Movin’

I’m happy to report that we have found an apartment – hooray!  It took longer than we like because, well, we’re stubborn and spoiled and we wanted something like our current apartment.  Alas, it was not to be found in the area in which we were looking.    Oh well.  Our next best choice is a complex in Southampton that is reasonably priced and that is quiet – or at least we think it’s quiet.  It’s a longer drive for me but shorter for Pete, which is what we expected and were looking for.  As long as he’s not driving 1.5 hours to get to work anymore life will be much, much better!  I’ve done a “test run” of the drive for me and it doesn’t look too bad – sweet!   We’ll be picking up the keys on the 19th, moving some small things during that week, and then doing the big move on Sunday, the 26th of July.  Somewhere in between there we need to:

• Go on vacation for the 4th of July
• Get ready for a yard sale
• Have the yard sale
• Attend a baby shower
• Attend a bridal shower
• Attend a 1st birthday party
• And I’ll be working 2 of the weekend days between here and there – 1 Saturday and 1 Sunday

So, yeah, trying not to feel overwhelmed by that…  On the up side, Pete and I have taken off July 1st and 2nd and we’re not heading out on vacation until the 3rd.  That’ll give us 2 days of uninterrupted time in the house to tackle the packing and organizing.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?!?!  At least we’ll be in the nice cool basement while we work!

May’s been a hell of a month – Part 2

So there was one little thing that I failed to mention in my previous post.  There’s one little thing that we weren’t quite ready to discuss publicly but, now that we’ve been to the doctor, we are talking about.  We’re pregnant.  Yep, 2 days after buying the car and 6 days before leaving for vacation I took the test and – voila – there it was.  2 little pink lines.  Positive. 

We’re converting the wedding blog into a pregnancy/family blog.  Click here to visit it.  While there may be some overlap between that blog and this one, I’m going to try to keep most of the pregnancy stuff there and the rest of life things here.  Well, that’s the goal anyway… 

May’s been a hell of a month

So, yeah, I’ve totally been slacking on this blogging thing lately.  I put a draft together in April but never published it so, alas, I have broken my streak of posting at least once a month.  Dang.  Well, here we are rapidly approaching on the end of May and I can’t let another month pass without posting!

May has been a hell of a month.  It’s all good stuff but it’s just a lot to pack into a month.  At the very end of April we saw a 2008 Subaru Forester with 3,000 miles on Craigslist.  After talking the decision to death, we decided to replace the 9-year old Jetta with 136,000 miles and buy the Subaru.  We’ve been working so hard on getting rid of debt over the past year that it really hurt to take on more debt to buy the car but it really seemed to make sense.  Basically we got a new car without the depreciation! 

The next excitement was that Pete discovered that his job has tuition reimbursement – $10,000 a year!  This is a relatively new development; in the past they didn’t offer this.  He’s been wanting to get more education for a while but the biggest stumbling block has always been paying for it.  We didn’t want to go into debt for it and we were working so hard to pay down the debt we do have.  Granted, he now has to determine what he wants to study and where, as well as get approval for the funding.  However, it helps that his director really values education and he’s been there a while.  Looks like he may be studying again sometime in the next year or so!

Next up… vacation.  This year was the first year I went on vacation with friends, not just family.  All I have to say is, CAN I GO BACK?!?!  It was wonderful – the right combination of active and relaxing, great company, great food.  It was good to have a break from work, too.  Don’t get me wrong – I still love my job but I was getting a little crispy around the edges.  My empathy was getting dangerously close to being broken again.  I came back happier, more relaxed, and nicely rejuvenated.

