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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Oh, just shoot me.

Figuratively speaking, of course.  I have been trying various means of preparing myself for a nice, long, uninterrupted, peaceful, restful night's sleep.  I've had varying degrees of success, ranging from none at all to very little.  :)  Last night I set the stage - no DVD viewing, a nice up of chamomile tea, a quiet job - cutting out Sleep Bunnies.  It should have been perfect.  It was, in effect, perfectly ineffectual.  I was wide awake at 1:30, listening to the pair of owls hooting back and forth - probably checking to see if either was in possession of a crow bar in order to get their talons on my chickens.

By 2:15 I gave up and startled the dogs who groggily staggered to the back door - with the exception of Pepperoni who always thinks my hours are horrendous.  Since I couldn't just sit there, I:

Made a loaf of 2 hour non-dairy Einkorn flour bread
Canned a half-gallon of applesauce
Stared at YouTube for far too long
Worked on my great-nephew's baby blanket
Stared into space
Made a couple of lists
Talked myself out of texting my sister - who, I prayed, was still sleeping and not talking my dad back into the house from his journey to 'work'

I always feel so proud of myself when I accomplish so much in the morning - until I realize, at 2 PM, that I've been up for twelve hours.

Le sigh.

This bread is so easy to make and so wonderfully bread-y and yeast-y! 

This is a very easy recipe with little or
no kneading.

I obviously had to try it to see if it was safe.
Many times.

A new recipe I tried this weekend - a Chard and Sweet Corn Gratin from the NYT August 26th food section (Martha Rose Shulman).  So far, I've had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It is going on my "Favorites" list.

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 generous bunch of Swiss or rainbow chard, stemmed and washed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Black pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2-3 ounces Gruyere, grated (1/2-3/4 cup), to taste (I used cheddar)
Kernels from 2 cooked ears of corn (1-1/2 -2 cups) (I used my uncooked, frozen)
1 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup) (I used Asiago)

Heat oven to 375 degrees and oil a 2 qt baking dish
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and blanch chard leaves for 1-2 mins until tender but still bright green.  Put in cold water, drain and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Chop.
Heat O/O in medium skillet and add garlic.  Cook, stirring, until fragrant.  Add herbs and blanched chard.  Stir to coat with oil for a few minutes.  Remove from heat.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk and 1/2 tsp salt.  Stir in chard mixture and cheese.  Stir in corn. Put in baking dish, smooth top and sprinkle with Parmesan.  Bake for 35-40 mins until nicely browned.  Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

16 comments:

Mama Pea said...

I'm with you all the way with becoming extremely frustrated with NOT BEING ABLE TO SLEEP when my body is telling me I neeeed the sleep or I am going to die. (Or, at least, be nigh on to totally worthless the next day.) Be happy you can make good use of your time when you're up in the middle of the frickin' night. My light-sleeping husband is disturbed if I so much as walk too heavily across the floor. Two rooms away. With two doors shut tight. Sigh.

Your einkorn bread recipe was off of the back of the flour bag, right? Isn't that a fantastic bread?! We love it. Now you have some great tasting bread to eat!

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i feel your pain! i've been getting up at 2:30 for over 3 months now. i do not have trouble falling to sleep though!

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

You've been very busy for not sleeping!!!

I've realized my hormones are so out of whack which in turn cause me to sleep very little and constantly wake up or I have problems just getting to sleep.

I have found using chamomile tea with an a few drops of Valerian Root helped me sleep. If you use this, don't use it more than two weeks at a time. You can pickup Valerian Root at a natural food store.

That bread looks really good, I need to get back to making bread.

Michelle said...

I caved and started HRT just because I was desperate for sleep. Guess what? Still not sleeping. I often feel like telling someone to just shoot me, too. Especially because I have to deal with a difficult adolescent boy day in and day out on not-enough-sleep...

Susan said...

I feel so sorry for you. Do you feel tired or fall asleep during the day? My sleep cycle has tied itself in knots-awake at 1:30 am again at 5. My best sleep is between 8ish and 9:30. If I can arrange to stay in bed and get that precious 1.5 hrs I'm full of beans. Unfortunately the world is not arranged to accommodate my schedule. I'm tempted to try melatonin or advil night time. I hope you find something to help you.

Linda said...

Supply him with some white noise. A fan will do.

Practical Parsimony

Linda said...

I take melatonin, 3 mg with B6. Natrol is best. I get it at CVS. Since they discontinued it, they will order it for me. If I had hoot owls and roosters and dogs in the house, I would not sleep a wink. I have a machine that makes white noise. It works quite well.

Practical Parsimony

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I was up early today due to needing more moisturizer on my healing hay rash. Thank you for sharing that recipe. I'll have to try it next time I can find organic chard.

Mama Pea said...

Linda, thanks for the suggestion, but he can't sleep with a fan going at night during the hot summer time . . . because of the "noise" it makes! I've considered taping a bucket over his head, but . . . ;o]

Erika keller said...

Sorry about your sleep woes. If I get out of my sleep schedule I have the same waking problem. Then I read about the history of sleep and discovered first sleep and second sleep. Apparently, before the invention of electric lighting, people would have their "first sleep" then get up, go visit neighbors, etc then go back to bed for "second sleep." http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/why-broken-sleep-is-a-golden-time-for-creativity/
Now if I am awake in the middle of the night I figure I am just doing as my ancestors did!
And the recipe sounds great. I even have some Gruyere sitting in the fridge.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh I do hope you get your sleep we need that to function. Well that and good food but it looks like you have that covered. Take care OK. Hugs B

Unknown said...

Have you tired valerian? Works great fr me, mild and non-addicting...

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Will you share your recipe for einkorn bread? My loaves are always heavy and dense. I love the flavor of einkorn wheat.

Casa Mariposa said...

The bread looks wonderful! I wish I could eat dairy. The gratin looks delish, too.

Erika keller said...

Yumm, your gratin recipe was delicious!