Holy Smoking Spatulas, Batman!

All right, well, the planets are in alignment, the food gods are smiling on me, and multiple factors are influencing what is turning out to be a weekend of cooking and baking. (It is finally NOT 90 degrees outside and I can turn on the oven without baking myself. I'm sick of eating hummus and cheese and crackers for dinner. (Although those were great summer foods!) I got paid yesterday and was thus able to make a voyage to the Wedge for raw materials. (I walked. You should have seen me, hoofing it back with a backpack and two tote bags loaded to the gills, in the light drizzle this morning. I got pitying stares from passersby. Oh well.) And I have nothing to do this weekend . . . I repeat . . . NOTHING! Wahoo!) So, I'm cooking. And baking. And I will eat well all week. I have a big plan, and I'm sharing the recipes with you! Here goes.

BASIC PIZZA WITH TOMATOES AND ARTICHOKE HEARTS (one 12-inch pizza, which is 4 generous servings)
~ For the crust, combine 1 cup bread flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, and 1/4 tsp salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl or measuring cup or something, combine 1/2 cup very warm water (110 to 115 degrees Farenheight,) 1/2 tbsp honey or raw sugar, and 1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast. Stir, then allow the yeast mixture to sit for a few minutes until it gets nice and foamy. Add the yeast mixture to the flours, and stir together with your fingers until it all pulls together. (You may not use all of the flour.) Turn your dough out onto the counter and knead for about 5 minutes, or until it feels smooth. Place the dough ball in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap that you've oiled or sprayed with cooking spray. Let it rise in a warm place until double, 30 minutes or longer.
~ While the crust is rising, prepare your toppings. (SEASONED OLIVE OIL) First, smash a big clove of garlic and place in a mini saucepot. Add a couple of glugs of extra virgin olive oil and a bunch of dried Italian seasoning. Bring this to a high simmer, then remove it from the heat and let the oil absorb the flavors while you prepare the rest of the toppings. Strain before using. (CHEESE) Shred about 2 cups part-skim mozzarella and about 1/2 a cup of parmigianno-reggiano. Toss to combine and reserve. (ARTICHOKES) Open a can of artichoke hearts and drain. Cut each into quarters, and place on about 3 paper towels to further drain. I wrapped them up lightly in the paper towels and flipped them upside down partway through the draining process. (TOMATOES) Open a can of diced tomatoes, and drain and rinse well. Do the paper towel thing with these guys, too.
~ After the crust has risen, punch it down and lightly knead it for a couple of minutes. Work it out into a 12-inch circle and place on a greased pizza pan that has also been dusted with semolina flour. Top the crust with the oil, half the cheese, the tomatoes, artichokes, and the rest of the cheese. Let it rest for about 5 minutes before baking at 475 until lightly browned and crisp, about 10 minutes or so. Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before cutting to prevent cheese run-off.

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CORN MUFFINS (12)
~ Combine 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 4 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.
~ Make a well in the center and add 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1/4 cup oil, and 1 tbsp honey. Stir together until just moistened.
~ Fill greased muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake at 425 for about 12 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

go with . . .

BLACK BEAN CHILI (This is a Catherine Classic, and I may have shared the recipe with you previously. I apologize if this is a repeat!) (8 or more servings)
Combine the following in a Crock Pot and cook on low for 8 hours:
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed, or a comparable amount of beans that you've soaked, drained, and cooked
30 oz can diced tomatoes with liquid
14 1/2 oz vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels (or more if you like a lot of corn!)
1 large or 2 medium green peppers, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
4 green onions, sliced
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin

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FALAFEL (4 servings)
Combine in a food processor (or alternately, smash the chickpeas with a fork and stir everything until well blended -- this is what I do because I don't own a food processor!):
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
15 oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or alternately, 2 cups cooked chickpeas you did yourself)
Shape the mixture into 16 small patties. Cook patties in 1 tbsp olive oil about 5 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Serve in pita halves with lettuce leaves, tomato slices, and YOGURT SAUCE (Combine until smooth: 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp tahini, and 1 clove garlic, minced.)

and a nice side for these sandwiches is . . .

GRAPE AND WALNUT SALAD
Combine 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 tbsp brown sugar (or less,) and a dash of cinnamon until smooth. Toss this dressing with 3 cups of red grapes, halved, and 3 tablespoons of chopped walnuts.

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EATING WELL'S SWEET AND SOUR TOFU
Ingredients:
20 oz crushed pineapple or pineapple chunks in juice (drain and reserve 1/4 cup juice)
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
14 oz extra-firm water-packed tofu, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp canola oil, divided
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 by 2 inch strips
1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 by 2 inch strips
Directions:
1. Combine pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and sugar until smooth. Marinade tofu in 3 tbsp sauce up to 30 minutes. Add cornstarch to remaining sauce and whisk until smooth.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet. Transfer tofu to pan and cook until golden brown, about 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm.
3. Add remaining oil to pan. Add garlic and ginger and cook about 30 seconds. Add peppers and cook 2 to 3 minutes or just until tender. Add sauce and cook, stirring until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add tofu and pineapple chunks and heat through.
(I plan on serving this with brown rice and a side of steamed broccoli for dinner Monday night.)

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NAVA ATLAS'S CHOCOLATE BROWNIE CAKE

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup natural granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened good-quality cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup vanilla organic low-fat yogurt or soy yogurt
1/4 cup low-fat milk, rice milk, or soymilk
2 tablespoons light vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, preferably cane-juice sweetened

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir together.Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the yogurt, milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir until thoroughly combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Pour into a lightly oiled 9- by 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the pan, and a knife inserted in the middle tests clean.
4. Let cool in the pan until just warm or room temperature, then cut into squares to serve.

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Well, off to do dishes before I can keep cooking. :)

even weirder

The latest thing Oliver likes to lick? Envelope glue. I can't leave an envelope lying around, or there's no glue left by the time I'm ready to seal it and sent it on its way!

Cats are weird. Still.

happiness is . . . chocolate chip cookies!

If any of you know the Broadway musical "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown," you'll get my reference in the title. If not, it's still pertinent.

I never posted my recipe for healthfully updated chocolate chip cookies the other day, because I wasn't completely sure about them. I've been munching on them the past few days, and have decided I LOVE them. So, I'm sharing. (The recipe, that is. The cookies are MINE!) For some odd reason, they are especially tasty chilled. This recipe makes about 30 small cookies. (Half what a standard cookie recipe makes. I can't eat a whole batch of cookies by myself, however much I might want to.) These are higher in fiber/whole grain, lower in fat, and lower in sugar than a traditional CCC, but taste pretty damn fabulous. Here goes:

2 tablespoons butter (you could also use margarine)
1/3 cup natural sugar/raw sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 tablespoons low fat vanilla yogurt (or soy yogurt)
2 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer (found in the natural foods aisle -- you could use 2 egg whites instead, but your dough may be a bit runnier)
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips (or regular chocolate chips)

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla, yogurt, and egg replacer.
2. Stir in the oats, flour, salt, and soda. Gently stir in chips.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoon fulls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (These cookies don't spread much, so feel free to jam them together on the baking sheets to speed things up. You may also want to squash them flat a bit, otherwise you'll have little round balls instead of cookie-looking things.) Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 350. Cool.

Enjoy, my friends.

You know, I post all of these crazy recipes up here, but I never hear back from you all as to whether you've tried any of these yourselves! I'd love your feedback, especially since a lot of this baking/cooking is experimental and in the early stages of development. (And if you don't want to make a whole batch of cookies and live nearby, I might be persuaded to share one, just to receive feedback. Just one, though!)

cats are weird

Oliver seems to like to lick the condensation off the outside of cold pop cans. He's currently going to town on my Diet Coke.

I wonder if it's some sort of weird texture thing, or he just likes the ice-cold driplets of moisture?

Regardless, cats are weird.

DAMN SPAM

Phooey. I just lost a whole post.

The succinct version: I had to change my comments preferences to "members only" because of SPAM commenting. (I hate SPAM in both its electronic and foodstuff forms.) I will still, however, love to hear from you all! You can easily set up a blogger account, even if you don't want to blog. I encourage you to do so, and leave me comments!!

I wrote this whole long thing about why I was so tired today (combination of very late night last night and early babysitting job this morning,) and also a rant/rave on grain sweetened chocolate chips. I don't have the energy to write them again. Sorry!

I'm showing Dan how to blog

We're thinking about creating a Willow Room blog at school, so I'm showing Dan how to use Blogger. I'd be showing Sarah, too, but she's home sick today.

3 more days before the children come . . . must go make playdough!

pink and green pilaf

This makes about 3 "side" servings, or 2 main course servings. You could increase the amount of green peas if you want more protein in the thing, too!

1. Plop a little olive oil in a medium saucepot and heat on medium heat. Add most of a green pepper, finely chopped, half a medium onion, finely chopped, freshly minced garlic if you have it (or use garlic powder like I did -- tragedy! I have been out of fresh garlic for almost a week now, and am slowly becoming culinarily depressed.) Saute this a few minutes just until the veg start to turn translucent.
2. Add half a cup of whole wheat couscous (uncooked) to the pot. Stir and cook a few minutes, until the couscous is lightly toasted.
3. Stir in half a cup of frozen green peas, and nearly a cup of liquid (I used tomato juice I had drained out of a can of diced tomatoes last week, plus enough water to equal about 7 ounces,) the juice of one lemon, and salt (if your liquid is not salted.)
4. Bring this all to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer 2 minutes. Remove the pilaf from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff the pilaf with a fork before serving. (I suggest garnishing the pilaf with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Yum.)

Now obviously, if you use some other sort of liquid like broth instead of the tomato juice, your pilaf will not be pink. So you'll have to come up with your own catchy name, I guess!

poor timing for cooking projects

Aw, what was I thinking? I just spent half an hour washing a sinkfull of dishes, and what did I think when the kitchen was clean? "Hooray! Room to cook something!" That feeling, coupled with a lack of something interesting to take for lunch tomorrow, prompted a quick pasta salad throw-together of available ingredients. With very happy results. Here goes:

1. Cook some small shaped whole grain pasta in salted water until tender. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Shake it about for a bit to remove most of the excess water.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl (if you have one with a lid, even better -- no transport needed to a plastic container when you're through mixing up the salad!) make a simple vinaigrette: few good shakes of red wine vinegar, juice of one lemon, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, fresh garlic if you have it (which I didn't -- crisis! -- I used garlic powder instead,) and extra virgin olive oil. Whisk well to combine.
3. Add the pasta with half a large cucumber, sliced and quartered, a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes (well drained,) a can of quartered artichoke hearts (again, well drained,) about a cup of cooked white beans, and 3 ounces of goat cheese, crumbled roughly with your fingers. Use a spatula to toss it all together -- and a magic thing happens! The goat cheese just sort of falls apart (I don't quite know why,) and creates this delicious, creamy sauce. I tasted a small bite . . . heaven!

