Posted on by Maggie

All my favorites

Some of my favorite things:

  1. Green oat bran.  (Oat bran, peanut butter, salt, vanilla, spinach.)

    2. 16-green-oat-bran

  2. Kabocha.  (Steamed kabocha, teeny sprinkle of brown sugar, smart balance.)

    3. 17-kabocha

  3. My family – my mom comes to visit tonight!

For the past few days I’ve been trying something new – instead of sprinkling parmesan and/or squirting ketchup on my steamed kabocha, I’ve been adding a few spoons of smart balance (mmmm) and sometimes some brown sugar.

There’s something very homey and inviting about my bowls of kabocha + brown sugar + smart balance.  When I was a kid my favorite thing in the world was sweet potato + butter + brown sugar.  Heavy on the butter and sugar!  Now kabocha has replaced the sweet potato, but it’s still a very similar dish.

Polly said recently that her favorite meals are always made from just a few ingredients.  I think that’s the same for me.  Kabocha + a topping.  Oats + 1-2 toppings.  Simple meals, simple flavors, simple pleasures.

I’m going to continue this theme of simplicity by doing a yoga flow on my own, and enjoying this lovely Tuesday morning.  Do you relish in simplicity?  Or do you favor more intricacy?  In food, but also in life?

23 Replies to “All my favorites”

  1. Good Morning MAGGIE

    I absolutely LOVE simplicity… it’s just so SIMPLE and beautiful and easy

    AND, YIKES

    AND I LOVE intricacy

    I am a cancer…. I am moody and anything..ANYTHING I like…I usually have just an equally and absolute passion for it’s polar opposite…it just depends on the DAY 🙂

    and it’s a MOOD THING

    I don’t know if i’ve ever tried Smart Balance..it’s dairy free? is it margarine?

    Happy Tuesday

  2. kabocha + a bit of sweetness is wonderful. My comfort food these days is usually some kabocha, or sometimes a bit of oatmeal, with some cinnamon and a dash of brown rice syrup (i should try a bit of brown sugar, i’m all out though, maybe i’ll get some!). so plain and simple, yet so wonderful.

    I wish I could have smart balance, but i’m pretty sure they all have soy, and i’m definitely allergic.

    I am definitely a simplicity girl! from enjoying a simple cup of tea in the sun, to a new bamboo spoon(yay!!), to basic grains + 1 or 2 toppings, simplicity is all I need.

    have a lovely lovely tuesday, you lovely lady!
    ~jess

    Oh! and I totally LOVE PRANA. My absolute favourite yoga pants of all time are a pair of cropped brown prana cotton pants. Yipee!!

  3. I think simplicity really helps bring out the flavors and integrity of an ingredient. For example – my new favorite way to eat veggies is just a sprinkling of olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast them. Their flavor is unbelievable and not buried in sauces or other harsh spices. There’s something beautiful, almost artistic, about being able to take 2 or 3 simple ingredients and make them taste excellent.

    I’ve never ever been a fan of white potatoes, either! How funny b/c my mom always had to cook a sweet potato for me growing up. We’re long lost twins!

  4. What exactly is a kabocha? Is it like an acorn squash?
    I’ve never tried sweet potato and brown sugar. It just sounds gross to mix sugar and potatoes! I like my spray becel! Haaha!

  5. Oh, I agree. Simple is best. With fresh ingredients, of course. Nothing is better to me than simple combos. Almond butter and banana. Tomato and basil. Some things were just meant to be!

  6. Yay for favorite things posts- I did one over the weekend because I took a look at all my photos and realized that they didn’t so much forms a narrative as they did represent individual elements of my perfect meals/weekends.

    That being said, I believe that there is a time and a place for simple as well as complex foods. An exquisitely spiced Indian dish = complex HEAVEN, whereas a perfectly ripe peach on a summer day = simple JOY.

  7. I’ve grown up eating kabocha and must agree that it is a major comfort. Although i have mine plain if it’s a sweet one or make some porridge with it (add cinnamon, sweet rice cakes, red bean, maybe a bit of sugar, and water). Yummm

    I think I tend to be a little bit more intricate. I like to add a ton of different ingredients to my salads. I love all the various textures and flavors. Then again, I like to keep my oats simple with just cinnamon+bananas and chia seeds (a new addition).

