Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tuesday – Normal

Today was a normal day.  I like normal.  In fact, I love normal.  I ate a bowl of normal Grape-Nuts® for breakfast.  (If you were just learning the English language what would you expect Grape-Nuts® to look like if you ordered them blindly from a menu?  I wouldn’t expect Grape-Nuts®.  That’s for sure.)

I went to work like normal.  I enjoyed it like normal.  We ate leftovers for lunch like normal.

We fed the chickens like normal.  Grace and I went jogging like normal.  The dogs chased a cotton-tail rabbit like normal. 

Calvin came home from work like normal, then he went out to the shop to finish working on a bow like he sometimes does while he waited for supper.

Grace and I fixed supper like normal.  We tried our new recipe for the week and it called for something we don’t normally use:  Greek yogurt.  Substitutions are normal in our kitchen.  However, we were trying to be true to the recipe and who knew?  $1.50 for 6 oz. of Greek yogurt just might be the secret ingredient.  The recipe was for healthier-than-normal chicken pot pies.  

Photograph by Kate Mathis

It was very, very good. Here’s the recipe if you’re interested:  Light Chicken Pot Pie. We didn’t follow it exactly.  We tried.  But it just didn’t make sense to bake the potatoes and then cool them when we could quickly boil them instead.  We also took a few other short-cuts, improvised on a few amounts, added green beans instead of peas so that Calvin would eat it, added poultry seasoning instead of fresh thyme, put them in individual ramekins so everybody got a fair share of crisp crust – you know, cooking substitutions that people normally do.  But remember, we did use Greek yogurt.  

14 comments:

Cali said...

I like normal too. I think the name Grape Nuts is horrible. I still remember the first time I saw them and being very disappointed because they did not look like or taste like grapes. They look like the chicken feed... and that's what I would have named them... Chicken feed. However, they are the ONLY cereal where I eat less than the correct serving size (1/4 cup). I'll remember that... Greek Yogurt. I'm making it for dinner this Friday.

Marie said...

I was thinking very similar thoughts last Saturday. We got up, made a breakfast of pancakes, went to the grocery store, came home and put the groceries away, played in the snow, made dinner, read books, and went to bed. And all day I kept thinking that this normal day with my family was making me as happy inside as Christmas morning. Love normal.

Marie said...

PS: I've never had Grape-nuts. I'm always afraid to buy new cereals. If I don't like it, there is so much wasted food, it would just make me mad. So what do we buy? Cheerios. Rice Krispies. Mini Wheats (only the white-frosted kind). And that is it.

Deidra said...

We like Greek yogurt around her, but only buy it when it's a mark-down "Manager's Special." I've gotten it from $.10-.59 a container! (It's surprisingly marked down quite frequently at my favorite grocery store. Maybe that's why it's my favorite...) I have also gotten good deals on it at Grocery Outlet.

BUT! You can make your own by straining regular yogurt in a coffee filter or several layers of cheesecloth in a strainer set over a bowl. Then, I'd say the only substitution you're making is a high-priced item for some DIY!

Julie said...

I love normal too. I haven't had normal in awhile. But I do love grape-nuts. I'm with Cali, you can't eat very many...they grow in the bowl and if they are soggy they are gross. Gotta have that "hurt your jaw after one bowl" crunch. Your pie sounds great! I'll have to try it.

Tiffany Fackrell said...

i like normal. and today has already started not normal. my kids woke up at 6:30...that is not normal. they usually get up at 8:30, and i was trying to get up before them to workout...why can't they sleep in like normal when i want some ME time!

also i love grape nuts...but i have never eaten them as a cereal. i always put them in my yogurt. and we call them "crunchies" So one of my favorite breakfasts is yogurt with crunchies!!! you should try it, it is YUMMY!

Kim Sue said...

Tried grape nuts. Just don't love them. Not because of their name. More because I'm with Cali. They are a lot like chicken feed. My new normal is a cup of yogurt with a little granola and fruit sprinkled on top. Love normal. Although it makes small differences special.

Elizabeth said...

I love your beautiful snowy tree banner!
I have a great fish recipe with greek yogurt. Love that stuff!

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Yes Cali. You're right. Layer crumbles is exactly what Grape Nuts looks like.

michelle said...

I love normal. It's pretty much my favorite. I love Grape Nuts, too. But your musings on the name made me laugh.

I really love homemade chicken pot pie and consider it to be ultimate comfort food. Mine has to have peas, though.

Anonymous said...

like greek yogurt. is a new staple. haven't had grape nuts in years!!!! i would sometime heat them up in the milk so they were crunchy but soft at the same time.

melanie said...

Normals days are so nice, you never feel off kilter and things fall into place. Ah, normals days are so nice.

I look at the Greek yogurt and their claim to have 6x's the protien and I haven't been able to bring myself to buy it. For this recipe I just might have to. Love the individual idea, I think the kids would too.

Milo eats Grape Nuts. I love that Cali knows what foods she eats less than the correct serving of. She cracks me up.

Jill said...

I have never understood the name Grape Nuts, but I have just accepted it.

I think normal is good most of the time.

Barb said...

Woo-hoo I have some leftover Green yogurt from another recipe and you've given me something to use it in!