Enough, and More than Enough

5  Strega Nona books came in from the library today; so at bedtime tonight, K and I laughed over them as Big Anthony kept making too much of something and overwhelming his house, his town and everyone in his town.

Then her Bible story was about how when Moses needed supplies to build the Tabernacle, the people gave so generously from the nice stuff the Egyptians had handed them as they left Egypt, that he had to ask them to stop.  (Which sounds like a nice problem to have if you are a non-profit group, but I digress.)

I wondered what it actually would feel like to be in that situation, when I realized I had been in that situation this winter when I was diagnosed with celiac disease and my mother-in-law gave me a crock pot, rice cooker, and approximately 15 cookbooks/medical books on gluten free cooking and living.

I did ask her to stop.

It took me another month before she realized that I didn’t know that you don’t have to time crock pot meals exactly – it’s not ‘remember to start it exactly 5 hours before supper’… just give it at least 5 hours before supper if that’s what the recipe says, it will keep safely for you until you are ready if it’s a little longer than 5 hours.

Today I made quinoa salad with olives, mayonase and left over fish I’d intentionally cooked too much of the night before to have cold for lunch.  I used to make it with tuna and wheat pasta.  It’s always been a favourite around here, Ben’s first sentence was after all, “Mamma, I want olives.” But the quinoa version is even more popular.  Maybe because I’m using full fat mayo now?  There is usually modified food starch in the lower fat versions.  At any rate, everyone thinks it tastes better than it used to.  And I did cook the quinoa in the rice cooker, on the brown rice setting.  Bob’s Red Mill quinoa has been pre-rinsed, but if you are cooking quinoa for the first time, run in under cold water for a while in a sieve before cooking it or it will taste of burn spinach.

If I hadn’t been given 4 lbs of frozen fish, I would have still made the salad with tuna (either packed in oil or water, the veggie broth can have gluten).  When my neighbor moved out, she gave me her frozen fish, frozen chicken and shrimp.  She wouldn’t have a freezer for a few days in the new place.

We’ve almost eaten our way through that freezer plenty, so you could say I’m in that situation again, right now!