I love it when food magic happens. Off to do the dishes (again!)

P.S. I made pancakes and a fantabulous blueberry sauce to go over them last night! Sauce was VERY easy: plop 1 small bag of frozen blueberries into a saucepot. Add a couple good sized squirts of honey, a shake of cinnamon, and the juice of half a lemon. Bring to a high simmer. Spoon out some of the blueberry liquid (maybe a half cup?) into a small dish and cool slightly. Combine this liquid with about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, then stir the cornstarch mixture back into the pot. Bring the blueberries to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens up. Dump a big spoonful over pancakes (even better when you put a layer of peanut butter in-between them!) and dig in! (This might also make a nice dessert/ice cream sauce -- angel food cake, pound cake, shortcakes, it would even be great mixed in with some vanilla yogurt and granola!)

I heart tofu today

I just made the most amazing, delicious, and possibly irreplicable tofu dish for dinner that I am going to attempt to describe here. Be patient -- it's quite a culinary story.

First, I created a marinade: rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, a few smashed cloves of garlic, a thumb-sized piece of smashed up ginger, and some red pepper flakes. I then cubed up half a package of extra firm tofu, lightly squeezed it dry between paper towels, and set it to soak for about 20 minutes in the marinade.

Then, in my cold cast iron fry pan, I poured a good amount of peanut oil. I added a few additional cloves of garlic, minced, another thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced, about half a small onion, minced, and a big handfull of "snowflake coconut."

Next, I turned on the heat to about medium. (My stove gets quite hot quite quickly -- you may need to adjust the heat accordingly. You want the onion/garlic/ginger stuff to lightly brown, but not too quickly.) When the onions are just turning soft, add the tofu (just the cubes -- not the marinade.) I cooked the tofu, stirring once or twice, until it was nice and brown. Then I sprinkled over a generous amount of sesame seeds, and added about a half teaspoon of red curry paste. Stir this about until the sesame seeds toast nicely. Then I added two big spoonfulls of peanut butter and some leftover cooked whole wheat linguine. I stirred this around until the peanut butter was all melty and everything stuck together in a big mess. (!) I added what looked like a nice amount of salt. Then I poured in enough water to "deglaze" the pan and added a couple of big handfulls of spinach. (I would have prefered to use veg broth, but alas, I was out.) I cooked it all down until the spinach was wilted and it had a very thick, almost paste-like sauce. I am now devouring this peanut-coconut-spice covered tofu noodle concoction with a side of steamed broccoli. Mmm........!

ADVENTURES IN BROWNIELAND!

After the "healthy cookie" incident, I decided to try my hand again at updating/creating a healthy (or less bad for you) baked good. Adventures in brownieland began.

Combine:
1/2 cup natural/raw sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa
10 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Stir in:
1/2 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt (soy yogurt could be used if you'd prefer)
2 tablespoons low-fat milk (soy milk could also be used)
1 tbsp light oil (safflower, canola, whatever)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients well and pour into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes 16 brownies (or less, if you cut them larger.)

Now, the "healthy cookies" were too much of a good thing -- I tried to do too many healthy things with that recipe. I have since read up on healthier baking, discovered ground flaxseeds as an egg replacement and whole wheat pastry flour, and thus these brownies are . . . FABULOUS. Good and chocolatey, not too sweet but plenty sweet enough to feel like a dessert, with a slightly grainy or "nutty" texture from the flax. They would be excellent with a half cup of chocolate chips stirred into the batter before baking, as well. :) Or dried cherries. Or nuts. Or 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract instead of the vanilla. Or 1/2 cup white chocolate chips. Or 1/2 cup peanut butter chips. Better get ready to eat a lot of brownies!

TWO quotes for today

And miraculously, they are both about food :)

"Food is not a chore; it's a gift." (Anna Thomas, from "The New Vegetarian Epicure")

"Life, she thought, was never so simple as when she started to cook." (from the novel "How to Cook a Tart" by Nina Killham)

In other slightly related news, I picked up four zebra tomatoes at the Wedge the other day, and chopped two of them up just now for a snack (with some toasted bread cubes, olive oil, salt, and pepper.) Frankly, they aren't that great. I may have jumped the gun a bit -- I'll wait a few more days before I attack the other two. (They are slightly crunchy and WAY acidic -- and my favorite part about zebra tomatoes is usually their sugar sweetness. Hmm . . . ??)

Oh -- and I tried pan-frying a serving's worth of tofu nuggets today . . . I'll just say I prefer them baked. So not a dish to try when it's a million degrees out . . .

soy I went to the co-op . . .

And bought a TON of yummy looking food, including a couple packets of tofu. So, I made one of the recipes from that cookbook I was talking about. (You can find more of her recipes on www.vegkitchen.com) Here it is:

BAKED TOFU NUGGETS
Makes: 4 to 6 kid-sized servings
These breaded nuggets become firm and chewy as they bake. Kids enjoy dipping them into their favorite sauce.
16-ounce tub firm or extra firm tofu
3 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Marinara or barbecue sauce (warmed), or ketchup

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the tofu into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Blot well between clean tea-towels or several layers of paper towel, then cut into 3/4-inch dice. Combine the wheat germ, cornmeal, and seasoned salt in a mixing bowl. Add the tofu chunks and stir gently until evenly coated.
Arrange the tofu on a lightly oiled non-stick baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice during this time, or until golden and firm. Serve at once with sauce of your choice for dipping or topping.

(I also made sweet potato oven fries which, when dipped in ketchup, I cannot distinguish from white potato fries. Yum!) So, the nuggets are a little . . . odd. Crispy outside, and chewy inside -- almost like a cheese texture. They remind me more of mozzarella sticks than chicken nuggets. But, I like them and will make them again! (Tofu is definitely an acquired taste -- one which I plan to acquire!)

Well, there appears to be a thunderstorm brewing outside, so I'm going to log off here and shut down the computer.

just not that

So I just finished reading the book "He's Just Not That Into You." What a hilarious read! (I have been wanting to read this book for ages, and it far surpassed my high expectations!) It was funny, to the point, and incredibly truthful -- an all-around good combination, if you ask me! Although I'm not in a relationship or anything right now, (or really dating for that matter -- gah!) it was nice to have a bit of a wake-up call. Honestly, I don't think I've made many of the mistakes in the book, nor do I think I'd make them in the future, but who knows? I think the main thing I took away from the book is . . . (drumroll please . . . ) GUYS MEAN WHAT THEY SAY AND NOTHING MORE! Greg, one of the authors, keeps talking about how uncomplicated guys are -- they say what they mean, and that's it. Women (myself included) make the mistake at times of reading more into what guys say (well, reading more into what everyone says, for that matter,) than is actually there. HA!

Three other pearls of wisdom: if a guy likes you he'll let you know (novel idea, eh?), guys are lazy and will stick around in a sucky relationship rather than break it off, acting like a jerk to try to get you to break it off, AND, have faith! (Ann always amazes me in this area -- she has faith in spades, and plenty to share around if need be!)

So, the moral of the story is, I liked the book. Everyone should read it, even if you're not single, because it's just so darn funny!

Well, it's nearly eleven, and my plan for today is to take a shower and go grocery shopping. Then, who knows? Man, I love vacation!

I went to the dentist today . . .

. . . and I have a cavity. The first cavity of my life! My dentist was very sad to tell me this news, since up until now I have had what he called "perfect teeth." I have to go back on Thursday and have it filled. Bah!

Otherwise, today was a fine day. I went to the library and checked out eleven books, (4 cookbooks, 2 nonfiction books, and 5 novels) and have been parusing Nava Atlas's "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook" for most of the rest of the afternoon. (I also made a tuna sandwich. Reading cookbooks always makes me hungry!) It's a really fabulous cookbook -- offers lots of ideas for every day vegetarian recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, gives pretty complete nutritional information for all of the recipes, offers ideas for adapting recipes to make them vegan, and also offers ideas for getting picky eaters (in her cookbook she talks mostly about kids, but I think many adults could be considered "picky," too, and would need a little help adapting to a more vegetarian lifestyle!) to eat veggies, tofu, and other healthy veg fare. (Chelsea, I keep thinking of Jon when I stumble upon the "picky eaters" sections of most of the recipes!) Anyhow, it's a fantastic book, whether you are vegetarian or not, and whether you have a family or not. I think most of us could use a few tips to help incorporate more healthy foods into our diets!

The big thing for me in this cookbook was learning how to work with tofu. I may have to buy a copy of this cookbook in the not so distant future!

Should I give you my recipe for tuna salad? It's pretty basic, but pretty good. Here goes:

(For 2 servings):
1 can water-pack tuna, drained (I give the "tuna juice" to the kit-cat and he gobbles it up)
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced very fine
1 to 2 tablespoons additional chopped veggies (I like celery and bell pepper, and carrot is also good)
1 tablespoon chopped slivered almonds
salt and pepper to taste
minced fresh herbs if you have them around (parsley and basil are both nice)
squeeze of fresh lemon juice (if you have half a lemon hanging about)
1 rounded tablespoonfull low fat mayo (I hear soy mayo is actually quite good, and I may try it in the future!)

Mix it all up and stuff it into a pita, half a hollowed-out tomato, make a tuna melt, or enjoy it "old school" -- on bread with lettuce.

This is completely random, but I have read you are supposed to limit your intake of albacore tuna (the yummy, white tuna,) and if you are pregnant you aren't supposed to eat it at all. I guess since the kind of fish that that tuna comes from is so much larger than regular tunas, it has a much higher concentration of pollutants and gunk we're not supposed to ingest if we can help it. So, although it doesn't taste nearly as good, I buy regular old "light" tuna now. But I do miss the gorgeous albacore!

Happy Monday, folks!

18 days left and I'm exhausted already!

So today I helped Ann move a bunch of stuff into her new apartment. It's friggin' hot on top of that, so I'm all worn out right now. In a few minutes, I might just plonk down on the couch with dinner and a movie (or a book!) for the rest of the evening.

