I thought I should share this with you since I’m amazed at how long it’s lasted.  When we got some carrots from our CSA a few weeks ago, I was looking at the carrot tops, and my empty vase and had a brain storm.  I filled the vase with water and began putting carrot tops into it as I cut them off.  It’s made a beautiful and simple centerpiece that didn’t start wilting for 3 weeks!

Now, for my HUGE announcement.  Yesterday I followed through on a big and scary decision.  I quit my job.  That’s right, in the midst of this crazy economy, after months of searching for the RIGHT new job before I quit my old one, I’ve quit my job without having another one lined up.  It sounds crazy, I know, but we really think it’s the right decision.

Last week, Eric and I prayed and talked a ton about the idea of pursuing the start of my own company and hopefully a non-profit organization.  I told him it needed to ultimately be his decision if I quit because he would be the “bread winner” until my business gets off the ground.  He decided on Thursday that it was what I’m supposed to do.  Then I got two great confirmations that it was the right decision.

1.  Right after we decided that and asked God to help us have what we need financially, we got a $500 refund check in the mail from our health insurer!

2.  As I was driving to work yesterday, seriously nervous about telling my boss and how she’d react, I decided to turn on the radio for encouragement.  It was on Spirit 105.3 and when I turned it on the announcer said “More uplifting music for your day” and then a song started.  I don’t even really like the song because it’s not my style, but it was exactly what I needed at that moment.  It’s all about how there’s a time for everything, a time to say yes and a time to say no, a time to move on, and how God is with you through all of it.  I just started cracking up and had the courage I needed to tell my boss without feeling sick to my stomach like I usually do in potential conflict.

So what’s next?  I’m honestly not sure.  I’d like to work for myself from home doing freelance writing and recipe development along with taking my blog to the next level.  I enjoy this and am good at it, it’s mostly a matter of finding the opportunities to make it pay the bills.  Plus it’s something I can do from home when we start planning our family in a year or so.  But one of my ultimate dreams is to start a nonprofit organization in my area.  I have a passion for teaching low income families how to shop for affordable and healthy ingredients and how easy cooking is.  I also love teaching children to cook and all about nutrition.  I so want to offer classes in the area, but the people I’d like to teach can’t really afford to pay for classes.

I’ve never started my own business (lemonade stands don’t count!) and certainly not a nonprofit, so I have a ton to learn.  I’m pretty nervous about the details of LLC’s and 501c3′s and accounting and all that, but I really feel this was the right thing to do so I know it’s going to work out.  On that note, if any of you have any advice or ideas, I’d love your input!  Do you have experience in starting a small business or nonprofit, in freelance writing or know some good resources?  Let me know, and if you live nearby maybe I can take you to coffee and pick your brain!

This is one of those dinners that I absolutely love because it is ridiculously easy and cheap to make.  That’s right, easy and cheap!  In fact the entire meal cost us less than 30 cents to make, and we had leftover salad.  I had just finished reading the book by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette, called “A Homemade Life”.  It was due back at the library so I was furiously writing down the recipes I wanted to try.  One of them was this red cabbage salad with parmesan, lemon and black pepper.  I don’t know if I would have thought of putting parmesan with red cabbage, but it was amazing! Eric honestly wasn’t too impressed with it, but I ate more cabbage in one sitting than I ever have before.  I was also super excited to have leftovers to take to work the next day.

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Do you remember in my post on Friday I promised you my secret to using up acorn squash seeds?  Here’s the secret…roast them and then toss with Tiki Spice!  I first discovered Tiki Spice when I was searching for some Hawaiian salts online.  My supply is running low and I wanted some more before I ran out.  I use Hawaiian salts on everything!  Steak, chicken, salmon, vegetable shish kebabs, mushrooms, edamame.  But then I stumbled across Chef Michael’s site where he sells guava wood smoked Hawaiian Sea Salt.

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I had hoped to be posting my homemade Chinese plum sauce recipe today.  But alas, I’ve been sick all week and haven’t gone to work, where I can pick as many plums as I want.  But my plum sauce post is mostly ready to go, so hopefully I can have photos for it by the end of next week, because it’s so tasty!    I have another Dr appointment coming up soon, to hopefully solve my health issues.  Turns out I have something called a nose polyp, which could explain all my sinus and ear issues.  Hope to get it taken care of soon.

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We have been getting the cutest little eggplants from our CSA lately, and fortunately, there are a lot of great ways to cook eggplant.  I made this recipe up a few weeks ago when we had some thawed ground beef from a local farm to use up, as well as some zucchini that I didn’t want to go bad.  Eric was really nervous as he watched me chopping the zucchini and eggplant up, but as they roasted in the oven and I started cooking the meat with onions and garlic, his mouth began to water from the aromas wafting out of the kitchen.

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