HABITS

At the end of it all, it's not our occasional great deeds, our frequent misdeeds, our talents, our flashes of brilliance or our fleeting physical attributes that define us. It's our habits. We all know gifted people who never accomplish anything. Shot-in-the pan, one act wonders, big talkers with little or nothing concrete to show the world. In the end the habit of getting up, getting at it and getting it done will far outweigh sheer gifts. Perhaps it is the most precious gift of all.

So I leave a challenge: pick out one good habit and develop it for the month of February. Be it making your bed, working an hour a day on the next great American novel, saving ten percent of your income, or planning and cooking a month of good food, habits form a solid base from which the remainder of our existence can spread.

Food is an important part of my life. Planning, shopping, cooking, enjoying and even cleaning up nurture bodies and strengthen family bonds. Some of my best memories of my mother come from the hours we shared while I dried the dishes she washed and we practiced singing harmonies (actually she mostly sang the harmony while I struggled to stay faithful to the tune!). Some 46 years of cooking and cleaning later, I have developed a good habit for getting nutritious food to the table. It starts with collecting recipes. I scan and print from magazines and library books, download from the internet, and even copy things which catch my eye from my own considerable collection of cookbooks. These get stashed in the back of my huge three-ring binder. When it comes time to go to the grocery store I pull out three or four recipes from my stash which represent a wide variety of main dishes: some quick to cook, some requiring more preparation or a stay in a slow cooker. To these I add three or four side dishes. Some days the main dish and the ever-present salad are enough, some times very simple entrees need more help. Then I add two or three entrees from part of my four-decade repertoire which need no written recipe. On the computer I type menus down the left hand column and list ingredients which are beyond what I consider staples in the right column, even if I have them on hand at the moment. I staple recipes and menus together and make a shopping list which reflects items from the right hand column I need to purchase as well as breakfast and lunch items which are low. This process takes about an hour. BUT, everything I need to fix dinner for a week is right at my fingertips, it's easy to thaw whatever is needed for the following night's dinner, and when the week is through, the menu/recipe/ shopping list gets hole-punched and included in the front part of my three ring binder. On a week when an hour is not available, I can grab a completed menu from the past and be out the door with a completed grocery list in five minutes! Try my method as your habit for February? I think you'll be glad you did.

BASIC CHICKEN PARMESAN

My go-to choice for a first visit to an Italian restaurant. I figure if they can't make good Chicken Parmesan, the chances are pretty good they can't make anything else, either. Sometimes the CP is soooo good, I never investigate any other menu items. (Rosa's Italian Restaurant in Pismo Beach, California, has an excellent CP.)

This recipe doesn't pretend to equal theirs, but you can feed a family of four for less than ten dollars with it, and there won't be any complaints, either! Try it with the brined, frozen breasts which have recently appeared in my market for chicken which is really moist and tender. And it's a great way to use up a little bit of spaghetti sauce. If time isn't a problem, the sauce can be enhanced by adding sauted finely chopped onion, mushrooms and green pepper and simmering for 10 minutes or so, but even without the veggies, this is a flavorful dinner.

BUSY COOK'S CHICKEN PARMESAN

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts or
2 of those genetic monster breasts, cut in half
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
.
Sprinkle the breasts with bread crumbs, using more if needed to get an even, light coating. Heat the oil in a large pan until a light haze forms. Gently add breasts and cook over medium high heat for four minutes, or until nicely golden. Turn and cook on the second side for another four minutes.

Spray an oven-proof shallow pan (large enough to accomodate the breasts in a single layer) with Pam, spread out a thin layer of the sauce and top with the chicken breasts. Spread them with remaining sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses.

Bake for 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer or by cutting into the center of the largest breast.

WHERE, OH WHERE, DID THE ZUCCHINI GO?

It's January, and even the most ardent zucchini gardener has been reduced to (gasp!) buying zucchini. And it's over a dollar a pound. Here's a way to stretch a single medium sized zucchini into a side dish for four or a main one for three (Use 12 ounces of pasta for a main dish). It's equally as good with yellow crookneck squash, and as the first crop comes in next spring, the zucchini quotent can be expanded. Don't cook the zucchini too long -- mushy is not good. Here's a savory main dish that will come together in the time it takes to boil up a pot of pasta. Just put your cutting board by the saute pan and keep adding and stirring as you chop.

Tuscan Spaghetti

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 pound mushrooms, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped fine or pressed
1 zucchini, diced into 3/8" dice
1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
12 kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 spring of fresh, chopped fine
3/4 pound whole wheat pasta
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Start a large pot of water to boil.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the mushrooms, pepper and garlic until the pepper starts to soften (about five minutes).

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente (five to eight minutes).

Add zucchini to vegetables, stir, and add in artichokes, olives, and oregano. Cook just until some of the zucchini starts to soften.

Drain the pasta, mix in the vegetables, and top with cheese.