ALSO, Ann and I went to Target and I picked up some new bedding (using some of the money from my property tax return that will be arriving very shortly!) Here's a link if you'd like to see what it looks like! (The colors are much more vibrant in person, and it all goes nicely with the green walls in my bedroom.) Ann helped me think ahead, too -- I got a full sized duvet cover and duvet, since I plan on purchasing a full sized bed sometime in the not so distant future, and two sets of full sized sheets that match, which I will just store until then. (I also got a set of matching twin-sized sheets, and the sheet sets were only ten bucks apiece! Awesome. And they are those cozy jersey sheets, too!) So I will just be drowning in my bed for a while until I save up for a new mattress set. (There's this really great one at IKEA I've been eyeing . . . it's a wooden base spring mattress with legs that screw into the bottom -- very minimalistic, and very cool looking! And also very CHEAP! Another added bonus.) The mattress will have to wait for quite some time, however!

So, that's about all of the excitement I've had for today. I'm ready to be done with all of this art fair nonsense -- parking is beyond worse than usual, and there are random folks wandering around aimlessly and dashing out in front of oncoming cars. GRR! Only a couple more hours.

Off to pull my new bedding out of the dryer and make my new and improved bed! Yay!

Oh -- and I forgot to mention the coolest thing about the duvet cover and shams -- they have SNAPS! No buttons or silly flap pockets to speak of. Very cool surprise when I opened the package.

I'm melting . . .

Too much sun today! The art fair was PACKED, (Tony and I discovered going early doesn't beat the crowds AT ALL, and the "scenery" is significantly less fabulous early in the morning,) and then I ran around and played soccer with the kids at Sumner's birthday party. Wee! At least there was ice cream, and it was really good to see the kids (and their parents), too!

Now I know I've brought this up before, but I'm SO thankful for my air conditioner right now!

I talked to my Dad today and he may be shipping me a (nearly full sized) keyboard and my mom's guitar. Crazy! (Well, basically because we decided it would be cheaper for him to ship them to me than for me to drive back to Milwaukee and pick them up!)

Anyhow, off to eat dinner and shower before going to the show tonight.

Isn't it awful when you have to do laundry in order to have sort of nice clothes to wear out? I'm just glad I figured out my laundry situation with enough time to do something about it, or I would be wearing a sundress to the Cabooze. HA!

18 and a half days left of vacation . . . !!!!!

nineteen days left!

So, last night I ended up watching a movie because I was so tired I couldn't think about what else I might want to do. "The Color Purple" was fantastic! I have been wanting to read the book for ages, but struggled with the fact that it was written in nonstandard English. (I have started it probably half a dozen times and put it down within the first few pages.) Well, now that I've seen the movie and thought it was great, I'll have to try again with the book.

Today, I have lots of things to do! Tony and I are going art-fairing this morning, and then I have a former student's birthday party to attend! (It's a family party so it will be more low-key than a kid birthday party, and his mom was pretty specific about no presents. I like that!) Then this evening, Ann and I are going to see Tim Mahoney and Epic Hero at the Cabooze. Hooray!

I'm still sort of in denial about how much time off I have here. I still feel like I have to go back to work in a couple of days! (Well, technically I do have to go into work on Monday because I forgot my lunch and also a class list, since I need to start calling families for initial conferences.) But, I have to head down that direction anyway on Monday, so it's not really a big deal.

vacation at last!

Indeed, it is time for vacation. Nineteen days of vacation, to be exact! I'm so excited, but so tired, that I don't know what to do with myself! Hooray for time off!

I will probably be posting furiously over the next nineteen days, because I'll probably be cooking like crazy and also (after a few days) bored out of my mind so I'll need something to do.

For those of you NOT approaching nineteen days of vacation, enjoy your weekends. I'll try not to gloat too much!

(Just in case I didn't mention it enough earlier, I have nineteen days off. Nineteen days in a row!)

NINETEEN DAYS!!!!!!!

comments?

You know, I've received two emails this week (one from Lauren, one from my mom,) saying they tried to post comments to my blog but were unsuccessful. I find this strange. If any of you have a free moment and could try to comment, that would be great! (Let me know if you can't comment via email and I'll have to contact blogger.) Thanks for your help!

P.S. I mailed out my very last year end report today (thanks to helpful folks at work for editing them for me!) and we only have one more day of summer camp. Two more work days and then . . . VACATION!!! WAHOOO!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY YEAR END REPORTS ARE DONE!

(Well, they have been done for quite some time, but this post mysteriously disappeared, so I decided to repost it. Isn't that funny???)

lucy in the pie with diamonds

Har, har, har. Sometimes I crack even myself up. :)

So, I made a lemon merengue pie this afternoon. Never done that before, and it was actually pretty easy! (It's for a coworker's birthday, which is tomorrow.) A nice challenge for today.

I also went to see Jess, one of my coworkers, at her shiatsu student clinic. I've never had a shiatsu or massage before, and it was great! I feel all wobbly and a bit loopy. Jess said that it's normal to feel a little out of it, since bodywork is pretty intensive and gets all of your muscles to squeeze out all the icky junk they have collected. (Thus, I'm slamming water to flush out the icky stuff.) We'll see how this helps the cyatic back crap I've had off and on the last couple of years. I also need to get better about staying on top of doing some yoga every now and then! And I'm also aparently supposed to lay off the caffeine. (I have cut WAY back in the last few years, but I guess I could still be a little better about it.)

Let's see, otherwise, it's been a nice, productive, busy weekend. Christine and I hung out on Friday night -- we ran errands. Wah-hoo! Then yesterday, I got a TON of stuff done around the apartment before I went babysitting. (I also got some paperwork done after the boys went to bed, but I still have 3 year end reports left to write. Bah!) This weekend passed very quickly, but my productivity was worth it. :)

Off to finish my year end reports. I mean it this time. I'll post again when I complete them, I promise!

miss smartypants

couldn't help it . . .

My IQ Is 120

My Logical Intelligence is Exceptional My Verbal Intelligence is Genius My Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional My General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

healthy cookies

Yes, I have developed a cookie recipe that I dare call "healthy." Now, I will preface the recipe with a few disclaimers: they are not that sweet, are a very dark, unusual color, and have more of a brownie-like texture, as opposed to a more dense cookie-like texture. However, if you like molasses spice cookies, are cutting back on sugar, and are trying to eat more whole grains, you might just want to try these! Here goes:

Stir together:
1 cup canola or other light vegetable oil
1 cup molasses (use at least half a cup of blackstrap molasses for added nutritional benefits and lower sugar content)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together, then stir into above:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves

Stir in:
2 cups oats

Let the batter rest for a few minutes so the oats and whole wheat flour can absorb the liquid. Scoop out onto cookie sheets and bake for 7 to 10 minutes at 375.

I may experiment in the future with adding other nutritional powerhouses such as wheat germ, nuts, and ground flaxseed, but for now, enjoy them as they are!

Janelle rocked my world!

Why, you ask? Well, because over a year ago, she sold me her window air conditioner and came over to help me install it! Now, given the current weather situation, I don't think I'd be surviving otherwise. It's bad enough being outside in 90 degree heat with children for days on end, but to have to come home to it too, I don't know how some people do it!

One of the children said today, "why do we have to go outside? It's so HOT." I felt for her. I encouraged her to wear a hat and sunglasses, which she was not interested in doing, so she just hung out in the shade instead. The kiddies have really been troopers, however. We've discovered some tricks to keeping them cool(er) -- sprinklers, bare feet and a running hose in the sandbox, shade, lots and lots and lots of water, hats and sunglasses, letting them run around in their underwear or swimsuits, and hosing them down seem to all help somewhat. We still don't make it much longer than an hour each day. I miss the beautiful 70s we had earlier this week -- we had some wonderful, glorious hikes to the prairie with butterfly nets. Sigh. I hope the heat will break soon.

I do have to say that, despite wearing a hat and sunglasses and SPF 45 constantly, I have a nice tan. One of the perks of being a preschool teacher, I guess.

Man, my feet are really dirty. Probably because I ran around barefoot most of the day. (Both outdoors and in the classroom.) It's just so stinking HOT.

Could I complain about the heat a little longer? I could, but I won't. I'm going to go eat supper instead.

I'm at work!

Yes, indeed, I am at work. I'm feeling antisocial today, so I'm eating lunch in my classroom in the quiet. (Well, near quiet -- I'm listening to the air condidioning vent squeak slightly, but that's about it.) I may have to start doing this more often -- it's very restful.

I haven't blogged in a while, and I'm not sure why! (Well, it probably has to do with the fact that I haven't been cooking much/at all because of the heat and because I've been sick, so I haven't had any recipes to post, and I haven't been doing much because I've been sick!)

I can add these comments, though!

I read the entire Harry Potter book on Saturday. It was fantastic. Full of surprises and action, and Chelsea's read the whole thing to, thank goodness, so I had someone to talk about it with last night! Hooray for Chelsea!

I saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on Sunday and it was FABULOUS! People actually applauded after the movie finished. Very cool.

I'm learning the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain." (We changed some of the lyrics so it is child-friendly.) Dan is awesome.

I need a vacation. I'm getting very tired.

Well, that's it for today, I guess!

curried brown rice and lentils

I don't know whether you can legitimately make a curry in the crock pot, but I'm testing it out.

Ingredients (for 1 1/2 quart crock pot -- double to use a larger size)

1/2 cup dry lentils
1/2 cup uncooked brown basmati rice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
1 small apple, chopped
1 handfull raisins
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup water
curry powder to taste
garam masala to taste
ground ginger to taste (or alternately, use some minced fresh ginger)
chili flakes to taste
salt to taste
extra virgin olive oil (a few tablespoons)
Cook on low or high until the rice and lentils are tender and the liquid is nearly absorbed.

shame on me . . .

Yes, I have been blog-neglectful. I fully admit this. Why, you ask? Well, I have been so STINKING BUSY! Sometimes I love being busy, but most of the time I just get worn out and forget to do things like blog and wash dishes. Gah.

