.
Sounds yummy, and will go nicely with the BBQ steaks planned for this Sunny Sunday!
March 8, 2009 at 10:58 am
Michelle, it’s two-thirds. g
March 8, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Excellent, thanks Gail! I started it already, but then remembered I didn’t know the scoop on the water amounts. I’m missing the allspice and instead of black beans I substituted with mixed beans, since I have 4 cans of that and NO black beans for the first time since I can’t remember. Anywho, I’ll let you know what the take is from the fam on it tonight. I’ll have lots for work lunches this week I think, since the pot is already half-full and I didn’t add the rice and water yet!
March 8, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Sounds yummy.
I have a friend that is been having a really terrible time with money (and her husband was laid off too)…. she was getting anxiety attacks and clenched her jaw so hard at night that it was painful by morning.
I had a good, long talk with her the other day. I reminded her of her blessings, and told her how much control she still had in her financial situation with endless options open to able-bodied, creative people that are open to go outside their regular ideas of what a “job” is (Gail’s voice was in my head)…. I was worried when I got off the phone that she was on the point of a breakdown. She sounded ready to give up on a whole bunch of important stuff, she was so fixated on what was wrong that she didn’t know how to work towards making it right again!
THEN I talked to her yesterday and she had a breakthrough! She has decided these things that are happening may be beyond her immediate control, but besides that she feels that the important things are still there — she has friends, she has family, she has lots of love and everyone is pretty healthy (aside form some pricy dental work), and no debt except the mortgage! So even if the money looks broken right now, even if the unthinkable happens and they lose their house (it would have to be bad for a little while yet), she will not be alone, and she will have the ones she loves to make sure she doesn’t drown. And she is getting her husband exploring new ideas for making money until he gets new full time employment (He got a huge driving paper route for starters).
March 10, 2009 at 8:49 pm
gail, i would soooooooo love to be part of your supper club.
you’d be sampling some of my northern italian specialties………..
perhaps one day.
i have a friend i visit in brighton.
hugs from here