I used to watch Vivian’s first show on PBS and just saw the new show Kitchen Curious tonight, and always enjoy her advice and recipes. Chicken and rice is one I will be making as soon as the whole chicken in my freezer thaws. The recipe calls for “30-40 grinds from the pepper mill”, how awesome!
Absolutely genius to boil a chicken directly! I will be doing this soon. And man, the meal planning vs. the delight of leaning into your cravings really hits home for me. I LOVE to have a plan (and obviously love to write about said plan!!!) but some weeks—like this one—I just throw it out the window completely.
I sometimes feel like I SHOULD be telling people to have a plan—and sometimes I really love the structure and support of a plan! But also, more than anything, I want all of us who cook to feel GOOD in the kitchen, and sometimes that means we have to throw that plan out the window!
I find her preparedness vs meal planning to be validating! We are an anti-meal planning family over here, but work in the food industry, so are more into just being "prepared" for whatever inspires us or whatever is on the verge of rotting. I'm sick of getting clickbaited and shamed into meal planning with all these shorts on 400 neatly knolled tupperwares taking up real estate in their pristine fridges. Just another notch in my belt of reasons social media is evil. Thanks Vivian for making me, us feel seen!
Amazing how that whole-chicken approach sets up multiple meals. The boil-then-shred method is so much smarter than buying pre-cooked rotisserie birds that are basically dry by day two. That tension between wanting structure but also craving spontaneity is real - I've totally planned a meal on Sunday only to feel zero excitement about it by Wednesday.Her same day planning philosphy makes sense when you're balancing logistics with actual desire.
I feel her about meal planning. I can only plan a couple of the week’s meals in advance because I know I’ll crave something different by the time I get halfway through the week.
Once again, I love seeing two folks I adore collaborating!! Yay!
And I am very much with Vivian. Overly planned makes me feel automatically resistant and bored with my planning. And when I don't feel excited or interested by what I'm eating, my motivation to cook goes down too!
I used to be put off meal planning by thinking I maybe wouldn't feel like eating that day's choice once I got there. But honestly, in 20 years of meal planning, that's been really rare. You really don't have endless choice anyway if you don't plan. You're still constrained by the time available , what needs eating in your fridge and what you can think up in that moment that fits all your family's tastes (stir fry again!!), plus you have the stress of hungry people hassling you!
I personally find I use far more of the recipes in my collection if I plan for the week ahead, even if I sometimes swap around meals on the hoof once we get there. We also routinely saved about a third on our grocery bills once I started planning meals and planned for leftovers etc. Any goodies I found in the reduced section at the store went in the freezer for the following week's plan. Making a plan isn't stress free but, for us, it's less stress than the alternative!!
Howard's Blueberry BBQ sauce is a winner. & I've only ever made oven baked chicken with it. But it does turn things purple when you are making it or have cooked with it.
And is there a 50th Anniversary issue of Lewis's A Taste of Country Cooking being released this year? or am I misremembering?
I used to watch Vivian’s first show on PBS and just saw the new show Kitchen Curious tonight, and always enjoy her advice and recipes. Chicken and rice is one I will be making as soon as the whole chicken in my freezer thaws. The recipe calls for “30-40 grinds from the pepper mill”, how awesome!
I highly recommend Somewhere South as well!
Absolutely genius to boil a chicken directly! I will be doing this soon. And man, the meal planning vs. the delight of leaning into your cravings really hits home for me. I LOVE to have a plan (and obviously love to write about said plan!!!) but some weeks—like this one—I just throw it out the window completely.
I sometimes feel like I SHOULD be telling people to have a plan—and sometimes I really love the structure and support of a plan! But also, more than anything, I want all of us who cook to feel GOOD in the kitchen, and sometimes that means we have to throw that plan out the window!
Yes, yes, yes. THIS!
I find her preparedness vs meal planning to be validating! We are an anti-meal planning family over here, but work in the food industry, so are more into just being "prepared" for whatever inspires us or whatever is on the verge of rotting. I'm sick of getting clickbaited and shamed into meal planning with all these shorts on 400 neatly knolled tupperwares taking up real estate in their pristine fridges. Just another notch in my belt of reasons social media is evil. Thanks Vivian for making me, us feel seen!
Amazing how that whole-chicken approach sets up multiple meals. The boil-then-shred method is so much smarter than buying pre-cooked rotisserie birds that are basically dry by day two. That tension between wanting structure but also craving spontaneity is real - I've totally planned a meal on Sunday only to feel zero excitement about it by Wednesday.Her same day planning philosphy makes sense when you're balancing logistics with actual desire.
I can never get enough of Vivian's wisdom!
Boiling the chicken and using the broth to cook rice is so smart. Perhaps I’ll try something different with my chicken this week….!
So simple and comforting!
I feel her about meal planning. I can only plan a couple of the week’s meals in advance because I know I’ll crave something different by the time I get halfway through the week.
Once again, I love seeing two folks I adore collaborating!! Yay!
And I am very much with Vivian. Overly planned makes me feel automatically resistant and bored with my planning. And when I don't feel excited or interested by what I'm eating, my motivation to cook goes down too!
I’m with Vivian! I really struggle with any type of meal planning, but it’s something I want to test more this year.
I used to be put off meal planning by thinking I maybe wouldn't feel like eating that day's choice once I got there. But honestly, in 20 years of meal planning, that's been really rare. You really don't have endless choice anyway if you don't plan. You're still constrained by the time available , what needs eating in your fridge and what you can think up in that moment that fits all your family's tastes (stir fry again!!), plus you have the stress of hungry people hassling you!
I personally find I use far more of the recipes in my collection if I plan for the week ahead, even if I sometimes swap around meals on the hoof once we get there. We also routinely saved about a third on our grocery bills once I started planning meals and planned for leftovers etc. Any goodies I found in the reduced section at the store went in the freezer for the following week's plan. Making a plan isn't stress free but, for us, it's less stress than the alternative!!
Such a good point about not having endless choice at the last minute!
I think we set up a false dichotomy, right?
Howard's Blueberry BBQ sauce is a winner. & I've only ever made oven baked chicken with it. But it does turn things purple when you are making it or have cooked with it.
And is there a 50th Anniversary issue of Lewis's A Taste of Country Cooking being released this year? or am I misremembering?
I believe there is! in May, with foreword from Toni Tipton-Martin.