So, let's see what I've been doing . . . well, summer camp started and that sucked the life-force out of me the first week. Then, 4th of July weekend was crazy fun. Thursday night, Ann and I discovered a wonderful restaurant in my neighborhood -- Salsa a la Salsa. It's on about 14th and Nicollet, tasty, and relatively inexpensive! Fantastic veggie tacos. Mmmm. Then, Friday night Ann and I hung out again -- we went to the grocery store (wah-hoo?) and then hung out at her house and watched cooking shows she had TiVoed for me. Saturday, we went to taste of MN and saw Epic Hero and the Honeydogs perform, (we also had dinner at Cosetta's -- yum!) then went and hung out with Michelle, watched Fox news, and made fun of all the drama the newscasters tried to create. Sunday was supposed to be a quiet, calm day, but Ann called me at about 6:30 and strongly encouraged me to come over to Nye's and watch Epic Hero perform (again. Yes. Twice in one weekend! Feast or famine with that band.) So, I went. They were great, but the best part of the evening came later. After 10:00 the music moved into the basement at Nye's (city noise ordinances and all,) so we got to see Tim Mahoney do a mini-set in what felt like someone's parents' basement -- you know, bad carpet, low ceilings, crappy lighting, bar in the corner. People were just standing and sitting around with their beers, Tim did a lot of requests/covers, and played one of my all-time favorite U2 songs: "MLK." It was a little surreal, but what a night! Monday, I read all afternoon, then we aimed for Nicollet Island to see Shakespeare in the Park, then stick around for the fireworks. But . . . no Shakespeare in the Park! Very odd. So I camped out with Ann's and my chairs while she went home to get a book (I had brought a book with me.) Two hours later, she and Michelle arrived. (I was more than a little worried at that point!) Anyhow, the fireworks were a little lackluster, I thought. THEN, after working all day Tuesday, Ann, Michelle, and two of Michelle's friends went to Psycho Suzi's for her birthday. We ordered tater tots as an appetizer. :) (We also had pizza. Very, very tasty pizza. And they make a fine cuppa joe, too.) Last night, I watched a movie and went to bed at 9:00. And I will be going to bed similarly early tonight as well. ;-) I need to regain my strength -- I have four more year-end reports to write, and I WANT to finish them soon! Hopefully this weekend -- other than a party at Michelle's friend's house, I don't have much to do.

I recently finished "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. The story was fantastic and very exciting, but his writing style bugs me. I still haven't read "The DaVinci Code." I think I'm going to read the latest Sue Monk Kidd first.

I will now share two awesome recipes I've made up as of late.

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly brush a number of your favorite brand of corn tortillas with olive oil, or alternately, spray with cooking spray. Cut into wedges. Arrange wedges on cookie sheet(s) and sprinkle with kosher salt. (Alternately, you could sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar for dessert wedges. Would be mighty tasty with vanilla ice cream, methinks.)
3. Bake chips for about 5 minutes or until they are light golden brown. Cool chips slightly (they will crisp up more as they cool,) and then dig into a big jar of Muir Glen salsa. Mmmmm......

Marinated Veg Salad
1. Smash up a few cloves of garlic. Simmer in about a quarter cup of extra-virgin olive oil for a few minutes. Cool. Remove garlic and mince.
2. Roast and peel a red pepper. Roughly chop half an onion and roast this, too.
3. Combine the garlic with salt and pepper to taste, a handfull of basil leaves, minced, the juice of half a large lemon, and couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil you simmered the garlic in.
4. Toss the dressing with the roasted red pepper and onion, a cucumber, seeded and sliced, a green pepper, chopped, a can of chopped tomatoes, drained, and a can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained.
5. Allow the salad to sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
(You could obviously make this with whatever veggies you have on hand, but this combo was particularly tasty!)

I hope that the second one will help artichokes become your new best friend. Because they certainly are mine.

easier than anything vegan black beans

Although this recipe requires some "special" kitchen ware, it's so stinking easy . . . and cheap, too!

Ingredients:
1 cup dry black beans
1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
salt, chili powder, and cumin to taste

Directions:
1. Rinse the black beans, searching for any shrivelley looking ones or ones that might be something other than a bean. (Throw the icky ones away, obviously. Or better yet . . . compost them!) Place the (good) beans in a small bowl, cover with water, and let soak in the fridge overnight.
2. Drain the beans and rinse again. Place the beans, onion, green pepper, and garlic in a small (1 1/2 quart) crock pot. Pour in enough water until it is 1 inch from the top of the pot. Cover. Plug in the crock pot and go to work.
3. Uncover the beans. Skim foam from the surface. Add salt, chili powder, and cumin to taste. (Now, in all of my reading of beans and legumes when I went pseudo-vegetarian, you are NOT supposed to salt beans before they cook. It causes the skins to break down, and you get a mushy mess instead of little pods of fluffy goodness.) Serve in tortillas, as a dip for chips, with brown rice, or smash them up and use as refried beans. You could also stir in a can of corn and a can of diced tomatoes for a quick black bean chili.

Oh, and you don't have to use black beans. You could use pinto instead, or vary your seasonings to a more Italian palate and use great northern or some other kind of white bean. (Ah . . . onion, garlic, and bell pepper to start, and finish with salt, lemon, and fresh slivered basil! Tasty . . . !!) Those would be fantabulous tossed with sauteed veggies, whole wheat pasta, and some extra virgin olive oil.

Oh, the possibilities.

Enjoy, mes amis!

busy, busy, busy

Oh, this is hilarious! I just wrote a nice, fat blog in here, including links, and it mysteriously disappeared. Huh.

ANYHOW, to start over, I've been busy, which is why I haven't posted in a while. Finishing up the end of the school year, preparing for summer school, and a visit with Marie took up my time over the last week. Also, yesterday, I went to Waseca to visit Chelsea and Olivia. We had such a fun day! We just hung out and went for a walk and played Scrabble.

Here's the link to my homepage, where you can see photos of the classroom rearrangement. And I'll post other stuff there from time to time as well.

Willow Room Re-Do Part 1 and SHOUT OUT!

Whew . . . . . . . today was a long, busy day! Natalie and Don have left the Willow Room for the Oak Room for the summer, and the Willow Room is in a shambles. Jen (my new assistant) and I busted our butts to begin making sense of the madness today, and it's already starting to look pretty good. I will try and post some pictures of the finished product when I get a chance. (I'll post to my .mac website, since I don't think blogger's too keen on pictures and such.) However, we were so busy working, I sort of forgot to eat enough and drink enough water today. Gave myself a nice migraine! I came home and laid down for half an hour, and now I feel so much better -- no more splitting headache and nausea. I will NOT do that to myself tomorrow!

I forget how important snacks are sometimes.

I tried out a new mosquito repellant today, which worked wonderfully. I got it at REI (using another gift card! wah-hoo!) and it's DEET free. It's a combination of eucalyptus and lemon. The skeeters still landed on my clothes while I was digging up worms for our worm habitat today, but they didn't come near my skin and didn't even try to bite me! Thought you'd all like the info -- especially 'cause I guess DEET really isn't that good for you. Oh -- and the big tube o' bug cream was about 7 dollars, which I think is pretty reasonable.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

Chelsea did this awhile ago on her blog, and I think it's a good idea. I'm going to "shout out" to all of you who have commented on my blog and let you know how cool I think you are! Here goes:

Laure: I think it's so great that although you and I are so far away, we still keep in touch! In a couple of years when I'm back on my feet financially, I'm going fly over the big blue ocean and come visit you. (Well, unless you've moved back to the States by then. Then we'll just have to go together -- you can be my tour guide!) I miss you!

Chelsea: Super-mama extraordinaire! AND, one of my only friends who never disappeared into the land of the married. Not even once. I love all of your comments, I love your blog, and I love you! You're the best!

Marie: My oldest and dearest friend! She who has put up with multi-hour phone conversations mostly where I blab my head off continuously -- you ROCK! (And you're coming to visit in less than a week! Wah-hoo!)

Lauren: My left armpit sister who wholeheartedly agrees with the following comment:DIE BUCKTHORN SCUM! We need to go hiking.

Ann: I used to tease you that you knew everything, and now I stand corrected. You know LOTS, but you know how to find out everything!

Melissa: Chelsea's friend who rescued me from a comment drought. Thanks! Sounds like you are WAY pregnant now -- how's everything going?

Marietta: I MISS YOU!!!!!! (But I have a wonderful letter you wrote me and "write to Marietta" is on my list of things to do!) You are always crazy-busy, (maybe just crazy? tee-hee,) but we still manage to keep in touch. You're the best!

Okay . . . that's it, folks!

BOOKS!

Well, the end of the school year came and went, and I received a LOT of gift cards for Barnes and Noble from families. Thanks to those and my teacher discount, I purchased NINETEEN new books for school. (I technically own them, but I will keep them at school and use them in the classroom.) Here's a list of what I bought:

Diary of a Worm (Doreen Cronin)
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Doreen Cronin)
Bill and Pete (Tomie dePaola)
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (Verna Aardema)
Tough Boris (Mem Fox)
Hattie and the Fox (Mem Fox)
A Letter to Amy (Ezra Jack Keats)
The Doorbell Rang (Pat Hutchins)
Everybody Needs A Rock (Byrd Baylor)
Peppe the Lamplighter (Elisa Bartone)
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses (Jan Brett)
The Great Kapok Tree (Lynne Cherry)
Frederick (Leo Lionni)
Tikki Tikki Tembo (Arlene Mosel)
Thunder Cake (Patricia Polacco)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Jon Sciesza)
Abiyoyo (Pete Seeger)
Sheep Take A Hike (Nancy Shaw)
Shrek! (William Steig)

It was so nice to bulk up my collection of children's books!

year end report update

14 done, 10 to go. I'm not going to get them all done by the end of this week, but it's going to be very close! I think I may only need to end up mailing out 4 or 5. We'll see.

I'm actually on a roll right now, but my butt's so sore from sitting on a hard chair for so long, I think I have to quit for the night. Gah!

2 more days of school!!! I can't believe it!

Since my life has been nothing but work lately, I have little to say that is actually interesting. Well, here's one thing: four or so of the girls in our morning class have been interested in stripping down to their undies the last few days, dumping a bunch of paint on the floor, and "ice skating." Their bodies end up covered in paint, and we have to hose them off outside before they can put their clothes back on. Very silly, and very fun. But a very big mess to clean up as well! Our floor has sort of a greenish haze to it right now from all the paint. Alas.

2 more days of school.

procrastination is my worst enemy

Ah . . . last week of school, and I'm not even half done with my year end reports. Ho-hum. I hate being a procrastinator! The hilarious part of all of this is, I will probably finish them in time. Silly Catherine.

