Roasted Veggies for a Caregiver

How many times have I heard that caregivers need to take care of themselves first? Indeed we do. It's just like the flight attendants instruct us before our flight takes off: when the oxygen mask drops in front of you, put yours on first, then help others.

Same with caregivers. If you don't take care of yourself, you could wind up sick at the bad end of the scale, or in a lousy mood at the best. Neither condition allows you to take care of your care recipient well. And even worse, you could pass your germs or lousy mood onto the one you're taking care of. What a mess you'd have on your hands then! A caregiver's job has the potential to be difficult at each day's starting gate; make it as easy on yourself as possible. You are needed!

One of my favorite ways to take care of myself is to cook a special dish now and then -- something that smells good while it's cooking, something healthy and nutritious, something that is easy to make and tastes as if Emeril Lagasse himself made it -- flavors that meld and play off of each other when you take a bite.

I'm not a great chef -- not because I can't (I probably could if I only knew how!), but because I choose to spend my time in other ways (like writing this blog). But there are times when I want to simply feel like I am a maestro in the kitchen. It is a treat to eat yummy food, and perhaps just as satisfying to have made it yourself.

And it gives me a sense of pleasure to spend some cozy time in the kitchen to prepare that yummy food. This week I made Herb-Roasted Winter Veggies. I have experimented with using various types of veggies. In the dish pictured above, I used carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, mushrooms, red garnet yams, and beets. It's what I happened to have in the house at the time. I've also made this recipe using only beets. Mmmmm...

So go ahead, have fun making this recipe and sharing it.