Pinterest Round-Up: Menu Planning, Week 2

Time for the second week of menu planning!  So, I said I would post on Friday, but time got away from me...As I have said, I tend to binge--well by mid-week I was certainly binging--I had a reasonably large order I was working on for the Anderson Ranch gift shop out in Colorado, but instead of buckling down to finish that ASAP, I decided to start a new cleaning project for myself, which turned out to involve a whole lot of thinking, tossing, and rearranging our little office space and my daughter's craft supplies (which is still not complete).  I also committed to baking a cake, participating in a cardboard challenge at my daughter's school, and riding my bike through the city for Ciclovia (it was much different riding my bike on the streets this time, since all the roads we were on were shut down to car traffic).  Anyway, better late than never.

I forgot to mention something in my last menu plan post--when I cook for a week with only three meals, there is some improvisation that has to happen in order for things to stay interesting and to use up any extra ingredients.  For example, with the Vegetarian Kale soup, I also made a simple rice dish.  It was brown and black rice, with some garlic and carrots.  I was happy with the colors of this--Happy Autumn :)  The next night, I made those Denver Sandwiches to go with the tortellini soup (which I froze most of).  When I went to reheat the soup for dinner the next night, some improv cooking was in order: in order to use up the ham, peppers, and half an onion from the sandwich, I made fried rice with the leftover carrot rice I had made two nights prior. YUM.

This week, the meals are getting a bit heartier--it's cooler, and the produce I have just lends itself to comfort food.  So, here it is:

This is so autumnal it's not even funny; just look at all that warm comfort, emanating from these Pork Chops and Squash with Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette.  I will probably serve this with some raw spinach that I picked up over the weekend, while getting some cake ingredients to remake a mistake.

This Lentil Chili is made in a crockpot--I LOVE my crockpot in the colder months.  I will be serving this with brown rice, and some raw veggies--keeping it simple, so while my food cooks, I can do a laundry list of other things!

This is another beautiful looking dish--Individual Pot Roasts with Thyme glazed carrots.

I may wind up freezing some lentil chili, but in the third week, these frozen leftovers are very helpful, since improvisation becomes key...when it's mostly about eating up leftovers and using up straggler ingredients.

On Photographing Soup

The other day, I had a Pinterest Round-Up of recipes I planned on using for the upcoming week.  I knew I wanted to make Vegetarian Kale Soup, but when I went to find a nice picture that went along with the recipe, there were none to be found...The photos were either grainy, out of focus, or just grotesque looking.  So, in that blog post, I said I might give photographing the soup a try.  Well, I did.  And, while they may not be amazing, they are certainly better that looking at a zoomed in image of someone's pot of soup. ICK.

Vegetarian Kale Soup

When photographing soup, or any food, really, there are several things you should focus on in order to avoid the unappetizing food photograph.  Who is going to want to make and eat something that looks gross?  

It seems pretty easy to make this mistake, but the gross factor can be avoided.  

Use natural light--I tried photographing some food, inside, at night--all the photos went into my trash--they were yellowish, and glaring, with a contrast that was too high to fix.  Bleh.

Allow you subject (food) to have room to breathe--don't go and zoom all the way into your pot/bowl--when I see food photography,  I want to drool over it, not feel like I'm drowning in it.

Quality, not Quantity.  So you made your soup in a pot...We know...But, really, do you think that a HUGE pot of liquid, with stuff floating in it is going to be attractive?  Take your ladle and spoon some of that scrumptiousness into a bowl.  Make it look pretty and neat--ready to eat :)

Focus on the "stuff"; clearly photographed broth, with blurry solids is a no-no. 

When editing, lower the contrast if necessary--contrast really brings out the gross factor.  

I by no means claim to be the guru of food photography; in fact this was my first really successful go at it.  My struggles with this subject, combined with the unappetizing food photos I sometimes come across, led me to write a little something on the topic--something is better than nothing, right?

leave your own tips down below!

Small Moments: A Scary Bike Ride and a Stroll to the Edge

I really thought for sure my small moments series was going to be put off, like I so often do with things relating to my blog.  It's so easy to get caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, all the while brushing off the little nag in your ear, whispering for you to slow down, to just let go and make some time to enjoy the environment around you.

Today, I (kind of) begrudgingly took to the city streets on my bike, to join my husband on his ride to class.  I say begrudgingly because up until today, I have only ridden on trails, free of cars, and not too much to think about in terms of my LIFE.  He thinks I should get used to it, and the only way to do that is to just do it.  So, I did...And, I survived.  We went only a little ways from our home to where he had his morning class at Rutgers University.  While he was in class, I moseyed around, through a part of the campus, and a little ways beyond, to the edge of downtown...Then, I got distracted by another project of mine, walked into Harvest Moon, a local Bar/Brewery to photograph a bartender, who also happens to be their brewer.....but we won't talk about that project because it's a secret....

it's electric!!
after I shot this, I started seeing different types of electric covers all over the place.

Draining.

Not my bike.

I love that fire hydrants around the city are old--no matter what new buildings are erected, these guys pretty much remain the same.

Observe...the observatory.

I even had a social moment! I know, me, talking to strangers.  This guy is a local.  
We chatted and I photographed him...because I could.
Dude has some nice cheekbones, doesn't he?

 A little note on photographing people....After I took this photo of the gentleman above, people started to become interesting to me.  Several times along my walk I wanted to photograph a person, without them knowing I was doing it...But I was terrified of getting my ass beat, especially by the homeless guy smoking his cigarette.  Any advice in regards to getting comfortable aiming a lens at someone who can easily tell you are photographing them would be awesome.  I know it's legal and all (thank you, public domain), but still...awkward much?

oh autumn, you are here.

yea, that's right, NYC we have one too....except ours is some alley-type street sandwiched between the train station and an apartment high-rise.

ohhh, this crane...I have photographed this thing several times recently from different locations.  I love it, what can I say.

this was pretty much the last photo I had time to take before I headed back to the bikes.

After my walk, I met back up with my husband to journey back home.  We took a different route back, which was on Easton Ave, a street with considerably more traffic, and less room to ride than the street we took going out.  Several cars beeped; overall it wasn't too bad though.  Once we got home I reflected on the ride, and came to this conclusion: I don't know if I could get used to using a bike for transportation in a city.  I like to think of bike riding as a relaxing activity, not one that's like this: GO, GO, GO, don't blow out your knee, but GO, GO, GO!!!  Cars and lights and pedestrians, OH MY!!

I may continue to make an effort to get used to the bike, but for now, I prefer my own to feet, against the solid ground.