I had an insanely busy weekend, including 2 babysitting jobs, so I actually have a little money for a change! Woo-hoo! I also had to go into work yesterday for the preschool's "fifth birthday party." It was a long afternoon/evening.

I just watched the movie "Monsoon Wedding," which Marie recommended to me. It was excellent! I had a hard time following at first, because the dialogue would flip back and forth between Hindu and Hindu-accented English. I missed half the subtitles at first, but then I caught on and followed much better. It was amazing, and Mira Nair is a great, great director. (She directed "Vanity Fair," too. And a bunch of other stuff.)

So, I am going to be writing like a chicken with my head cut off this week. Wish me luck.

Welcome to my thoughts . . .

I am amazed at how good of a tan I already have, given I wear SPF 45 to work every single day. Sunglasses and a hat, too, and I reapply at lunch.

I got my first mosquito bite of the season today. Phooey.

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world to do is drive on the interstate with the radio blasting and all the windows rolled down.

I had a great birthday! We went out for lunch and to see "Star Wars." I got some cool and/or funny gifts from friends, too.

I think Oliver thinks my sunscreen tastes good. He's licking my arm. He never does that.

I like baked tofu.

We almost set fire to the oven at work tonight. There was lots of smoke, but we didn't set off the smoke detector, fortunately.

I like coffee. And Diet Coke.

It's going to be a busy week and weekend, so if I don't post for a week, don't despair. :0

I have had more pizza, macaroni and cheese, and ice cream in the last four days than I ever want to eat again in my life.

I lost 2 more pounds this week. Strange.

I worked a 12 hour day today, and I'm exhausted. Later, folks.

Chai love to cook

Ha, bloody ha. But I do love to cook! I started reading "The Joy of Cooking" tonight, like one would read a novel. It will probably take me the rest of the year to get through, but it will be an interesting read. (I'm also simultaneously reading The Chronicles of Narnia. I'm usually in the middle of at least two, if not three books.)

I made myself a cup of chai tonight. I had a former colleague who I knew during grad school who lived in Pakistan for a while, so she taught me how to make chai the "right" way, according to her. This makes 2 servings, give or take:

Place 1 cup milk and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Add half a cinnamon stick, a 1-inch piece vanilla bean, two green cardamom pods (cracked between your eyeteeth,) two whole cloves, a few grates nutmeg, and 1 rounded tablespoon full of sugar. (The sugar is optional and to your liking -- you can add more or less if desired.) (You can also add a slice of peeled fresh ginger, but I didn't have any on hand.) Bring milk, water, and spices to a simmer. Add 2 black teabags and continue simmering 10 to 20 minutes. Drain, discarding solids, and serve.

Now, I love the stuff that comes in the box from the natural foods section of Rainbow, but there's just no comparison to the homemade kind. Mmmm . . . !

foiled again!

Ann and I attempted to go see "The Upside of Anger" at the cheap theatre in Hopkins last night . . . we were a little pokey and arrived about 5 minutes before the movie was to start. The line for tickets was out the door, down the block, and around the corner! Gah. We decided to go to Southdale instead and do a little window shopping. I tried on a few shirts at the Gap and New York and Company . . . I didn't buy anything because I don't have any money right now, but . . . I can't wait to have a little spare cash! I found a few really cute things that might work with a pair of dress pants for the upcoming wedding(s) I have to attend in the next year or so. Plus they would double as nice "going out" shirts.

After shopping, we went to Sebastian Joe's. I had two mighty fine scoops of ice cream -- White Chocolate, and Before Dinner Mint. (The ice cream base in the Before Dinner Mint actually tasted like butter mints! Mmmmm..........) I discovered the universal problem at Sebastian Joe's, however -- one scoop isn't enough, two is too much. Alas. Well, then I came home and did an hour's worth of yoga. Man, that particular yoga DVD kicks my butt . . . my arms, shoulders, and stomach muscles are a wee bit sore today!

I will be returning to Sebastian Joe's today to have a snack/coffee with Beth for my birthday! I may just get coffee this time.

Hm. I'm kind of hungry. (Well, probably because I haven't had breakfast yet.) I should do something about that!

I'm working on creating a digital photo album using my .mac account. I'll let you know what the url is when I get it all uploaded!

Oh -- if any of you are members of Netflix, let me know -- I'm looking for more "friends" to add to my list so we can recommend movies to each other.

This was a very random post. My apologies.

new and improved

It only took me all afternoon to upload this photo of myself and make a few simple changes to my blog. I hope you all enjoy the new and improved "ramblings and recipes."

Why I haven't posted in a while

Monday:
Work
Short team meeting with Natalie and Don
Home to make dinner, do yoga, and watch a movie

Tuesday:
Work
Home to make dinner
Walk Lake of the Isles with Christine

Wednesday:
Work
BAD TRAFFIC
Home to shower, get dressed, and pack a large snack
Off to First Ave to see this rock fashion show with Ann, Ann's friend Michelle, and Michelle's friend
Get home at 12:30 a.m. . . . . .

Thursday:
Work (no Natalie in the afternoon -- we had a parent sub)
Home to make dinner and pass out on the couch

Friday:
Work (no Natalie all day -- two subs)
Out for dinner with coworkers after work
Home to pass out on the couch

And now it's Saturday. I'm looking forward to a weekend of writing year-end reports again. Bleah. At least my birthday's on Monday -- that will be fun!

I think I've had too much coffee -- I'm having a hard time typing with much control -- my fingers are shaky and all over the keyboard! Gosh. Well, I'll leave it at that for now, then!

A good question

I just watched "The Chorus" -- a very excellent French movie. Why are foreign films so much better than ours?

wibble-wobble

I just finished an hour yoga practice -- "Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss," to be precise.

I feel all wobbly like wet spaghetti now. Having trouble typing accurately.

And I had the best dinner, too -- an enormous salad. Mixed baby greens with a little of each of the following: cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, baby carrots, yellow squash, sprouts, cucumber, and green pepper. Top it all off with some walnuts, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and that's one tasty dinner. (I had a muffin, too.) I love spring and summer food. So simple, tasty, and healthy!

I don't know why I love blogthings so much!

I am 31 Years Old

31 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Ineresting that I look much younger than I actually am, but according to this internet quiz (which we all know to be gospel, right? ha,) I am actually older than I am. So confused . . . !

argh!

I am so sick of writing year end reports I could just about spit. I'm making very little progress for a variety of reasons:

1. I don't sit still very well
2. The weather has actually improved somewhat and I want to be outside!
3. The reports are sort of boring to write -- easy, but boring.
4. I have lots and lots and lots of other things to do at home, and I've found coffee shops unpleasant for working these past few days.
5. I haven't been feeling the greatest.
6. I am nearly finished reading a really good book.
7. Great movies keep arriving from Netflix.

I do have to say, even though I've been plugging along writing, these past few days have been nice -- almost a mini-vacation. Possibly just the thing I needed to recharge myself before the craziness of the last three weeks of school!

I am pretty far behind in the writing, however. This week and coming weekend (happy birthday to me,) are going to be stinking busy. Especially since Christine and I will more than likely walk tomorrow and Tuesday night, Ann and I have tickets for a concert Wednesday night, we have a team meeting Thursday night, and I have a potential babysitting job Friday night.

I can't believe it's nearly June! Wow.

I discovered a fun website the other day: vegkitchen.com. It has lots of cool recipes and other information about vegetarianism. I'm starting to realize that this flexitarian move on my part is a good thing -- I never realized how much less of an environmental impact eating (mostly) plants makes. It's pretty interesting!

Well, I've started rambling, so I'm off. Wish me luck in finishing these reports, and offer words of encouragement if you have them!

sometimes I even impress myself

Pizza with Pear, Brie, and Walnuts

Combine and let stand about 5 minutes:
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast (half of one packet) -- NOT the quick-rising kind
1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 tbsp warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
1/2 tablespoon Sugar in the Raw
Combine:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
Stir the yeast mixture into the flour until a soft dough forms. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 minutes. Coat a bowl with cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl, and turn the dough to lightly coat it with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot (gas oven which is turned off is excellent) and let rise until double, about 40 minutes. Then, punch dough down and lightly knead for 5 minutes. Press dough out to 12 inch round or 9X13 inch rectangle, depending on what kind of pan you are using. Grease and lightly flour your pan before plopping your dough in. Top with:
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (smear it round as best as you can)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 oz brie, (or more, if you really love brie . . . which I do, but I only had 2 oz on hand) rind removed and pinched into tiny pieces
1 medium pear, cored and sliced thinly
half a small sweet onion, thinly sliced
Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Top with:
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Bake an additional 5 or so minutes or until walnuts are toasted, cheese is brown, and crust is crisp. Let pizza rest a few minutes before slicing.

Serve with a salad of mixed greens dressed with balsamic vinegar, EV olive oil, salt, and pepper, and you have the makings of heaven on a plate.

I may add thin slices of garlic to this bad boy the next time I make it . . . .

no surprises here . . .

My Political Profile

Overall: 10% Conservative, 90% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Can you tell I'm procrastinating?? I'm just completely unmotivated . . . should be writing year end reports . . . well, at least I wrote a newsletter earlier today!

dinner and a movie

Ann came over for supper before we went for a walk downtown. (Lots of people looked at me strangely -- it could have been the CamelBak, or it could have been the Wonder Woman t-shirt!) Regardless, this is what we had:

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Peel and chunk a large sweet potato. Boil until fork-tender (the sweet potato slides off the fork easily when you spear it.) Drain. Add about two teaspoons of sugar in the raw, a tablespoon or less of butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whip with an electric mixer. Add enough half and half (a tablespoon or so) just until it thins out and gets all creamy and tasty.

Brown Rice and Lentils (4 servings)

Saute a small onion, diced, a clove of garlic, minced, and a medium green pepper, diced, in some extra virgin olive oil. Add 1/2 cup small dried lentils, rinsed and drained, and 1/2 cup brown Basmati rice. Add about 2 cups liquid (vegetable or chicken broth would be best!) and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in 1 can diced tomatoes (or less -- I used part of my can for lunch already today!), drained, and salt and pepper to taste.

Jon-O-Meter rating (for both): 0! (Will Jon eat lentils??)

I watched "Spanglish" tonight. I had forgotten how much I love that movie! I may end up having to buy myself a copy.