While we were on vacation Pete got an email from his director saying that he wanted to talk with Pete about an opportunity.  Monday, his first day back, he talked to his director and heard that another group had asked for him by name.  It’s a nice opportunity for him to get back into some of the work with hardware and to build more connections in the firm.  The folks asking for him are pretty swamped so he started working with them that Wednesday.  The only downside of this new project is that he can no longer telecommute.  Kind of hard to work on hardware remotely…  So, we’ve been scrambling to find an apartment that’s closer to his work.  For now, he’s spending a couple of nights a week at his parents’ house, which is only 45 minutes from work (about 1/2 the distance all the way home).  We’re hoping to move at the end of June or mid-July at the latest because I don’t really want to keep up this whole being separated thing.  Last weekend my parents came for a visit and on Saturday we dragged them around to look at a couple of apartment complexes.  We found one place we liked and two duds.  We’re going tomorrow to look at 1/2 a duplex in Hatboro.  I hope it’s nice because it’s within our price range, which is kind of hard to find in this area.

So to sum up… new car, more debt, tuition reimbursement, vacation, new project at work, and now moving.  This is all good stuff but, man, I hope we can take a little bit of a breather in June!  Hmm, not likely since June will be filled with packing and possibly moving… maybe July…

Granola

I grew up in a family that was a little “crunchy” around the edges.  We were pretty lefty-liberal.  We bought food in bulk through the neighborhood food co-op.  (You haven’t lived until you’ve tried to stir a 5 gallon bucket of natural peanut butter that has separated!)  We heated with wood.  We went to peace protests.  People in our Meeting were arrested in political protests.  You get the idea…  My brother’s nickname in his first high school was “Chewy” because Quaker Chewy Granola bars were a staple of his (and my) lunch. 

With all this in mind, it only seems right that I would try my hand at making granola.  My mother has been making it for years so I figured I’d start by asking for her recipe.  Here’s what she uses:

• Melt 1/2 cup butter in a big roasting pan
• Add 1/2 cup of honey (or combination of honey and maple syrup)
• Stir until these are thoroughly melted and runny
• Add in:  4 cups oats (or 3 cups oats & 1 cup wheat flakes), 1 cup wheat germ, 1/2 cup (or more) cut coconut flakes, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup (or more) of raw cashews, 1/2 cup (or more) of raw whole almonds, 1/2 cup pecan meal (optional but adds flavor)
• Mix until everything is well-coated
• Bake at 300 degrees until well-toasted.  This is usually between 45 minutes & an hour.  Stir every 15 minutes while baking.
• Let it cool completely before putting into a container.

My first try at it didn’t go too well.  I waited too long to make it out of the oven so it was just a hair shy of burnt.  Hmm, not very tasty.  My second try was much better.  I liked it and so did Pete, much to my surprise.  However, I felt like it needed more flavor so I went searching on the internet for other ideas.  I came across this recipe for Power Granola on Cooking Light’s website and used it, along with Mom’s recipe, as a base.  I ended up playing with the nuts, etc. and come to a recipe I like. 

Making it is kind of fun.  Usually I’m one who follows a recipe strictly but not in this case!  I throw in oatmeal, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, raw cashews, slivered almonds, whole almonds, walnuts, wheat germ, and coconut flakes in amounts that look like it might make something tasty.  I’m a little more careful with the cinnamon, OJ, honey, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla because I don’t want to make it too wet.  Yep, that’s me… living on the wild side… adding in ingredients all willy nilly!  LOL

Roasted Root Vegetables with Walnut Pesto

This is yet another Cooking Light recipe that I love – Roasted Root Vegetables with Walnut Pesto.  I made this once when my aunt was over and made it again today.  OMG, that’s tasty!  Of course, I love anything that gives me an excuse to eat parsnips, turnips, onions, and shallots all at the same time.  It definitely gets 5 stars from me because I think it would be a tasty side dish for pretty much anything I make.

I made a batch today and Pete and I managed to eat the whole batch while we were waiting for the meatloaf to cook.  Now neither of us wants the meatloaf!  (It’s a Weight Watchers recipe that’s actually flavorful, unlike most of their recipes, and is somewhat of a staple for us.  However, since they don’t list their recipes online I can’t link to it.)

Wanna know something funny?

I always spellcheck my blog posts before I post them.  WordPress has a function for doing that.  HOWEVER, it always identifies the word “blog” as a mispelling.  A blog hosting service that doesn’t recognize the word “blog”???

What’s better than a hot bowl of chili in winter? Well, spring, of course!!

