Starting with the kitchen

I would love to tell you that there is at least one room in my house that is totally done, unfortunately that's not true.  All of the rooms that I need are functional, but as I'm sure all of you know it takes time to get everything organized and decorated the way you'd like.  The room that is the closest to done is the kitchen so I thought I'd start there with pictures.

This is the view as you move from the living room into the kitchen.  It's a big kitchen with lots of cabinets.  The wonderful thing about having so many cabinets is that I didn't have to put anything on the top shelf!  I can reach everything without a step stool!!  That's exciting for a person as vertically challenged as myself.  That window looks out on my back yard.  I haven't found window treatments yet.  The counter tops and walls are green.  I have some kitchen towels that were given to me for Christmas a year or so ago that match perfectly.

This is one corner of my kitchen.  You can't really see it in this picture, but there is a built in cutting board on the counter top.  I have cutting boards that I use regularly so I've not tried the built in cutting board yet, but I imagine the opportunity will present itself.  For whatever reason the handles on the refrigerator are different but I suppose that's part of the excitement of renting.

One of the features I really like about this kitchen is the bar area where I can sit to eat.  It's a large space so I  have plenty of room if I wanted to do a buffet or if I need to space for preparing food.  I still need to get bar stools.  I've found the ones that I want, but they only had one the last time I was at the store, so I haven't bought any yet.  The paneling over the bar looks really low because on the other side are cabinets.

I started weight watchers this week so having an organized kitchen is a great thing.  I posted this next picture on facebook earlier, so you may have already seen it, but it's one of my favorite recipes so it's worth posting again!

This is Pan Fried Tilapia with sauteed green beans.  One of the reasons I've gained a lot of weight in the last couple of years is because of how much I eat out.  I've told you in earlier posts that cooking used to be a hobby of mine, but that it had become more of a chore than a joy, so I stopped.  The more I've thought about it, the more I think that I was so stressed beyond belief throughout the day that coming home to do anything that required energy felt like a chore.  That being the case I let everything go...my house was rarely clean or organized, my meals were either frozen pizza or take out and my laundry was rarely done the way that it needed to be for me to feel my best in my clothes.  I just didn't care.  

All of my life changes are geared toward reducing my stress, taking better care of myself and enjoying life.  That means that slowly but surely my house will be the clean, organized, well-decorated place where I want to be and that fewer of my meals will come from a paper bag.  The route from my office to my home does not include any drive through restaurants, it doesn't however include a grocery store.  It is really nice to live in a city that has a grocery store other than Walmart!  I don't have to fight major crowds to buy food!  Another deterrent to cooking in the last year or so.

Tonight I made Pan Fried Tilapia and sauteed green beans.  It's a fast dinner to make and it's really good. When I stopped at the store today they had just bagged fresh green beans from a local farmer (upside of living in a small town), so I picked those up to go with the fish that I had already planned.  Frying isn't the best technique for cooking, especially if you want to lose weight, but I did budget for the extra calories and figure everything before I started cooking...no harm done!

This is a Sandra Lee recipe from the Food Network if you'd like to try it...

1/4 c flour

2 tsp seafood seasoning

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 lbs tilapia fillets

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp garlic

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp fresh parsley

**I mix everything according to the recipe, but I only use two fish fillets so that I can use the extra sauce for my vegetables.  I bought a seafood seasoning in Seattle that I really like, but I've made my own before too.  You can find a recipe through Google.  All of the herbs and spices that make up seafood seasoning are ones that I had in my cabinet, so it was easier to make my own.

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.  In a shallow baking dish, combine flour, seafood seasoning, salt and pepper. Add tilapia and lightly coat.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.  Brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes each.  Keep tilapia warm in the oven while preparing the sauce.  Turn the skillet to low and add butter.  When the butter is melted, add the garlic, lemon juice and parsley.  Saute for 2 minutes.  Top the fish with the sauce and serve.

**I added fresh (I've used frozen green beans that I've thawed before) green beans to the sauce while it was sauteing and cooked until heated.

I love my job, I love my house, I'm taking better care of myself and I'm finding the joy in old hobbies again.  I'm enjoying my journey!

"Focus on the journey, not the destination.  Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

- Greg Anderson