PASTA

I'm home working on year-end reports today, and made fantastic pasta for lunch. (It goes along with the whole "Mediterranean Diet" thing. Vegetarian, full of fiber, and loaded with veg.) Just wanted to share:

Pasta with Edamame, Spinach, and Tomatoes (1 serving)
1. Bring a small pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup of your favorite shape whole-wheat pasta. Return to a boil, and cook.
2. When 5 or so minutes remain on the pasta, stir in 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame and 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach to the pasta. Return to a boil, and finish cooking.
3. Test the pasta to be sure it's done. Drain. Return pasta and veg to pan. Stir in 1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes (no liquid) and extra virgin olive oil. Garnish with a little freshly shredded parmesan cheese.

happy times with galactic pizza

Have I ever told you how much I love Galactic Pizza? I think I have. Well, I love them now just as much as ever. Went over to Christine's for the Gilmore Girls season finale, and we ordered from Galactic. A man in spandex and a cape delivered our pizza, and it was piping hot (Christine actually burned her mouth!), not greasy, and absolutely delicious. (Spinach and tomato on their bianca sauce.) The two of us nearly finished a medium pizza . . . and split a piece of cheesecake as well! (I am now officially not a fan of Muddy Paws cheesecake, however -- too fluffy.)

Off to read Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Walter Willett. So far, it's great!

I finished Wicked by Gregory Maguire not too long ago as well. Any one else read it? I'd love to discuss it with someone!

stream of consciousness

I haven't received a single comment on my blog here in a very long time! I so sad.

Someone upstairs must be assembling furniture or something -- there is a lot of pounding going on. It's sort of funny! Oliver keeps looking up at the ceiling and meowing because of the unusual noises.

I tested out my CamelBak today -- I LOVE IT! First time in a while I haven't had a headache at lunch from dehydration. I'm considering purchasing a second one to be my purse. I will test it out over June break to see if I will actually use it, though!

I also tested out my new rain boots and my new shoes today as well -- love them both, although the rain boots got a little pinchy after about an hour hiking. (The rubber just needs to be stretched out a bit, methinks.)

My apartment still smells like curry, 24 hours later!

We interviewed a very promising candidate for a lead teacher (for the fall) after school today!

Oliver keeps trying to sit ON the keyboard.

I had McDonalds for supper and I feel a little icky. Hm. I may head out for a quick walk now!

It's only a 3-day work week for me this week (I have Thursday and Friday off to work on year-end reports) and I'm looking forward to it!

It's really difficult finding a way to draw stream of consciousness to a close, since it doesn't really close ever. Well, except when you're sleeping. But then you are still dreaming, so . . . .

my nose is running . . .

. . . from the curry I just made for dinner! (Have I told you how much I love curry? So versatile -- take whatever you have on hand, throw it in a pan with some garlic, ginger, and seasonings, plop it over rice, and, TA-DA!) Here's another version:

1. Start some basmati rice. (It should be finished cooking near when your curry is.)

2. Heat a pan with a little olive oil. Add a large handfull of baby carrots, slicing any really thick ones in half. Then, chop and drop in approximately this order, stirring after each addition:

1 medium or most of 1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
loads of curry powder
several shakes of ginger
several shakes of Garam Masala
a few shakes of cayenne pepper
a good amount of salt
a big handfull of raisins (you don't need to chop these, obviously)
1 apple
most of 1 small or medium zucchini
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Then, add enough vegetable broth to come about a half an inch up the side of the pan. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to loosen the stuck-on seasonings, garlic, etc. Continue boiling until the broth is reduced about by a third. Serve over rice.

Jon-O-Meter Rating (omiting cayenne): 1

Don't make the same mistakes I did: I did not add nearly enough curry powder OR salt. What looks like a lot may not be a lot at the end once you finish adding everything. Taste the curry before you serve it and adjust seasonings accordingly. :)

Enjoy!

NEW GEAR!

I had an oil change this afternoon, then wandered over to Midwest Mountaineering to look for rain boots, since the ones I bought this fall are all leaky and cracking. I bought two pairs of SmartWool socks (buy one get one half off!) and a pair of Merrells . . . and I have to say, for seventy dollars, they are, singlehandedly, (or dual-footedly) the most comfortable pair of shoes I've ever owned! And they are designed for hiking -- nice treads, water resistant, etc. I've died and gone to shoe heaven!

Since I babysat last night, (and I need a new pair of sneakers/work shoes anyway -- my Newbies are shot!), I didn't feel terribly bad about the purchase.

Then I went to R.E.I. They did have rain boots (a steal at $16!) and I also bought a CamelBak -- a backpack with a built in water system (there's this wobbly blue water "reservoir" stored in the pack, and a nice blue straw that snakes its way out and clips to the pack strap.) It's technically a children's model, but because my shoulders are so narrow and I have such a short torso, it's the perfect size for me! There are also a few zipper pockets (kind of like a mini-backpack) in which I can keep my first-aid supplies for work, a small notebook, pen, spare hat/mittens, etc.

I'm so excited to go to work tomorrow and try out all of my new gear!

My cat totally just tried to jump up on my desk, but didn't make it. The scrabbling claws on his way down were pretty funny!

a wise man sayeth

Anna sent me a postcard from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Museum in Atlanta, GA. It contained this quote of his:

"Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion. The tendency of most is to adopt a view that is so ambiguous that it will include everything and so popular that it will include everybody."

what the hell is a quarterlife crisis anyway?

Well. I am in a funk. Have been for a few weeks, actually. (Noticed the drop in postings?) As you may or may not know, I have been in the throes of a quarterlife crisis now for a little over a year. And it's not fun. Sometimes I do okay, other times I feel it more, and right now is one of those times when I'm feeling it. Thought I'd research the phenomenon a little further to make sense of it myself, and in turn pass that sense along to you.

According to quarterlifecrisis.com, those of us in our early to mid twenties who are (mostly single) and struggling to make sense of:

education
finances
health and fitness
living (day-to-day stuff, apartments, etc.)
work
dating
travel
interests, hobbies, and entertainment

could possibly be having a quarterlife crisis. Here's where I'm at:

EDUCATION: As I look up to my left a little, I see a copy of my Minnesota teaching license, and my two diplomas: for my B.A. and my M.Ed., both from the University of Minnesota. I'm feeling properly educated, and no qualms about this area of my life. No desire to go back to school any time soon.

FINANCES: A big old mess. I'm in debt up to my eyebrows and I am a teacher. I have pared my living expenses down to the minimum, and am now considering moving into a studio apartment (opposed to my one-bedroom I'm living in now) to save money. My car is falling apart and I have a long commute to work each day. I feel like I'm doing everything right, yet getting nowhere really stinking fast.

HEALTH AND FITNESS: Well, I've learned a lot about healthy eating over the past year or so, and have a very active job. I've lost some weight, gained some muscle, and am feeling pretty good. Personally, I think I'm in the best shape of my life. So this area is fabulous!

LIVING: I have been living on my own for over a year now and love it. I don't think I'll ever be able to have a roommate ever again. The only downside to solo living is I am the only person available to do the chores, and I have to do ALL of them: clean the bathroom, sweep the floors, wash the dishes, take out the trash, do laundry, scoop out the litterbox, do the grocery shopping, put gas in the car, feed the cat, cook dinner, buy toilet paper, pay the bills, etc. Sometimes I wish I had someone around to help me out with some of this day-to-day stuff. It's hard, being on your own and having to do EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. At least when you have roommates, someone else takes out the trash once in a while. Well, if you have at least okay roommates, I guess. But I had mostly awful roommates, so I'm not about to take on one of those any time soon! I am also working at living "green" -- which is a new, interesting challenge.

WORK: I do, ultimately, love my job. I wouldn't work anywhere else right now.

DATING: What's that? (Obviously an area of concern)

TRAVEL: Again, what's that? (See: finances.) (Although not much of a concern, since I don't actually enjoy travelling much. But it's pretty sad I'm nearly 26 years old and have never beeen out of the country. Not even to Canada.)

INTERESTS, HOBBIES, AND ENTERTAINMENT: I do manage to keep quite busy, both on my own and with friends. I love living in the city, and I love living in my apartment. I cook, bake, read, walk, get coffee, go out to eat, go to the movies, go to the theatre, sing in my church choir, shop, write, do yoga, and see great bands (well, and some not-so-great bands) play around the Cities. It's actually been nice rediscovering all of the things I enjoyed doing before college and graduate school took over my life! I do need to volunteer more, though. AND, this area is highly dependent on finances, so I end up doing a lot of things that are cheap or free. That sometimes gets really stinking old, although it does force me to keep being creative.

Hm. It felt kind of good to make sense of all of those things. And I guess you get to read them, too. Hope this helps explain what the QLC is for those of you who don't know, and helps those of you who do know feel a little less alone in your misery!

I'm not planning a move any time soon, but . . .

>

American Cities That Best Fit Me:

70% Chicago

65% New York City

65% Philadelphia

65% San Francisco

65% Washington, DC

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

blueberry cream muffins

I adapted this recipe to make it a little healthier . . . the portion size is still a little large, in my opinion, so I am reducing the amount of batter used (so the muffin cups don't overflow, too!) so if you choose to make these muffins, you may have a few extra tablespoons of batter at the end.

Whisk together until smooth:
4 oz light cream cheese (generally marketed as "Neufatchel" -- but I'm not sure I spelled that correctly)
1 egg white
pinch salt
2 1/2 tbsp sugar (you can use white sugar, sugar in the raw, or half as much honey)

Whisk together:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar (again, see above note on the sugar -- if you use honey, I'd add it to the wet ingredients instead)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together:
2 egg whites
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola or Enova oil

Additional ingredient: 1 cup blueberries (fresh, well washed and drained, or frozen -- either will work just fine. If you use frozen, just don't thaw them before you use them, or they will break down and turn your batter a slight purpley shade.)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray 12 muffin cups with PAM.
2. Toss blueberries with 1 tbsp flour mixture. Reserve
3. Make well in remaining flour mixture, and pour in milk mixture. Gently fold just until combined. Fold in blueberries.
4. Fill muffin cups with 1 1/2 tbsp blueberry mixture. Layer with 1 tbsp cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining 1 tbsp blueberry mixture.
5. Bake at least 18 minutes at 375. (Mine took 22 minutes. But just start checking them at 18.)
6. Cool in pan a few minutes before removing to a wire rack.

flexi, flexi, elasti, hummus

I have 3 silly comments, all about being flexible:

1. I have decided to try out flexitarianism for a while. (Basically, flexitarians are people who generally eat a vegetarian diet, but who occasionally eat meat.) Basically, I'm not buying meat for home any more, but will still eat it if I go out to eat or am at a dinner party or something like that. Why, you ask? Well, a few reasons: meat is expensive, I've never really liked meat much, vegetarianism is healthy, vegetarianism is a new cooking challenge for me, and I'm starting to realize that if I eat meat I want to eat stuff that is raised cage free/free range/antibiotics free/hormone free, and that meat is especially expensive. I have no major moral issues with consuming meat (although having a pet chicken at school has made eating chicken less appealing lately,) since we are at the top of the food chain for a reason, in my opinion.

