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Last week, the first lady and I were shopping at the produce stand, and as is usual for me, I grabbed produce that you have to work at to eat. In this case, it was tomatillos. Now, I am locally famous for buying (fill in the blank with produce that is not "normal" to the American cuisine) and letting it rot in our refrigerator or counter. Fresh herbs (not the hardy ones in the garden) like cilantro are another problem child.
My culinary desires far exceeded my schedule or motivation. Eggplants, star fruit, or any of the unpronouncable veggies I foundd at the Korean supermarket would rot away, unprepared. I would only compost intermittently, and convenience would frequently trump fresh veggies.
Part of our dynamic is that I feed herself;
as in, I make her breakfast (usually a smoothie) lunch (to go to work with her) and most times, dinner, and because I really love to cook, it has become a wonderful outlet for me to focus on making really good food for her (and by extension, the rest of the family). I find myself buying produce 3 times a week, at least one big shopping and then a couple of supplemental visits.
We go through TONS of spinach (smoothies and salads) and onions by the bushel. The kids, always excellent cooks, are starting to really use fresh veggies in their day to day, as well. I just watched a cabbage (big one, volleyball sized) get carved down over the course of two days, at least 8 different distinct uses. Slaws, fried rice, Instant Pot chicken, and more. It's really nice. Very little wastage. Back to last week. I walked up to the counter with my choices, and the First Lady was waiting for me. She looked in my basket and laughed. I was putting my finds on the counter and she leaned in to whisper in my ear.
"If you don't use those tomatillos today, I will beat your ass purple."
"Yes, Abigail," I said, not whispering.
She chuckled, but I knew she wasn't kidding. It was a leftover from the old days, but something she hadn't dealt with yet since she put the collar on me. How nice for us, she has these tools ready to go to help address those little things I needed to stop doing.
Even before that, as I write above, I had been MUCH better with using everything in the fridge, but I have to tell you, that salsa verde was cooking minutes after we got home!
It's just such a pleasure to have open lines of communications, so expectations are set accurately.