comfort food

It's that time of year when the colder weather always makes me think about comfort foods.  Foods that warm your insides on a cool, damp fall day.  Foods that speak of harvest time in both their color and texture.  One food I'm particularly thinking of is soup.  I dusted off my crock pot a well used item in my kitchen during the fall and winter months, and made a very hearty batch of Old Fashioned Barley and Lentil Soup. 



Admittedly it is not a favorite among the children, but they will endure for a bribe of homemade buns along side.  Yummy.


I'm hard at work trying to get some menu planning done.  In the summer time we tend to fly by the seat of our pants eating light meals with snacking throughout the day.  Now that we are indoors more cooking becomes a bit more planned.  Most days I enjoy cooking and find it satisfying to feed the ones I love.  I nourished my children at my breast when they were small and decided back then that I wanted the best nutrition for them.  I still feel that way now that they are older and while we aren't without our sweet moments (the cakes last weekend are proof of that), generally we are stocked up on veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc.   


As for the menu, it tends to make cooking a bit easier for me, in that the decision of 'what to cook' was already made earlier on paper, with meals that our family enjoys.  It also makes it easier to shop because I know just what to buy for that week and it is economical .  All very good reasons . 

Well I'm off to do a bit of planned grocery shopping today and then over the weekend some wedding party celebrating into the wee hours.  Have a lovely, warm weekend full of comfort and love.  xoxo