2. I need to do more yoga, (for both strength training and increased flexibility,) and I need your help! Pester me -- I plan to do yoga on Mondays, Thursdays, and once over the weekend. Check up on me and make sure I'm doing it, and yell at me if I don't!

3. Natalie and Don have started calling me elasti-girl lately, because there have been several occasions lately where we all wished my arms could stretch indefinitely. (I like to say "go, go, gadget arms!" but, of course, the kids don't understand that. Elasti-Girl is familiar to them.) It's pretty funny.

The only thing I "cooked" this weekend was hummus. Here's my recipe (very easy!):

1 can garbanzo beans, partially drained (the more liquid you use, the runnier your hummus will be, but the less oil you will need)
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 small lemon
rounded teaspoon full of tahini, almond butter, OR peanut butter
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil
fresh herbs if desired
cayenne pepper if desired

* Combine the garbanzo beans, garlic, lemon juice, nut butter, salt, and pepper in your blender. (You can also use a food processor if you have one, which I don't!) Turn it on, pull the little round thingy out of the middle of the lid, and stream in enough olive oil until it comes together. (Have a folded towel handy to cover the little hole in case the hummus starts spurting everywhere, but it shouldn't.) Blend thoroughly. Add the herbs and cayenne if desired, blend a bit longer, and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Jon-O-Meter Rating (omitting pepper and cayenne): 0

Serve with crudites, pita, crackers, use instead of mayo on turkey sandwiches (especially good: whole grain bread, hummus, turkey, provolone, avocado, tomato, and lettuce!), tortilla chips, etc. . . . . . . hummus is very versatile! Enjoy.

more owwies

I hiked so much today I actually have a blister! My ankles and feet just ache. But it was a mighty beautiful day to be outside.

I am looking at a weekend of zero plans -- and I'm excited! I have 5 year-end reports to write, a sinkfull of dishes to do, a newsletter to write, and some other little stuff to get done.

I left work a little early and stopped at the grocery store on my way home. Boy, did it feel good to get that out of the way! I was home, unpacked, and fed by 6:15.

Happy Weekend!

a new blogthing and an apology

Since all y'all liked the last blogthing, I thought I'd add another!

My #1 Match: INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

What's Your Personality Type?

Well, I'm already a teacher, so I guess I'll explore photography next, since I'm not certain what a guru does for a living!

Raondom segue: I apologize for the lack of recipes lately -- I just haven't been cooking much. Too tired, busy, and cranky!

It's nearly Friday, folks. Enjoy the latter half of your week!

chick-a-doodle-doo!

We now have fourteen baby chicks in our water table, one more drying his down in the incubator, and one who was just pushing his way out of his shell after school today!

They are all so darn cute and my favorite one is tan with black stripes -- Mark, our custodian, has named her "Gopher."

Hooray for chickens!

pigeons are nesting under my air conditioner

GRRRRRR! I have no idea how to get rid of them, and I am tired of listening to cooing all day and night long! Damn birds.

Anyone have any bright ideas?

I don't have access to a hose (or a shotgun, for that matter!) I'm stumped.

The daddy pigeon seems to get frightened and fly away when I turn on the AC, but then the mommy sits there and coos like crazy to try to lure him back. I don't know whether this idea would work in the long term, but it seems cruel -- I don't want to starve the mommy pigeon to death. Just cause I don't like them doesn't mean they need to suffer. Quick and painless is what I'm after . . . help!!

I'm at Ann's house

I stopped by Ann's house after work tonight to say hi -- she's in the process of moving, and I was in the neighborhood, so I dropped in. She's working on one of her review chapters for her CPA exams, and I pulled out the Willow Room computer in the hopes of getting some work done . . . then I randomly had internet access! I guess one of Ann's neighbors has wireless internet, which I am currently mooching off of. Hooray!

Let's see . . . at work today, we had some teachers from the Schlitz Audobon Nature Center visiting. (The SANC is just outside of Milwaukee!) It was neat to have visiting teachers from a nature based preschool -- and Gail, the woman who observed in my classroom, had some nice things to say about my teaching! Sometimes I forget I'm actually a pretty okay teacher -- that positive feedback always comes in handy!

OH! And . . . I got an invitation to the teacher appreciation luncheon next week. (The parents organize the whole thing!) The invite is very fancy, I hear the luncheon is quite a good time, AND I get a free massage! Very cool. I can't wait!

Baby animal update: the lamb is very sleepy, the baby goats were romping around this afternoon copying their daddy -- very sweet!, and we now have 4 happy baby chicks in the water table. (One was dead when we came in this morning. Very sad! Don had to dispose of the body -- I couldn't do it.)

FOOD NETWORK! Ann just turned on the TV and I almost had a heart attack. I miss cable. Rachael Ray has consumed my attention now -- I must go.

baby animals!

It's spring on the farm . . .

Currently, we have 2 baby goats and 1 baby sheep at the farm (the lamb is all black and so darn adorable! He was just born this morning, and the goats, both boys again, were both born last weekend.) They are so cute!!! We also have baby chicks hatching in our classroom incubator! After school today, Don and I moved three chicks out of the incubator into their habitat we had prepared in the water table. They are so cute! One of them was eating out of my hand this afternoon!

Tomorrow is Friday, and I'm ecstatic. Happy almost weekend, all.

I stole this off Chelsea's blog, and thought it was pretty cool:

My Linguistic Profile:

30% General American English

30% Yankee

15% Dixie

15% Upper Midwestern

10% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Let me know what kind of English you speak, because I thought my profile was a little odd, for someone who has lived her whole life in the Upper Midwest!

ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

Oh I am in so much pain from buckthorn and honeysuckle removal! My back, arms, and shoulders are killing me! Today was a loooooong day.

I have a short funny story from work. This afternoon, I noticed a wood tick on one of the children. I pulled it off her and as I walked away to stick it to a piece of clear tape, she called after me in a curious sort of voice, "was it sucking my blood?" I told her that it probably was, but it was a good thing we got it off in time. I also pointed out the tiny white speck near the tick's mouth; I mentioned, "see? I think that tiny white thing is a little piece of your skin." She then calls out to her mom, "see? This is my tick and that tiny white thing is my skin!" She then asked me, "can I take my tick home?" I told her, "sure."

If you knew this kid, this story would be that cuter. She's just such a sweet, easy going kid.

I love my job.

a plethora of peanut butter sandwiches

I have received several (verbal) comments from all y'all about my lack of posts lately. I so sorry! Let me tell you about my week, since I posted last:

Tuesday: I worked, then I inhaled a peanut butter sandwich and met Christine for a walk. Then we watched Gilmore Girls (the episode sucked!), which we had taped while we were walking, and then I came home and went to bed.
Wednesday: I worked, helped to interview a potential lead teacher candidate for next fall, had dinner at Chipotle with Afton, then went to choir rehearsal. I came home and went to bed.
Thursday: I worked, attended the "big" staff meeting, came home, ate a peanut butter sandwich, and went to bed.
Friday: I worked, helped to interview another potential lead teacher candidate for next fall, went to Target (bought nothing!), showered and changed, inhaled a peanut butter sandwich, and picked up Christine. We went to Station 4 in Saint Paul for a preview of the Midwest Music Summit -- Epic Hero was playing. The show was awesome, they played lots of new music, and they covered a Duran Duran song, too. (That bar sucks, though.) Came home at 2 a.m. and went to bed.
Saturday: I picked Lauren up at 9:30 and we went to the nature center and participated in the Earth Day celebration: we pulled honeysuckle and European Buckthorn for two hours, before we had a quick free lunch. Then I dropped Lauren off, showered, and picked up Christine to take her to IKEA. She bought a desk, desk chair, and CD tower. (I have a big car; she doesn't.) Christine and I then went to the Good Earth (her treat) for a very late lunch or very early supper, however you look at it. Then I came home, collapsed on the couch for half an hour, then went babysitting.
Sunday: church/choir, then I ran to Target and the grocery store. I came home, unloaded everything, made myself a sandwich (NOT peanut butter this time!) and began laundry, tidying up the apartment, etc. And now here I am.

This coming week promises to be nearly as bad, but I hope to post a few more times!

I'm switching topics now, and cannot come up with a clever segue.

The managers of my apartment complex have prematurely shut off the heat in my apartment building. It is 60 degrees in my apartment right now. I am wearing a stocking hat while washing dishes and doing my laundry, and I'm still freezing!

Another abrupt topic change coming up.

I bought a couple of mens undershirts (the "A-style") at Target today, and I think they will work wonderfully for crappy summer tank tops for work. I may take a scissors to them since they are about twice as long as I need them, but other than that, for 2 bucks apiece, it's a steal.

I have to quit blogging now -- my fingers are so cold from typing I think they are going to fall off! Later, skaters.

the pillsbury doughgirl goes to culinary school??

Of course nothing in my kitchen is ever as simple as "I'm going to make a loaf of bread."

Nah. I made pesto focaccia and poppyseed and sesame seed crunchy breadsticks.

Masquerading as the Pillsbury Doughgirl

I was supposed to go out for supper tonight with my coworkers for this fundraiser type thing we're doing at the school . . . (a local restaurant sponsored us for evenings where we could invite the kids and their families to come eat at this restaurant and they would donate a portion of the profits from that evening to the preschool!) but I skipped out so I could have one evening at home this week. And it's going to be a busy one! I have to bake bread and cookies for this Thursday's "BIG" staff meeting. It's my team's turn to bring food. We're having a salad bar, but I'm bringing bread and dessert -- required no trip to the grocery store on my part!

(For clarification, we have two "little" staff meetings each month, one "BIG" staff meeting, and one team meeting. They all happen on Thursdays, but we only eat at the BIG meetings, and each team takes a couple of turns during the school year bringing food. It's really rather complicated, and kind of a pain when our teaching team is half the size of the other teaching teams -- Nat, Don, and I are all full time, while just about everyone else at the school is part time. Gah!)