Okay, so maybe the title of this post is a little too long for blogdom but that’s okay.  Sing it with me now (to the tune of “It’s my Party”)… it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want to, do what I want to, do what I want to. 

Hmm, somebody really needs to stop me. 

It’s Friday.  It’s been a long week and I’m tired, hence the goofiness.  My “do people really want to see this side of me?” filters must be down for repairs.  LOL

Anyway, I’ve been trying out several chili recipes this winter.  There’s just nothing better than a tasty bowl of chili on a cold, dark winter night.  Anticipating much tiredness tonight – and, by extension, a desire to cook when I came home from work that approached nil – I threw some stuff in the crockpot this morning to make chili.  I used a recipe from Cooking Light called Pinto Bean Chili with Corn and Winter Squash.  I actually made this recipe a few weeks ago.  The process of eating it went kind of like this…

• Sit down in front of TV with steaming bowl of chili – experience anticipation
• Have first bite – Holy shit that’s hot!
• Think to self… “Was that heat hot or spicy hot?”
• Have second bite – Good god that’s spicy hot!  Okay, time to toughen up.  I’ve been getting better at eating and enjoying spicy stuff so let’s give this another try.
• Pete sits down beside me with steaming bowl of chili
• Have third bite – Okay, this kicks the shit out of the spiciest kim chee I’ve eaten AND the dish the tour guide ordered for me in Changsha, Hunan Province, China with – I swear to god – the intention of watching the white girl writhe in agony while not saying a word… ’cause that would be impolite.
• Pete has first bite and says something like “Mmmm, that’s tasty.”
• Have fourth bite and realize I can’t even taste the feta on top because of all the damn spice.  Is it possible that I put in double the required chili powder?!?!
• Comment to Pete that it’s reeeeeeeeally spicy
• Lift spoon for fifth bite
• Think better of the idea
• Offer chili to Pete
• Go to kitchen to prepare peanut butter sandwich

Thank god for peanut butter sandwiches!  Well, since I made it the first time Pete has been commenting that this is his favorite chili recipe ever.  When asked on Saturday what he wanted to eat during the week this week, this chili got mentioned.  I decided I’d give it a try again but this time reduce the hot stuff.  The recipe calls for two tablespoons of chili powder and a 4.5 oz can of chopped chilies.  This time around I tried one tablespoon of chili powder and 3/4 of the can of chopped chilies.  The flavor came through much better (I could taste the feta!) but the spice totally went out the window.    Seems I went a little too far in the other direction…  The first time I made this I would have given it one star but this time it gets three.  I’m fairly confident that the inverse will be true for Pete; I think he’s going to like the spicy version much better. 

I’ll definitely make it again but I’m going to keep fiddling with the recipe.  It needs more tweaking on the spiciness factor but I’m sure I can get it all worked out.

As for the second part of the title of this blog post… as wonderful as a steaming bowl of chili is I’m SOOOOO ready for spring.  My bulbs are coming up – I saw their little heads peeking out before they got buried in the snow storm Monday.  No fear, though, tomorrow is supposed to be 65 degrees.  Nice!!  And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I no longer live in New England… (1) there is a season called spring, not just mud season and (2) it comes in March, not May.  Of course, I guess it’s all about perspective.  My co-worker in Manila told me not too long ago that it was chilly there and he was having to wear a coat.  It was 75 degrees.

M.I.A. no longer

I’m happy to report that I’m no longer M.I.A. from this blog.  It’s been a long while – or it felt like it anyway – but I’m back.  Just as I was getting into a groove of posting regularly, I was felled by the flu for most of a week in January.  Okay, that’s being a touch overly dramatic but you get my drift.  It was an evil, evil snowball of events after that leads to where I am now…  My work/life balance is waaaaay out of whack.  Working too much, paying too little attention to the rest of my life (just ask my husband!).  Even when I am home I’m too tired to want to do much of anything.  So my goal in the next few weeks is to get back on track.  First, I want to start getting up at 6:00 every day.  Some days I’ll go to the gym and other days I’ll to work early.  Second, I want to leave work on time.  5:30 on normal days, 4:30 on the days I go in early. 

