Bean there, done with that.
Hello. It’s me. Barb…aka Felt Like a Foodie. I’m back. I think.
Sometimes you need a break. You would think the pandemic would have lit a fire under me to want to write instead I had feelings of jealousy watching every other person making cooking videos and doing it so much better than I could ever hope. It intimidated me. I started to say I don’t know why but I do.
Confidence isn’t my strongest quality. I know it whether I admit it or not. I’m not really sure why but part of my discovery these last few months has been that I can be deterred from success by letting my brain get in the way.
It is like the old cartoons where you’d have one devil guy on one shoulder telling you one thing and an angel on the other telling you another thing.
I recently lost the person who I considered my angel who really was a lot of my direction in life. It was someone so close and personal I can’t even write about it yet because my eyes blur too much with tears at the very thought of her. I will write about her one day…when I can…when it is right.
Meanwhile that little devil on my shoulder has brought along a gang of his friends and played a number on me. Besides the challenges I expect myself to conquer, I experienced how online manipulation/bullying could make me question my own character. I won’t banter on about the incident. I will say it took me writing it out a pen pal to make me realize how the words of this bully sent me tumbling like a house of cards.
I’ve reflected on this a lot and flicked that weight off of my shoulders. I know the things that happened and in truth it didn’t reflect on my character but it showed this other person’s true character.
I am proud of who I am and what I do. I love to cook and write. (And please note, I have been writing during this hiatus….a little for myself and a little for my friends at The Chopping Block Blog.) Food is one of those catalysts to the words I want to share. These words are my truth and my intention to rediscover my confidence.
A grocery shopping trip recently also ignited me so I once again “felt like a foodie.” This last week has been so much more fulfilling because of the food experiences I was lucky enough to share. I brought my mom food from my garden. I shared a pizza with some siblings. I brought figs to a neighbor who has become family. I made almond croissants to a couple neighbors who are having their own life challenges. I returned a container to someone with an extra food surprise inside. I left a bag of tomatoes on the door of vegan friend. And best of all, I made a fabulous dinner of pork tenderloin, potatoes and green beans for my dear sweet husband who ate so much I thought he would burst.
Thank you to those who reminded me that it has been awhile. Expect some great stories in the next few weeks, I’ve been holding back a lot!!! I hope to never take this long of a hiatus again…I’ve “bean” there and done that!
Green Beans with Bacon, Parmesan and Lemon
(Sorry bacon, I forgot to take a picture after I added you)
Ingredients
1 pound French green beans
¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
zest of one lemon
juice of ½ lemon
olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
Directions
Oven 300
Put green beans in a medium casserole dish and toss with olive oil.
Bake for 25 minutes. These will be crunchy and delicious but….
Bump oven to 425
Bake the green beans another 10 minutes.
Toss with lemon juice, zest, bacon and parmesan. Grind a generous amount of pepper on top and taste. The parm and bacon may be enough salt…if not…sprinkle on some more.