Bet you didn't want to know that much about the innerworkings of the DNP staff meetings. I know I don't want to know that much about them! Occupational hazard, though.

So, I'm going to bake a loaf of bread. From scratch. With my bare hands. And I'm going to take balls of frozen cookie dough out of my freezer and bake them off. (Yes . . . when I make cookies, I bake one pan and scoop the rest of the batch out onto parchment and freeze little individual balls of cookie dough for later bakeage. I'm sort of a culinary geek like that. But it came in handy this time, eh?)

"Bakeage" isn't a real word, is it? Well, I like it . . . and it's my blog . . . so THERE!

stuff and nonsense

What a nice weekend! After last weekend when I was running insanely from one thing to the next all weekend long, it was nice to take a break this weekend. I read a lot, went to the movies, saw the very last performance of "Martha Stewart's Prison Jamboree" on Saturday night, had dinner at the Green Mill with friends, and walked a long time with Christine today! I also got a few things done -- laundry, dishes, etc. Mark of a great weekend if you ask me!

unfathomable

I can't believe NONE of you have commented about my involvement in Miss Chick's near death experience. I just can't believe it! I thought for certain that entry would generate a plethora of comments. Huh.

Afton and I went to see "The Upside of Anger" tonight -- WOW. Go see that movie. Right now. Drop what you are doing and run to the movie theatre! Well, actually, you might want to drive if you go RIGHT now -- it's raining, and could be kind of slippery if you chose to run. (And if you have no one to go with, ask me -- I want to go again.) I actually almost cried near the end of this movie, it's so powerful -- and I am NOT a crier.

Happy weekend. I needed one desperately this week. TGIF infinity!

Still a smooth operator

I forgot to mention we made smoothies with the kids today. It was messy, I have chocolate syrup in my hair (we made some that were banana chocolate!), but it was fun. I have also had a smoothie for breakfast nearly every single day since I discovered banana pumpkin smoothies. This is my general recipe:

1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 cups frozen fruit (banana, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, raspberry, watermelon, or any combo thereof,)
1/3 cup liquid (milk, soy milk, or juice)

Blend until smooth. Makes 2 servings.

Favorite combos: banana blueberry, strawberry-cherry-raspberry, strawberries with OJ, and strawberry watermelon

THEN, if I'm not going to drink them right away, I pour the smoothies into coffee mugs and pop them in the freezer. I take one out of the freezer just before I go to bed and put it in the fridge. Then, in the morning when I'm partially awake and trying to get out the door, I just pull the mug out of the fridge, stir it up a little bit, and it is perfectly thawed -- slushy, not runny, but not frozen solid, either. (You can also thaw them in the micro if you forget to take one out the night before.) I'm not a morning person, so it's nice this breakfast plan requires little to no thought!!!! And, it's healthy, filling, and tasty, which is an added bonus.

(not my) news

Since I have been insanely busy with work and have barely had time to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich (let alone something more complex,) I have very little to blog about lately. SO . . . I'll share news of others!

1. Beth called me yesterday to tell me that she is no longer going to law school! She's decided she'd much rather go back and get a music therapy degree and license. Way to go Beth! I know one fabulous music therapist already (Alisa!) and it would be great to have another one in my network. Plus I just think it's cool Beth's following the path she's most excited about, rather than the path she had planned on for a while. Hooray for figuring out what you want to be when you grow up! (It took me a while to figure that out myself -- hence the immediate foray into graduate school!)

2. Anna called me yesterday to tell me that her boyfriend of 4 years, Langdon, proposed! Hooray Anna! They have not worked out the details, but the wedding will probably be in Boston, Michigan, Minnesota, OR Nova Scotia. (!) They had only been engaged for about 24 hours when she called me, so she didn't have much of a plan yet, understandably. ;-) But she's very excited, and I'm very excited for her!

Between those two phone calls, my hour long phone conference with parents of a kid in my class, and two long chats with Christine, I was on the phone pretty much all night last night -- from the moment I walked in the door, until way past my bedtime. I have to get stuff done tonight.

So, here I go.

like a chicken with her head cut off

I have a nearly tragic but ultimately funny story from work today:

We were out on the playground this afternoon, and Natalie had brought Miss Chick out with us so she could eat bugs and get some fresh air. Miss Chick had been trying to get back inside the classroom for quite some time, but we wanted her to stay out on the playground with us! She is one sneaky chickie, however. I walked towards the classroom door to go and use the bathroom, and Miss Chick started following me. I blocked her with my foot, (or so I thought) and walked through the door. I didn't hear the classroom door latch, which is a regular occurance, so I went to pull the door closed behind me. I heard a sort of squaky/croaky noise and saw a flash of white near my feet. I looked down just as I had my hand on the door to pull it shut and saw . . . Miss Chick's head caught in the door. There was this little chicken face looking up at me, croaking, with this "save me! save me!" pleading look. I screamed "Ohmigod! Natalie!" and threw the classroom door open. I ran outside and Miss Chick stood there for about a minute, very still, (a visiting parent said, "she's in shock!") then sort of started walking around, moving her head, and pecking about. (Her usual behavior.) I brought her a drink of water, and she seems just fine now.

Yes, I nearly (accidentally) decapitated Miss Chick this afternoon. I feel terrible, and I apologise to Chickie for nearly killing her every time I walk past her cage.

The funniest part is, Tammy and Sheila heard me scream "Ohmigod! Natalie!" And came running into the classroom from the front desk. We all had a big laugh. I teased Sheila about whether she was trained on chicken CPR. She says she's not, but perhaps it's time to investigate whether classes exist.

The children are now VERY aware of where Miss Chick is, and as people go in and out the classroom door, they work together to protect her from the evil neck-squashing door. (They block her path with their bodies -- it's pretty funny, watching 4 or so kids looking like their guarding someone in a basketball game, when in actuality they are keeping Miss Chick safe.)

So, I had an incident today with a chicken who nearly had her head cut off, but I truly feel like a chicken with its head fully cut off. My life is completely INSANE right now -- choir concert this weekend, conferences next week, and I am also participating in two presentations for the Midwest AEYC conference a week from tomorrow. I'm about ready to bash my head into a wall. So, if I am a little scatty lately and/or don't post or comment very often, I apologise! (Chelsea, I am staging a protest and will comment on your NEXT post. Tee hee. I'm feeling silly and OVERTIRED right now!)

silly sock

Today I have a funny story from work . . .

We went hiking this afternoon, and as we were coming back on to the playground, we had to cross a very very muddy patch outside our bottom gate. One of the children got her boot stuck in the mud; she then lost her balance and did a complete faceplant into the mud -- covered head to toe in muck! She pushed herself up, looked around, and went to take a step. Of course her foot came out of her boot, which was stuck in the mud. She then put her socked foot right down into the mud. She picked her foot up and said, almost to herself, "oh. I think I need a new sock."

What a sweetie. She's covered in mud, and all she thinks of is that she needs a new sock! Ha.

boob tube

I was just thinking about this as I finished my hour yoga practice this evening . . .

Since I had to get rid of cable for financial reasons, I have realized how much TV I watched before, and how little I watch TV now! (Since my reception royally stinks, I pretty much only watch Gilmore Girls.) I think about how I used to spend my days before, and how I spend them now -- yoga, walking, reading, getting stuff DONE! Now, I think there are many wide and varied factors influencing the American Obesity crisis, (added sugar in everything, few people cook, few people exercise, a quick-fix attitude towards everything including weight loss, no fruit or vegetable farms subsidized by the feds, no sidewalks in the suburbs, our auto-dependent transportation system, I could go on all day!) but I think TV plays a large part -- video and computer games, too. Maybe we all could spend less time in front of a screen. (I don't mean to be preachy -- I just feel very strongly about this!)

I am somewhat horrified by the new billboards I see all over the place -- the "groove your body 10 minutes 3 times a day" ones. I think, "that's IT? 30 minutes a DAY?" But then I realize, most Americans have to start somewhere! (I think I pretty much "groove" my body all day long. And I've never been in better shape!)

I hear a good book to read on the subject of healthy eating and living is Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Walter Willett. I need to get myself a copy.

curry craze

Lately, my favorite ingredient to cook with has been curry powder! I experimented with some on-hand ingredients and came up with . . .

Curried Chickpeas and Rice (1 serving)

1. Saute about a 1/4 cup sliced onion and 1 clove garlic, minced, in about 1 tsp olive oil until soft.
2. Add about 3 shakes curry powder, 1 shake ground ginger, 1 shake cinnamon, and 1 shake Garam Masala. (All these spices are to taste, of course.) Salt to taste. Add 1/4 cup Basmati rice. Cook a few minutes to lightly fry the rice and toast the spices -- brings out the flavor of both!
3. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and a small handfull of raisins (I used regular, but golden would have been nice, too.) Bring the rice to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to just simmering. Cook, covered, 15 minutes.
4. Stir in 1/2 cup canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed) and a really big handfull of baby spinach. Stir and cook just until the spinach wilts and the chickpeas are heated.

For some reason, I really love these 1 pot meals, too -- especially during the week. Less dishes.

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous -- we were outside nearly all day. Sigh. I'm so happy it's spring!

After work I skipped out on the all-staff meeting and went to Caribou instead -- I had a LOT of paperwork to catch up on. I powered through a bunch of stuff for conferences and our upcoming presentation in just a few hours.

I'm so confused by the change in time -- it's nearly 7:30 and I'm just now starting to get hungry. Yay! My rice is done!

(sllight pause while I finish cooking and take my first bites . . . )

YUUUUUUMMMMM! That's one I'll definitely make again.

I'm going to go and enjoy my dinner now . . . toodles!

spring at last, spring at last . . .

thank God Almighty, we have spring at last! I have spent so much time outside this weekend -- hooray! Emily and I went hiking at the Nature Center on Saturday, and today Ann and I walked around Lake Nokomis. Whee! I've also been getting lots of things done and watching lots of movies and I finished a book, too: Something Rising (Light and Swift) by Haven Kimmel. I think it's time to start reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

My alternate title for this blog was "Smooth Operator," because I just made the most awesome Banana Pumpkin Smoothie, courtesy of my most recent issue of Cooking Light. Here goes:

Chuck the following in the blender and blend until smooth (makes two 1-cup servings):

1 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup canned pumpkin, chilled
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
dash cloves
1 ripe banana, sliced and frozen

This is a nice way to use up bananas that get away from me and I then chuck in the freezer with every intention of making banana bread, but never seem to get around to it!