The Best Vacation: Fried Banana, Potato Squash Soup

My stepfather always used to say this:  A change of work is the best vacation.  It's good advice.  Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to do something different, to take a step away, so that you can come back to things with a fresh viewpoint.

That is essentially what I'm doing just now.  I have moved furniture and cleaned and sorted and all of that stuff for a couple of weeks.  There is more to do.  My living room looks like the county dump site.  But my motivation is toast.  So I'm just gonna focus elsewhere for a couple of days.  I'm gonna do some fun stuff (like making Happy Day presents) and I'm definitely cooking something good (Not-So-Stuffy Mushrooms for supper tonight!). 

Part of the problem with my tiredness is that, besides the hard work I've been doing with my house, I've also unexpectedly been on Zero Food Budget for three very long weeks.  Now I've had plenty of food to eat and it was nutritious homemade stuff, although I have been out of milk and butter for ten days or so.  I've grown very, very tired of eating things from the freezer (if I see anymore eggplant and lentils right now, I'm gonna seriously scream); and I've begun to feel desperate for fresh veggies and a different menu, so yesterday I allowed myself a $20 shopping spree at the local grocery.  This may not seem exciting to you but, trust me, I was over the moon.  (And I stayed on budget:  spent $19.14, including tax.)

Butter, cheese, sour cream, oatmeal, ramen, potatoes, an onion, broccoli, yellow squash, bananas.  There's nothing like feeling really hungry to make you appreciate what you're getting. 

First thing I did when I got home was fry a banana.  Don't get all surprised; it's really good!  Just pan-fry slices of banana in a little butter until they have a crispy brown crust on each side; add a dash of sea-salt when they are plated.  Nothing better.

And for supper, I made a wonderful Potato Squash Soup.  Again, this is super-simple--nearly all of my favorite stuff is simple and fresh.  Saute 1/4 cup of chopped onion in a tablespoon of butter.  When the onion becomes translucent, add a cup of pared, chopped yellow squash (about one medium-sized squash).  Stir-fry for a couple of minutes.  Add boiling water (2 cups or so) and 1 1/2 cups of pared cubed potato.  Lower heat and allow to bubble happily for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are fully cooked and falling apart, adding more water as necessary.  Remove from heat.  Add 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning (or simply use sage if you haven't got it).  Blend with a stick blender.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Put a generous dollop of sour cream in a deep bowl. Pour pureed soup on top.  And enjoy!

Life is good. 
I promise to share my Not-So-Stuffy Mushroom recipe next.