Time to Get Your "Ish" Together
In other words....my Fridge is a hot mess!
Well it’s the 12th day of Veganuary! How are you doing? It’s your girl LA from Black Girls Eat hoping that you are still feeling energized by the start of a new year. Or are you exhausted already?
I can tell you that I am exhausted from looking at my kitchen. The holidays just wrecked havoc on all of my organization. It started back around Halloween and continued all the way until New Year’s Eve.
I’m not the most organized person in the world but I do have some kind system. Don’t we all? For example, the cabinet over the sink holds the glasses. The drawer under the counter holds the foil, parchment paper and plastic wrap. It it just me?
Once we started cooking and baking every week, things went downhill fast. Not only was the kitchen a mess, the fridge was insane. Our refrigerator was stocked with zip lock bags of pasta, too many jars of condiments, extra produce and all kinds of left overs. The thought of going in to cook something last week gave me a headache.
Years ago, I created a refrigerator assessment as part of my introduction to plant-based nutrition class. And guess what? I had to print one out and use it for myself. Every fridge tells a story and my fridge was screaming, “Clean Me!”.
What I love about the fridge assessment is that not only did it show me the crazy, it actually showed me what was missing. Hey! You’ve got some free time coming up don’t you? lol Why not get into that fridge and get it organized?
You can sign up for the class and get your own fridge/freezer/pantry assessment pages or take a sheet of paper and draw your own boxes. Add space for sauces, marinades, leftovers and whatever else makes sense for you. This is also the time to check those expiration dates. Been in there so long you can’t read it? Toss it! Let me know how it goes!
The Recipe: Vegan Cornbread
This week on the Black Girls Eat blog, I offer a guide to plant-based mylks. We take look at it all from coconut milk to pea protein. That got me thinking about a vegan cornbread recipe I created. There were times in my life when there wasn’t any milk or eggs at home. I wish I knew what to do back then! Celebrate veganuary and make some vegan cornbread!
The Random: One Night With El Debarge
Some of you know this and some of you don’t. I basically grew up in the music industry. As a kid, I was always in some kind of dance group or music group. When I was in high school, I was in a group called Lipstick. We practiced our songs and moves day and night at a studio in Harlem. We covered Janet, Whitney and any other song on the radio. I really couldn’t sing but I had fun!
I went off to college like all of my classmates and I really missed NYC. The college campus was slow and boring. I missed the hustle of rehearsal studios, dance studios and of course performing. I left school with a handful of credits and started working in the music industry.
The industry gave me all kinds of access to artists and special experiences. When I saw that El Debarge was recently arrested, a memory came to the front of my mind. First let me say that El’s voice is just a dream. Yep. Just like the song. I was always a fan of the music that he and his family shared with us.
One night, I went to a recording studio to meet up with some friends. The room I was in was mirrored and had shiny hardwood floors. It also had a beautiful baby grand piano. I was actually sitting on the floor with my homegirl eating french fries and laughing when El walked in.
After a few pleasantries, he asked if we would like him to play something for us on the piano. We were speechless. Of course we said yes! For the next hour, he played all of the Debarge songs we loved, some Marvin Gaye and even some Jackson 5. The three of us sang, hummed and sometimes just sat quietly listening to the melodies. One of the best moments of my life for sure.
Be sure to subscribe and check out the El-Debarge Tiny Desk Concert when you can.
Thanks so much for taking time out of your life to read this week’s newsletter. I really appreciate you and the opportunity to connect in this way. Find me on IG and TikTok. See you next week!