    I guess I’m both :D. I tend to be a complicated person though, and wish I could just keep things simple like Polly. I love how simply sweet she is. I just boggle my mind with too much silly stuff!

  9. I like oatmeal to be really simple. I usually only add a banana, sometimes cinnamon.

    Sometimes I like to eat really simple salads – just lettuce, cucumber slices, and salad dressing. Other times, I’ll add a bunch of fruits and veggies, plus cheese, nuts, and salad dressing.

  13. Simple is definitely the best, in my book as well. The fewer and fresher the ingredients the better. I still have to try kabocha! It looks so good in your photos!

  14. I love simplicity, if the quality of the food is good and needs to shine, like a good steak or fish, or fruit, or of course kabocha. But I love intricate dishes, too, with complex flavors and textures. It really depends on what I’m in the mood for.
    Have you tried kabocha with maple syrup? It’s great like that, too. And with a piece of Laughing Cow cheese wedge on top!

  15. i agree with simplicity EXCEPT for salads. i go topping cuhrrrazy when it comes to salad making, and i love it. otherwise, im right there with ya.

  16. I like simplicity, but not too much. I rarely eat foods plain – I like spicing it up with something, be it salt, soy sauce, curry, peppers, sugar etc.

    I bought some kabocha the other day but I’m not sure if it’s actually kabocha or buttercup sqaush. The label is gone. I keep meaning to ask my husband.

  17. I’m a simple girl, too, and thanks for your sugar comment on my blog. It’s interesting being in school, making the basics, which often involves butter and sugar. I had demonized both a long time ago when I began believing being a woman meant being on a diet. It felt very liberating to enjoy some sweetness today but it DEFINITELY resulted in a physical reaction that I was not expecting (felt like I’d had 15 diet cokes) which tells me perhaps my body does not want so much of the sugar…and that’s cool. That’s why dessert is dessert, rather than a meal.

    Need to try kabocha ASAP!

    xoxo

  18. What a fantastic question!! I think I enjoy both simple and intricate on different levels! Simple and easy is always more homey and down-to-earth, but intriciate just feel soo glamorous and “splurge-ish” I feel like it’s a treat. 🙂

    I also heart kabocha but i for sure like mine plain jane without anything on top. I’m afraid of trying that brown butter and smart balance combo for the fear of falling in love with it. hahahaha

    So I was wondering if you thin maybe the starchy veggies are making your tummy upset? If it’s only a teeny bit of parmesan, it couldn’t wreak that much havoc …could it??? MAN it’s scary to think that even small amounts of something could leave your body so wounded!!! (Splenda no more! hahah)

  19. I love Polly’s simple eats. She makes me just want to clean out my fridge and buy fresh eats just for the day.

    I’ve definitely simplified things in my life. Love my oats with just nut butter on top. No heavy or sweet sauces on anything, and my taste buds are loving tasting my food…finally!

    Kabocha…must buy more. I like it steamed and plain…although it’s really good with a little pecan butter sprinkled on top. 🙂

  20. sometimes i get so heavily saturated in complexity…in foods, exercise, creativity and work…when i bring it back to something very simple (this recipe for instance that went with tonight’s dinner: http://www.recipezaar.com/ZucchiniCourgette-Onion-Saute-238565) it is such an eye opener. for me, just finding a balance between the two is a great place to be. 🙂

    i made a lemon chicken stir fry today for dinner later in the week and i am excited to possibly cut up and try the kabocha with it…im so anxious to try it!

    is a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich classified as complex? 😉

  22. I definitely enjoy simplicity too.. not in term of number of ingredients but in term of way to prepare it. I like food in its natural form (or almost) and a good variety because different food group/color have different nutrients/benefits. And in life simplicity is a plus too! Enjoy simple pleasures like a walk, a good movie, a talk, etc.

  23. I like the simple things in life, but I think I prefer my food kind of complicated 😉 I don’t know why…I like a bunch of different flavors and textures! I admire the simplicity of Polly’s eats and your kombacha, but I have a short attention span…hehe.

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