I find that one of the first things to go when I get out of balance like this is my sense of fun and joy.  I try to create it or find little pockets of it by being goofy but that can get obnoxious (just ask my husband!) and doesn’t really give me a sense of true joy or fun.  When I get like this and people ask “how are you?” I usually answer with a flip “I’m still standing!” or “I’m still here – better than the alternative.”  Umm, negativity much?  So I’m not Christian and I don’t celebrate Easter – or, by extension, Lent – but this year I’m trying out the whole giving-something-up-for-Lent thing.  In addition to the aforementioned attempts at finding balance, I’m giving up negativity.  More accurately, I’m going to work on being more positive – see the good around me instead of the bad, the frustrating, or the aggravating.  I will appreciate my husband more and pick at him less.  I will enjoy the sunny days we have (even if they’re cold) and grumble less about it still being winter.   I will be grateful I have a job where I learn new and interesting things every day and complain & worry about the workload less.  I doubt I’ll ever be one of those people that is so damn perky you just don’t know how they do it, but – damn it! – I can aspire to it! 

Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk

Last night I tried a recipe that I’ve had for 8 years or so.  I got it from a friend & former neighbor that never got up the nerve to try it.  She’d said it was really good but t had all these exotic ingredients like coconut milk and ginger and lentils so it intimidated me.  To be honest, I also didn’t try it because most of the lentil dishes (okay, all 1 or 2 of them) I’d cooked came out gritty and/or I didn’t get the cooking time on the lentils right and they were half-cooked.  Well, anyway, now that I’m feeling a little braver about cooking I thought it was time to try it.  Ooooooh buddy, am I glad I did!!!  Pete’s been sick most of the past week and I’ve been feeling off since yesterday or so.  (I’m home sick from work today with a wicked sore throat and some other things.)  I thought  a “velvety smooth soup” sounded like a good idea.  I loved it; Pete liked it.  I’m not sure he was as enthusiastic about as I was.  The coconut milk really added a nice flavor to it!  That, and the cilantro.  Man, I love cilantro!  Anyway, the soup gets a 4-star rating from me.

Here’s the link to the recipe – Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk.

What’s for dinner?

Until just a few years ago, I swore that I didn’t know how to cook.  Then Pete and I moved in together (good lord has it been 3 years already?!?!) and I realized that if I wanted some diversity in what I ate I’d have to learn some new cooking skills.  Growing up I never understood why my mom would read cookbooks.  I mean really – what’s there to read in there???  It’s just ingredients and instructions – that’s not very exciting! 

Ah, what a difference a few years makes.  Last weekend I actually bought some post-it notes for the explicit purpose of marking recipes I want to try in my cookbooks.  Got to have just the right size post-it note!!  I’m no chef but I feel like I’ve gotten to a new level of cooking now that I’ve cooked with both squash AND eggplant within the past few months.  Neither of those are veggies I particularly like but the recipes sounded tasty so I thought I’d try ‘em!

Anyway, I’m starting a new category of posts called “What’s for dinner?”  I’ll post recipes that are interesting, tasty, or disastrous – whatever makes for interesting writing.  (Interesting reading?  Well, you can be the judge of that.)  I’m thinking that I’ll be using a rating system too.  How about this…

• * – Is it too late to order pizza?
• ** – I’ll eat it this time but let’s not make it again
• *** – Not bad.  Not my favorite but not bad
• **** – Mmmm, now that’s tasty!
• ***** – OMG, can we eat this for every meal??

I’ll go with that for now and edit as needed.  Tonight’s dinner was Red Wine-Marinated Beef Stew from Cooking Light.  It didn’t have enough veggies in it for my taste but it was definitely tasty!  And a lovely shade of reddish-purple thanks to the red wine.  Pete’s still sleeping (poor guy has been nailed by the flu) so we’ll have to wait to see what he thinks.  For me I’m giving it 4 stars – “Mmmm, now that’s tasty!”

If you’ve got some interesting recipes to share, please do!