First of all, how are you doing? I hope you are feeling well and hanging in there. Are you trying to make sense of how your life is changing? Me too, and some days it’s easier than others. I’m thinking it’s pretty normal to feel like things are out of our control, and to not really be sure what we can do to be of some help. Maybe one thing we can all do is to try and stay as healthy as we can, and that means keeping our social distance, eating right and getting plenty of fresh air and exercise.
I am attempting to balance the goal of eating right with limiting my once usual daily trips to the grocery store. This has proven to be as challenging as not reaching for a second chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. However, I have become determined to grocery shop only once a week, and this has changed my strategy and approach to the grocery quest, especially when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables.
An easy way to eat right is to make sure you can throw together a salad that is hard to stop eating. This one is chock full of nutrients and packs a flavor punch as well. When shopping only once a week, fresh lettuce can be a challenge, so here’s another alternative. This salad is made with items that can stand a week or two in the refrigerator with no problem. Let’s start with a nice head of red cabbage, which to me is sweeter and juicier than regular old green cabbage. You usually only see cabbage in slaws, but here it takes on a whole new personality. Red cabbage is chopped into decent sized pieces, then tossed with thawed frozen green peas and green onion. From there on in, you can make this thing your own, but I always like to add freshly roasted radishes, beets, and a yellow or orange pepper if I happen to have one hanging around. Strips of bright orange or purple carrots and even more color and crunch. To round everything out and add some sweetness, toss in some dried cranberries or apricots. To top it off and add a salty crunch, here come the roasted pumpkin seeds. Then all that’s left is to pour on your own favorite dressing. You’ll feel good after eating it – that’s a promise. And after you’re finished, treat yourself to a couple of cookies. After all, as my heroine Julia Child often said, “Everything in moderation”. Exactly.
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These yeasty rolls are my attempt at coming close to the delicious rolls my grandma Liz used to make. As a young aspiring baker, I’d watch her assemble dozens of at a time, tossing an armload of dough around like it weighed nothing, and tearing off perfectly shaped rolls that she would let rise by her wood stove. She never measured anything, mixing and baking by feel alone – and they were perfect. I have fond memories of eating as many as I possibly could every Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve – or as many as I could get my hands on. Grandma had seven children and hordes of grandchildren, and when everybody got together it was like a small city which means you had to move fast before my seemingly huge uncles with even huger appetites beat me in line. 
